OBSTACLES TO WORSHIP
Don Chapman writes,
"Recently I visited a church where I had to jump over a few unnecessary hurdles before I finally took my seat in their worship service. There was no sign out front. I drove to the church's location and was surprised not to see a sign. Was I in the right place? I've probably driven by the church building 100 times, and since it's in an old warehouse, I never knew it was a church! I suspected I was in the right place because of all the cars in the adjacent parking lot.
"Then as I parked my car I saw a sign on the side of the building facing a side road (but no sign BY the road.) Then we tried several doors and all of them were locked. We finally found an unlocked door on our fourth try! Then there were no greeters. I walked into the church and stood in the lobby, spinning around with a blank look on my face as I tried to figure out which door led to the sanctuary. It was like the old game show "Let's Make a Deal" where you pick one of three mystery doors. Nobody was around to help me find my way, no signs, nothing. A bunch of kids were entering door #1 so I guessed that wasn't right... then I saw adults going in door #2 so I followed them down a hallway to the sanctuary entrance. After all this, I expected to enter a room with 10 people...To my complete shock I entered a large auditorium that was literally packed with about 500 people!"
And then he writes, "I felt like I was on a treasure hunt! You really have to want to go to this place since they put so many obstacles in your way."