Punctuality and Your Spiritual Focus - 1/2

published : November 26, 2006
by Michael Gibson

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth” (Col.3: 1-2).

In the verse above, Paul is admonishing the Christians in Colossae, and us today, to focus on spiritual matters and seek the things of God. What I want you to ask yourselves today, brethren, is how you can be setting “your affections on things above” if you are habitually late to the services? Since we, too, are risen with Christ, we are obligated to seek -- put diligent effort into -- putting our affections on things above.

“What is so bad,” you may ask, “about consistently being a few minutes late to services?” “Does the Bible have anything to say about punctuality?” I believe I can show you that it does! To clarify matters, let me make it perfectly clear that I am not talking about one who is occasionally late or one whose good intentions to be on time are derailed by unforeseen circumstances. I am addressing the practice of arriving at services tardy more often than arriving on time.



Let’s examine this problem from a secular perspective. What happens to a child who is often tardy to school? The school usually punishes him for having excessive tardies in a given time frame. Wouldn’t most of us agree that the teacher has the right to inflict consequences on the student who constantly interrupts his/her class with his tardiness? What happens if you are late for a doctor’s appointment or a ball game (in which you are participating) or a tee time at a popular golf club? Most of the time you lose your spot! You would be forced to wait for another opening, or possibly even to forfeit the game. What happens to the employee who always arrives late? What would you think of a preacher who was often late to services?

One who is consistently late is considered by most people to be selfish. Indeed, it is selfish to expect others to wait on you, or accommodate your tardiness. When you are late, doesn’t it show people that you consider your time to be more valuable than their time?

In the realm of attending church services, consider what message you send to the teacher or preacher when you are habitually late. How would you feel if you had prepared a speech and the audience couldn’t hear or was distracted from listening to you because people kept filing through the door five or ten minutes after you began? What of the Bible class teacher who has spent his spare time preparing lessons in which he always has to start over because of the disruption of the late student?

It shows a lack of concern for the subject matter and the preparation that speaker put into his message. It also may cause the teacher to feel as if you really do not care for the effort they have put in. What reaction would visitors to the assembly have if one-fourth of our membership came in after the services started? Would it seem like a congregation of people who were “setting their affections on things above”?