So, let’s talk about being the church. At Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York – one of the premier black churches in America – there’s a major kerfuffle happening. It seems that the pastor, who was elected and called in 2025, is embroiled in a church fight, and his election is being challenged in court. The question is not whether he is fit for the position; the question is what it means to have a majority vote. When counted, only 44% of the total membership voted for him, but a few of them are arguing that this isn’t a true majority. The article in Religion News Service doesn’t go into a lot of detail, but reading between the lines, it seems that not every member was present in person to vote, so some of those not present are crying foul. Why weren’t they there? We don’t know – some may have been away, or homebound, or on a soccer field with their kids – or just plain lazy. We can’t know, but it does force us to ask a question – what does it mean to be a Christian?
I have gotten a lot of people mad at me over the years for challenging the idea that having your name on a membership list isn’t enough to truly define yourself as a faithful follower of Jesus. Now – please read this clearly – some folks cannot physically attend. Some folks have to work. Some folks live too far away but still want to maintain a relationship. There are some very valid reasons why some folks don’t attend, but if our churches voted to stay open based on a majority of members being in worship, we would have closed our doors 100 years ago. The average church gets 25-33% of membership in worship on any given Sunday – and I am not counting Easter or Christmas. They are tourist days, meaning that people go to church where they are, so if you are with family in another town, you probably go to church with them. And that is absolutely fine. I maintain this idea – if you say you are a follower of Jesus, and you are not kept from going to church, you should be in church on any given Sunday. Is that radical? Many people think so. I don’t.
We all make choices in life, and not attending church doesn’t make you a bad person; in fact, the vast majority of my congregation who don’t attend regularly are really fine people, and I respect them very much. Those who can attend but choose not to just aren’t being honest about what matters to them. If you think that your kid’s sports matter more than their spiritual upbringing, be honest about that. If you would rather go out to breakfast every Sunday than sit in a pew for an hour or so, then tell the truth. We all have priorities in life, and those choices are ours to make, but be honest about what matters to you. If your faith – which includes, in part, being in worship – matters, live that way. If it doesn’t – which, again, doesn’t mean you aren’t a good person – then tell the truth. If the people of Abyssinian BC physically couldn’t be present, for whatever reason, then they missed out, and I’m sorry for them. But for those who couldn’t be bothered? There’s always next time. And Christians aren’t supposed to sue one another anyway! (1 Cor. 6). But that’s for another day.
Prayer – Holy God, we are supposed to worship You in Spirit and in truth. Help us to be honest. Amen.
Today’s art is “Humility” by Betsy McDaniel.