Excuses, Not Reasons

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Excuses, Not Reasons

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. —Hebrews 10:25

A reason is what we offer when we are unable to do something, while an excuse is what we offer when we don’t want to do something and want to get out of it. And people offer a lot of excuses as to why they can’t go to church.

Yet I look at the commitment that sports fans have—how they will go and support their team, no matter what. No matter what the circumstances or weather conditions, they will root their team on. They will dress in the team colors and even paint their faces. And when their team scores, they will yell in their excitement.

What if people were like that in church—never missing a service, never missing an opportunity to worship? And what if people offered the same reasons for not going to sporting events as they do for not going to church? Think how stupid it would sound: “Yeah, I don’t go to the games anymore. The people who sat around me didn’t seem all that friendly. And it is so crowded. There are just too many people.” Or, “The seats were too uncomfortable.” Or, “It is too hard to find a parking place.” Or, “The coach never personally came and talked to me.”

Or how about these excuses? “Well, I read a book on this sport, and I think I know more than the coach anyway.” Or, “My parents took me to a lot of games when I was growing up, so I just don’t want to go anymore.”

I doubt you would ever hear these excuses for missing a sporting event, yet these are things people say about why they don’t go to church. They may have a lot of excuses to offer, but none of them are reasons.