Choices

We make them everyday.
Some good, some bad.
Take for instance my son's first day at junior high. He thought is was a good idea to wear socks that covered his entire leg, and yes he wore shorts with those.
Ouch.
I don't know about you, but I think I've seen Mike Vick in that nice suit he has about a billion times.
Talk about some bad choices.
I mean think about it, this guy is going to lose millions of dollars, probably spend some time in the big house, most likely lose his job, over a few bad choices.
When we think about it, sometimes bad choices really don't hurt us much, we learn from our mistakes (hopefully) and we move on. We may get bruised a little, but nothing to severe.
Other choices however can have a lifetime impact on us.
The church is no different. The leadership and the congregation have to make choices. Sometimes they make good choices, sometimes bad, and like any other choice, bad ones sometimes don't hurt us for very long.
But there are times that bad choices can hurt and even kill our ministries.
At the time the choice seems simple and logical to us, but I'm afraid we don't take the spiritual into account. We seem to leave God out of the decision process.
Christians have to factor in things like faith, and God's will. Two very difficult things for us humans to discern. A decision that seems logical to us may lead the church into place that God will not bless. Soon the church is dead.
While it is difficult to have faith sometimes, I think God's will is easier to figure out. Reading how Jesus reached out to people should give us a clue on how we proceed. It was a total sellout. He gave Himself 100% to His creation. He saved nothing for Himself, He gave it all.
And yet we hold on to this or that, comfort and tradition become our gods and every choice becomes based on these factors. Something that Jesus never taught.
And then we scratch our heads and wonder why our church isn't growing.
I sat in a church of eight, kind and dedicated, people ready to preach to them one Sunday. The elder came to me to apologise for the small number. He told me that they didn't have any young people anymore, and it bothered him, however he felt that churches were compromising by using more contemporary music to draw younger people. He felt that just wasn't right.
I smiled and listened, all the while thinking that the choices they had made have killed their church. They aren't alone and I'm afraid many churches are heading for a time when they will make a choice or already have made choices that may be popular with some of the people, but be a disaster for their future.
Like Mike Vick, all it takes is one bad choice.