One of the afflictions of pastoral work has been to listen, with a straight face, to all the reasons people give for not going to church: “My mother made me when I was little.” “There are too many hypocrites in the church.” “It’s the only day I have to sleep in.” There was a time when I responded to such statements with simple arguments that exposed them as flimsy excuses. Then I noticed that it didn’t make any difference. If I showed the inadequacy of one excuse, three more would pop up in its place. So I don’t respond anymore. I listen (with a straight face) and go home and pray that person
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