Where You Sit on Sunday
“A person’s character is shown through their actions in life, not where they sit on Sunday.” –Navonne Johns (from Church Leaders Facebook page 8/24/19 redirected to sermonquotes.com)
First of all, who is Navonne Johns and why should we care what she says? After a quick perusal of Google, the only Navonne Johns I could find is a Hollywood makeup artist. Hmmm…
So, back to the quote. While it is true that your character is revealed through your actions, the real question is, “What forms your character?”
Where you sit on Sunday or any other day for that matter reveals something about the priorities you set in your life. It shows what is important to you. Are you sitting at home? Are you sitting in a bar? Are you sitting (or standing) in a retail store? Are you attending/watching/participating in a sporting event? Are you traveling? Are you working? Are you spending time with your family? Are you studying? There are as many choices as there are people. Most of us will be doing multiple things on any given Sunday. No matter what you choose to do, it says something about your life priorities and, thus, your character. Your choice of how to spend your most valuable asset (your time) not only reveals your character, but also forms it.
Our family chooses to prioritize church attendance as a family value. By doing so, we show the world (and God) that it is important to us to commit time to worship and Bible study. When we gather with our church family, we show that we are prioritizing them as well. By participating in worship and Bible study, we focus on God and learn both experientially and educationally what our character should be.
Sitting in a church in and of itself does nothing to form our character any more than sitting in a sports arena makes a person an athlete. We must want to be an athlete; we must train to be an athlete; we must learn about our sport; we must be disciplined and dedicated if we want to become an athlete. Don’t miss this – we must associate with other athletes and allow ourselves to be coached in order to excel as an athlete. No athlete does it alone.
Is our spiritual life so different?
The writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” The “cloud of witnesses” here are the saints that have gone before us. The ones that have lived the Christian life and have something to say about it. They are the ones we look up to and say, “I’d like to be like that when I grow up.” Just like an athlete has a physical mentor, we too should have a spiritual mentor, or better yet, many spiritual mentors.
Where you sit on Sunday matters. It builds the character which reveals itself in your actions. Navonne Johns, whoever you are, where do you sit on Sunday?