I guess you could say that I used to be a NASCAR fan. For several seasons, I watched nearly every race. Initially, I watched them alone, but after a while Traci started watching them with me. It was something we enjoyed doing together. Thanks to some kind and generous friends, we were able to go to several Saturday night races in Daytona. It was a fun part of our lives.
But, as time went on and life began to fill up with other things, NASCAR gradually began to fade. With the advent of the DVR, I started to fast forward through most of the races. Then, it got to where I would just check the website on Monday to see who won. Finally, it just completely faded from my life.
I tried watching a race not too long ago. There was some nostalgia to it, but that one race just didn’t have the satisfaction it once did. At one time, I knew the faces and names of NASCAR. I knew much of the organization, activities and strategies of the sport. But when I went back and watched that race a while back, there were lots of new faces, names, leaders, activities, strategies, etc. There was still some of the old, but now there was a lot of new stuff which was unfamiliar to me. Feeling distanced from the sport, I did not watch long and haven’t watched another race since then.
I’m not writing this to tell you about me and NASCAR. I’m writing to draw a parallel between this illustration and what happens with many people and their faithfulness in worshiping God. Go back and read this illustration with that parallel in mind. Many people start out as “worship fans” and attend nearly every service, knowing the faces, names, leaders and activities of the church. But, then they allow “other things” to fill up their lives and displace the central priority of worship. They gradually start to find “reasons” not to be at worship (any “reason” will do). Over time, it eventually fades from their lives.
Occasionally, these folks may “pop in” for a worship service, but they have lost touch with the church so much that they don’t know the new people, have not kept up with the other folks and activities of the church, and they just feel out of place with the unfamiliarity. Without a strong personal drive, they will often distance themselves even further.
There is a major difference to note between these matters, though. NASCAR (and things like it) is completely insignificant in the grand scheme of salvation and eternity in heaven, while worshiping God is directly tied to one’s salvation and eternal dwelling. The place of worship in one’s life is a reflection of the place of God in one’s life. How much is it a part of your life? Do you need to get back “on track”?