Outside Church

used with permission

As you may have gathered if you follow me anywhere online, I am a big fan of nakedpastor’s art.

This particular cartoon reminded me of a Sunday morning years ago. Terri and I were riding with her family to enjoy a meal after the Sunday morning service. As we drove past all the boaters out on the water, Terri’s said something that sparked a disagreement with her brother. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but the gist was this …

I don’t see how anyone could enjoy spending Sunday morning that way.

Terri’s brother, who was a teenager at the time, responded as some of you may have when you read that. He called his dad out on what he interpreted as dishonesty. Again, I don’t remember the words exactly, but the message stuck with me.

What is that supposed to mean? What do you mean, you don’t understand how someone could enjoy that?

I should mention that Terri’s dad owned a boat and took it out occasionally for recreation, fishing, etc. The very kind of activity these other boaters were engaged in that Sunday morning. His point was that he didn’t see how anyone could enjoy skipping church.

I stayed out of the conversation because if I were forced to take a side in that argument, I would have certainly sided with my brother-in-law. I would thoroughly enjoy spending Sunday morning on a boat, or flying a kite, or having a picnic, or going to a ball game, or a boatload of other fun things to do outside the church.