Cold, Hard Truth

I went to church yesterday for the first time in years.

Returning to church was something I'd wanted to do for a very long time, and there's been a church I've enjoyed going to for years, though depending on where I was living I couldn't consistently attend it.  Now that I'm in an area that is reasonably close to it again, I decided I'd go back for Easter Sunday.  The good news is that the church is still very much how I remember it, and I definitely plan on regularly attending again.

Yesterday being Easter, the pastor's sermon was obviously going to surround the death and resurrection of Christ.  However, one of the things I've liked most about the pastor about this church was that he has never just picked a random passage from the Bible and chose to talk about its significance in his sermons.  Rather, he takes modern-day situations that we all face - addiction, loss, stress, family, you name it - and he applies Biblical principles to it.  I've gotten more from his sermons than I probably ever have from previous churches I've been to in life, which is the big reason why I want to continue going.

His sermon was titled "Image Isn't Everything."  It was one of those classic moments where I'm socked right in the gut from hearing him speak, like this sermon was written specifically for my ears.  He always made great use of props when he spoke, and yesterday was no exception.  There was a mirror sitting on a table the entire service, and it wasn't until he delivered his sermon that its relevance was made clear.  The crux of his words was mostly about what we all see when we look at our reflections in the mirror.  Do we like what we see?  Are we happy with ourselves?  Or do we look at our physical imperfections instead?  Do we keep looking deeper, thinking more about the spiritual aspects that we don't like?

He started writing words on the mirror, mostly negative things that we may think about when we see our reflections.  Words like liar, greedy, filthy, ugly, shame, and unworthy.  Words that cloud our judgment when we see ourselves in private and keep us from feeling worthy of others who may love us.  We deceive ourselves by buying into these lies, which not only hurt our relationships with God, but also with each other.  We keep many secrets out of fear that if anyone knew the truth about us, we'd be seen as frauds or hypocrites.

Talk about tough words to hear.  I know I've been guilty of doing just that kind of behavior more times than I can count, especially when I've looked at myself in the mirror.  I can't begin to guess just how many times over the years I've done that, and I still do it to this day at least on occasion.

The mirror was eventually covered with so many negative words that the pastor's own reflection was barely visible.  Then he wrote one more word over top of all the rest, and that word was pride.  Pride is a funny little thing.  On one hand, there's nothing wrong with taking a little pride in our individual accomplishments in life (I know I have).  However, pride can easily translate to stubbornness, and dig even deeper holes for us to be stuck in.

Finally came the zinger.  With all those words in marker covering up the mirror, the pastor then said we take things upon ourselves to fix the mess.  He took a paper towel and tried cleaning off all the marker, but it only smeared the ink over the mirror.  Nothing was left legible or visible.  He then said there's another word for what can describe what we do when we attempt to fix our own attempts, and that word was religion.

I know plenty of people who are very opposed to organized religion.  Some of my best friends are openly hateful of spirituality and religious beliefs for a multitude of reasons.  They regularly point out people who had acted in history in the name of their religious beliefs, only to really be acting in their own personal interests.  They also talk about the sheer lunacy of religion in general, questioning why God would allow any kind of tragedy to happen in this world if He truly loved us.  I can't really argue with them on either of those points since human logic can't explain either one.  Religion has dirtied the concept of spiritualism throughout history, thanks to regular people trying to act in the name of God and failing miserably in the process.

I'm not educated enough on spiritual issues to be able to adequately respond to friends of mine who disagree with religious dogma.  Whether I'll ever get to that point is open for debate, but it certainly won't happen with only attending one service on Easter Sunday.  I learned something important Sunday, and I took it home with me afterwards.  That's far from the first time I've ever learned something from attending this church, and now that I live fairly close by it again I plan on learning a whole lot more from it.