You’ve probably heard those he a r tening reports. Church attendance in the U.S. continues at very high levels despite numerous announcements of the demise of organized religion.
Yearly, about 40 percent tell pollsters they have attended church or synagogue in the last seven days. With this “evidence” in mind, one might conclude that church going is as popular as ever. The problem is that these polls are known to be highly inaccurate. When asked about religious belief and practice, even church members are not always honest. How is this known? From several research projects involving an actual head count of the number of people attending churches in areas of the country where people were reporting high levels of attendance.
For example, researchers C. Kirk Hadaway, P. L. Marler and Mark Chaves physically counted every person in every Protestant church in one Ohio county and in every Catholic church in 18 dioceses. They found that, in fact, only 20 percent of Protestants were actually in church on a given Sunday morning, whereas 40 percent reported they had attended church that Sunday. Likewise, they found that only 28 percent of Catholics attended mass, while 50 percent reported doing so.
So, why do people say they go to church more often than they actually do? The answer is rather extended, but to put it in a nutshell, people say they go to church often because they want to or intend to. They want to be better. And we each can be better, if we begin by being honest about our present condition.
A little boy was visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back to dinner. As he was walking he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Out of impulse, he let fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and scared. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but said nothing.
After lunch that day grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today, didn’t you Johnny?” Then she whispered to him, “Remember, the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes.
Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help.” And she whispered again, “Remember, the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny helped.
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he killed the duck. She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I know. I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”
I don’t know what’s in your past—what sin the enemy keeps throwing up in your face. Whatever it is, I want you to know something: Jesus was standing at the window. He saw the whole thing. But because He loves you, he has forgiven you. Perhaps he’s wondering how long you’ll let the Enemy make a slave of you. Be honest to God about your present condition; you know you really want to.
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