Tonight I went to a church picnic with a friend, and it was enjoyable, but different. Enjoyable because it was a beautiful evening filled with food and people, strange because it wasn’t my church’s event, but another’s. A co-worker invited me and a few other people we work with to join her church in the park for a fun-filled evening, and I went for it. It made me think though, about something that I’ve been dealing with in my small group.
In my college-age small group, I’ve been talking to someone who is currently attending three different churches. He’s a great guy, loves Jesus and all that lovely stuff that generally accompanies that relationship, it’s just that he’s incredibly….I think… afraid of commitment, but perhaps he’s just curious and looking to find a church that fits him. The thing though is that he doesn’t just visit churches looking for one, he’s been at all three for over a year. So, we had the talk this week. I had to tell him, “Don’t be a church ho.”
Please pardon my vernacular there. I understand that it’s mildly offensive, but think about it. A church ho is one that doesn’t want to commit to one (particular) body and so goes around to various different ones. My analogy continues with if you live like this, you’re likely to catch something nasty. Even in church! If anyone is paying attention to what’s going on in the world today, they’ll understand that there are some groups of people claiming to be the church, but they’ve got some beliefs that aren’t from God! There are other bodies in the world that really are seeking Christ, but let’s be honest, every church has its problems. That said, if one gets around a lot, they’re likely to pick things up here and there, and be worse off for it. This my friends, is the lot of the church ho.
Of course, there are good things going on in many churches as well and maybe some good can come out of this whole getting around thing, I’ll just say that I have my doubts. I go to a non-denominational church, most of which seem to be bigger on the “local church” than any denomination, but I could be wrong about that.
Anyways, I’m going to stick with my advice and in the spirit of keeping it short, I’ll just say, “Don’t be a ho!”
