Sitting On A Two Legged Stool

I am amazed when I see someone ride a unicycle.  The balance and coordination is beyond me.  I am lucky if I can keep myself up on my motorcycle.  Now try and sit on a two-legged stool.  That can be funny.  You can do it but the concentration to keep your balance makes casual sitting impossible.  Of course you can use your feet, but then it really becomes a three-legged stool, and three-legged stool is what we have been created for.

I know that sounds odd, but it is true. No one is created for a two-legged stool, maybe a four-legged, but definitely a three-legged.  I started thinking about three-legged this past Sunday because I used a stool while preaching.  Somewhere between the third and fourth point it occurred to me how easy it is to sit down without falling.  It was a fleeting thought because I was in the middle of a sermon. Two-legged stools fall down, they’re useless, and either need mending or just thrown away.

Believe it or not our lives revolve around three necessary legs that keep our lives stable and in balance.  I order for us to find deep satisfaction we need three essential components or legs.  They are family, work, and church.  Of course these are the structures that give substance to our deep desire for relationships, to be significant and to have a spiritual experience.  Each one of these is essential to our lives.  The problem is that we are often out of balance, and when one leg is missing or too short life can be precarious. 

We need to work.  God has created us to be industrious and this can take many forms.  Work includes stay at home moms, volunteering for social causes, and of course our jobs.  Work provides us an avenue where we feel as if we are making a difference in the world and in someone’s life. We spend a lot of time at our jobs and raising our children

We also need family. Family is the core venue for developing relationships.  We have been created to have relationships.  Few people really like being alone.  Relationships provide strength and comfort in difficult times.  They provide joy and celebration at important ventures of our lives.  We need to spend time with our immediate family and the extended family of God.  We should never neglect one over the other.

The third leg of our metaphorical stool is the church.  We have been created for a spiritual experience.  Our hearts were created for worship.  And it is often the most neglected and short changed of the three legs. The Church used to be the central gathering point in American culture.  In agrarian society Sundays were a day of rest and people came from miles to attend church and spend the day with God’s people.  Little if anything got in the way.  Not so today.  For many people church is optional.  They will say it is important but the other legs often get in the way.  “I have to work”. “My children have an activity.” I was up late the night before.” Missing church is rationalized by touting the tired refrain, “Now don’t get legalistic about attending church.”  And, yes, attending church can be a legalistic endeavor, but Christian freedom can be another word for convenience.  To say that you can miss church on a regular basis and be a growing mature believer is to believe a lie.  Cooperate worship is essential; fellowship with believes is essential; and studying the word together is essential for spiritual health. 

Some of us need to get our stools fixed, and put our priorities back in line.  Taking a stand against culture and not allowing the world to encroach on our time of worship together will not be easy, but then nothing God asks of us is easy, and He always provides a way and the strength to overcome.  I’m just saying…..