“Preacher, isn’t it sad that the grocery store is open on Easter, forcing all those cashiers and bag boys to miss church?” “Preacher, can you believe the recreation department has scheduled games during Prayer Meeting on Wednesday?” “Preacher, I remember when I was younger, everything was closed during church.” I hear these comments all the time. People lamenting the fact that everything doesn’t shut down for churches and worship anymore. Some share these words with sadness. Some share these words with anger. Most share them with some level of disbelief in the fact that the United States no longer has “respect” for the church.
These conversations happen in churches all across the country, and inevitably, they end on the United States and disappointment with the country allowing this disrespect to happen. First, the United States in this sense is not a single entity. One person or one group of people did not make a single decision to begin scheduling on top of worship services. This began to occur on a much more grass roots level.
