While enjoying a Labor Day cookout at my parents house, my oldest daughter asked a good question; "Just what is Labor Day all about anyway?" As I explained the meaning of Labor Day was a celebration of the American worker as well as organized labor, my mind began to wander to other things we simply "do" without thinking about the "why."
We have a lot of these things in the church and across the broad spectrum of the Christian world. How many people actually stop to think, "Why do we do what we do and by what authority do we do them?" Often we find ourself in the church observing practices mindlessly, going through the motions and assuming they must be right simply because it has always been done this way. Why do the churches of Christ observe the Lord's Supper each Sunday while our denominational friends do not? Why do the churches of Christ practice Acappella singing while our denominational friends use instuments? Why do we have two services on Sunday and one on Wednesday and why Wednesday? I could go on but I think you get the idea.
What I encourage each reader to do is seriously think about these things and search the scriptures for yourself to find the answer. Don't just accept the mentality that "We've always done it this way so it must be O.K." If it matters to God then it matters to you.
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11)
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