One of the problems with working at a church is that its really hard to actually attend a church service. I’ve now been on a church staff for over five years, and I’ve only known my wife for about two and a half. During the time that Leslie and I have known each other we’ve really only been to church together a few times since most of the times that we were in the building together I was really at work. Since we have been married I can probably count on one hand the number of times that we have sat together in a worship service.
Since this is obviously a destructive pattern of behavior to maintain for a long time I have begun to look for ways that we can maintain the integrity of our spiritual lives and the needs that we have for fellowship with other Christians. The biggest challenge is to find a church that has quality teaching and worship outside of the typical Sunday morning window (when I have to work).
Tonight we attended Buckhead Church, part of Northpoint ministries, for the first time. I think we both really enjoyed the worship service and especially the talk by Voddie Baucham about the role of women in a marriage. More than anything we enjoyed simply being able to attend a church service without the pressure of me being "on call."
I’m really excited about the possibility of being able to get involved in a church as a "normal" person. I’m really hoping that the opportunity to separate church and work will be a positive thing in our lives. I can’t say for sure that this will be the place that we will ultimately land in as our "church home" (good ole Southern Baptist term), but I’m excited nonetheless.
