Scripture References: Ruth 1:1-18; John 8:31-38

From Last Post: If we make a mistake in choosing our initial career or for circumstances beyond our control we lose the opportunity to practice that initial career, we aren’t stuck for life.

Also, if our interests change or there is the opportunity for a new challenge, we are often able to respond to it. Thank goodness for options! But, don’t we also see, with this new freedom to rechoose careers, unhappy or confused people who use it as an excuse not to buckle down and make the most of what may be quite a good career? People who are unhappy or confused about life in general trying to change all the externals to achieve some level of happiness without getting to the heart of their internal difficulty?

I have special concern about “church hoppers,” only because when I was younger I was accused of being one. However, do you know what church hoppers actually are? They are those who jump from church to church for reasons that usually concern their ego or self-worth. They are always looking for something no church can provide, perfect programs and people who always see and do things their way. When a church can no longer provide this, and there is none that can do this consistently, the true church hopper moves on. He or she has no concern for a long-term contribution to a single church family and, thus, never really feels a part of any place. It’s tragic. Many of these people are high-energy types who put much of themselves into serving wherever they happen to be members at a given time, but they never feel like they get back what they want for serving so diligently; which is essentially looking for immediate rewards for your service. Certainly no church can be all things to all people, and there is, justifiably, some people who come into a church without knowing it well and find out that it’s not the right church for them. These people ought to move on. However, those who move on because of a legitimate ideological difference with a local congregation are not the church hoppers who keep moving from congregation to congregation because none of the churches can please them in every respect. I moved because I made a vow to the Lord, that I would go to serve wherever He led me, and much of that leading was to teach and prepare me for the ministry (of service).

In each of these examples, I’m simply suggesting that it’s easier these days not to take as seriously as we might much that is essentially positive in our lives because of the lure of other options which may seem to offer something we’re not getting with our present arrangement, whatever that may be. We become interested in change for change’s sake, and in the process we can become caught up in forgetting about the validity of long-term commitments of all sorts. In fact, rapid and frequent changes become idealized to us. We admire those who do well in simple, shallow, short-term relationships. We are envious of those who somehow keep themselves from getting tangled up in the tentacles of tradition.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.