A number of years ago I heard a true story on a Christian radio program, I think that it was The White Horse Inn (http://www.whitehorseinn.org/.) It seems that a man was shipwrecked on a deserted island in the South Pacific. Quite some time passed before he was finally spotted. As the rescue party came to shore they saw three thatched huts on the beach and asked the man about them. "Well" he said "That's the hut that I live in," and pointing to a second hut "and that's the hut where I go to church." The rescuers pointed to a third hut and asked about it. "Oh...that's where I used to go to church."
Now there was no further information given and I have racked my brain since then trying to figure out why he left the first church hut. I tried to Google this with phrases like man on deserted island leaves church and Church listings: deserted island to no avail. I started my inquiry into this by thinking of reasons why people leave churches. One reason heard often is that "It didn't have a good youth ministry." Well, there were not any children on the island so that wasn't it. Another reason I hear quite a bit is "It didn't have a praise band." Now there would be no electricity to plug in a Schecter Ultracure electric guitar, so that's not going to be it. A third "The pastor doesn't call me enough!" can't be it...no telephones.
Now I don't give up easily so I decided to change tact. Aside from moving away, there are only two legitimate reasons to leave a Christian church. The first is the pastor puts "Hillary Clinton for President" leaflets on the table in the foyer. Three reasons for voting for Hillary would be 1) you want the village to raise your child 2) your a radical feminist, and 3) you want Socialism. Problems, there are no kids to raise, no village to raise them, no women and your the only person so there is no one to take their money and direct their lives.
This leaves only one legitimate reason to leave a church and I think, to my satisfaction anyway, that I have solved this riddle. If Christ is not preached, you should try to find another church. Ironically, people do not do this today but this man may have been one of the few. Follow me on this, you go to church a few yards away from a beautiful beach in the South Pacific. You wake up in the morning, pick a fresh pineapple for a juicy breakfast, take a long walk, jog a little, your fit and buff, I mean life is good. There's no need here to preach Christ. And how are you going to sin where Christ would need to be preached? There are no taxes to avoid, no traffic rules to break, no NBC Nightly News, Newsweek or newspaper to curse at, you don't miss church because you watched the Steeler pre-game show. This has to be the reason. When there is no perceived sin, there is no need for a Savior from it. The man obviously left for this reason. What about the new church, you ask. Why didn't he leave it? Well, now he is criticizing the first church daily. He knows that he is sinning. Christ may have been considered in this new church?
Now there was no further information given and I have racked my brain since then trying to figure out why he left the first church hut. I tried to Google this with phrases like man on deserted island leaves church and Church listings: deserted island to no avail. I started my inquiry into this by thinking of reasons why people leave churches. One reason heard often is that "It didn't have a good youth ministry." Well, there were not any children on the island so that wasn't it. Another reason I hear quite a bit is "It didn't have a praise band." Now there would be no electricity to plug in a Schecter Ultracure electric guitar, so that's not going to be it. A third "The pastor doesn't call me enough!" can't be it...no telephones.
Now I don't give up easily so I decided to change tact. Aside from moving away, there are only two legitimate reasons to leave a Christian church. The first is the pastor puts "Hillary Clinton for President" leaflets on the table in the foyer. Three reasons for voting for Hillary would be 1) you want the village to raise your child 2) your a radical feminist, and 3) you want Socialism. Problems, there are no kids to raise, no village to raise them, no women and your the only person so there is no one to take their money and direct their lives.
This leaves only one legitimate reason to leave a church and I think, to my satisfaction anyway, that I have solved this riddle. If Christ is not preached, you should try to find another church. Ironically, people do not do this today but this man may have been one of the few. Follow me on this, you go to church a few yards away from a beautiful beach in the South Pacific. You wake up in the morning, pick a fresh pineapple for a juicy breakfast, take a long walk, jog a little, your fit and buff, I mean life is good. There's no need here to preach Christ. And how are you going to sin where Christ would need to be preached? There are no taxes to avoid, no traffic rules to break, no NBC Nightly News, Newsweek or newspaper to curse at, you don't miss church because you watched the Steeler pre-game show. This has to be the reason. When there is no perceived sin, there is no need for a Savior from it. The man obviously left for this reason. What about the new church, you ask. Why didn't he leave it? Well, now he is criticizing the first church daily. He knows that he is sinning. Christ may have been considered in this new church?
