Are You a Stumbling Block to Someone's Church Attendance?

I met a lady at the bank - oddly enough she and I were the only two present at this particular time -and I noticed she was reading a book that had a Christian title and her Bible was beside it. I asked her about the book, and told her I noticed her Bible and we began to discuss faith in Jesus. I asked her where she attended church and her reply has really stuck with me. She said "We do not observe corporate worship." My reply, "Not to pry but is there any particular reason that you don't?" She continued to tell me she was strong in her faith and did at home Bible study with her family but, had many encounters in churches that she wasn't happy with. Immediately Hebrews 10:25 came to mind "Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now.." hmm.. I listened intently to her talking, realizing that local assembling isn't always perfect. There are cliques, there are grumblings, there are those you see once a year, there are those who may be there for the wrong reasons, but who are we to judge? There are many mentions in The Word of God, telling us not to judge, Matthew 7:5 - "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." stands out most clearly to me. Are there any imperfections in yourself? None of of us are perfect. Scripture clearly defines that as well, that we all fall short.

The problems that are mentioned about church are also defined in Scripture with great warning:

Cliques in church:1 Corinthians 1:10 " by the authority of The Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other let there be NO DIVISIONS in church"

Grumbling or Complaining: Philippians 2:14, which says, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings"

The Greek word for murmur means “to murmur, mutter, grumble, say anything against in a low tone, of those who discontentedly complain.”

Back to the original verse in Hebrews 10, lets look at verse 24- 25 "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. and let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do but encourage one another, especially now.."

We are to come together for one commonality, Jesus. We are to attend to motivate and love on each other, and encourage one another. Each one of us have that responsibility. Not just one of us, two of us or a group of us - each of us are responsible for our actions, as the Body of Christ. Maybe you struggle with forgiving someone for a wrong they don't even know they have done, or maybe you just can't get past it, Sister  - The Lord is clear that forgiveness is a must!  Matthew 18:22, He tells us to forgive and keep forgiving 7x70 times. And speaking of cliques, sure we all have common interests with one group of people who are in the same age as us, the same things we like but, as the Body of Christ, we have a common interest, to focus on Him, not ourselves. When we engage in 'cliques' it doesn't effect us, but those that come to church feel like persons in that group are unapproachable, they feel left out, less than you. While it's great to have common interests and friends in church we cannot allow it to be a stumbling block for someone else.

Seek God in prayer, ask Him if there is anything in your life that may create a stumbling block for someone else, don't let pride be your stumbling block for overcoming this thing. Jesus tells us to follow Him we must deny ourselves, and die to ourselves daily. Daily. Every single day, denying.

~ Submitted by Jeni Morelock