On Having Too Much

There is such a thing having too much. When you have too much, it is hard to put a true value on the things that you have.

A great illustration of this is the loss of interest in the World Series. Once, sports were played with as great a frequency as they are today – but our access to them was limited. You might get a staticky radio broadcast of something – and, if you could get it, you would sit and struggle through the static just for the pleasure of knowing what was happening. Once, World Series games happened in the afternoon – not late at night. School would go on, but kids would have radios with those cheap white earpieces trying to grab a little of the game – between classes (and during them, too). If you had a coach for a teacher and the game was on the TV, you might get to see the game instead of whatever you were supposed to study that day. And, I remember a game 7 when the principal became “cool” because you could skip class and go watch the game in the study hall. These days we have too much access to sports to even pay much attention to the Series.

The same is true about things religious. Some people have convinced themselves that access to religious broadcasting is the same as worship! From the very beginning, worship has been a group thing for believers in Jesus Christ. We are the ekklessia, the called-out ones. We have been called into a community of believers and experience the Lord in community. That is why the Lord indicates a special sense of his presence where two or three are gathered together. Use the media, by all means; use the media to add to your commitment and understanding; but, never forget that a major signal of Christian maturity is commitment to the assembly of believers.