Ouch!

I know – the world may be coming to an end because I’m posting twice in one day.  But, this article hit me hard as I had this conversation with our youth director just this morning.  Check out this article titled “No, you are not ‘running late,’  you are rude and selfish” by Greg Savage.  Ouch! is the only word that comes to mind with that.

I was talking with Andrew, our youth director, earlier today and he was voicing his frustration over the many families who arrive to church either just as worship is beginning, or late.  His frustration stemmed from the fact that he likes to mingle and talk with the youth prior to worship – them arriving late or right on the dot makes that difficult (not to mention that some families leave so quickly afterwards as well).  I agreed with him and shared in his frustrations as I watch countless folks drift in up to even 15 minutes after worship has begun.

Now, I have to confess that my family is one of those that tends to arrive right on the dot – my husband being the main caregiver for the kiddos on Sunday morning and he’s not known for his punctuality.  So, this article hit home for me in a big way.  What are we saying to God when we arrive late for worship?  What does that say about our priorities when it comes to our faith?

I’m going to have to chew on this a bit.  I’m torn because part of me finds this article quite rude in its own right (and a bit unrealistic because EVERYONE is late sometimes!)- but another part of me sees the merit in putting enough respect and value into wherever you are heading to actually show up on time.  We are all late occasionally, but this article is pointing out the pitfalls of making it a ‘habit’ of being late.  I’m thinking that is a habit we all need to break.