Excuses - Part 1

Everybody has them.  We don’t always call them excuses but that is what they are.  Perhaps you call them reasons, justifications, explanations or something else, but ultimately, most of the time they are just excuses.   Look at weight.  We have excuses as to why we are overweight and why we can’t lose weight.  This season on The Biggest Loser has been called the season of no excuses.  In this season they have taken various “reasons” why the contestants are overweight or can’t lose weight.   Ultimately all of these reasons given have been revealed to be flimsy excuses.

We also make excuses for why we aren’t faithful to church.  Sure, no one would ever say that they aren’t faithful, but ultimately we reveal our lack of faithfulness to God and His plan when we choose to skip church to watch TV, play games, go shopping or, visit with family and friends.  By choosing to gratify our own selfish desires rather than sacrificing them to attend to one of Christ’s highest priorities, His body (Colossians 1:24) and bride (Ephesians 5:22-33), we reveal our own unfaithfulness to Him.  Would a friend encourage you to neglect yourself or even hurt yourself or your wife?  No, of course not!  If a friend were to do that we would clearly see that he is not a true friend.  Likewise, if we are truly a friend of Jesus Christ, we would attend to His body and bride.

The Kingsmen used to sing a song titled Excuses in which they list many of the excuses people use for skipping church.  I always enjoyed that song, and it would be funny if it weren’t so true.   We’re going to look at some of the excuses people have for not being faithful.   We will be looking at these excuses in three categories, 1) The Church Is Wrong; 2) The Pastor Is Wrong; and, 3) I Deserve …   Due to the volume of excuses, this will be divided into several articles.  Here is a partial list, in no particular order, of what we will look at in the coming articles.

1.       The church is filled with hypocrites.

2.       There isn’t anything there for me.

3.       Nobody is friendly to me.

4.       Nothing ever happens there.

5.       It is too cold/hot.

6.       The weather is too bad.

7.       The Weather is too nice.

8.       Someone sick might be there and give me their cold.

9.       The pastor doesn’t feed me.

10.   I don’t like the pastor.

11.   I disagree with what the pastor preaches.

12.   I think we have the wrong pastor.

13.   They are too old-fashioned.

14.   They are too progressive.

15.   This is my only day off.

16.   My family/friends are visiting.

The list goes on and on.  Are you ready to deal with your excuses?  Let me know what some of the excuses you have heard are and perhaps we'll deal with them.