Unnecessary things

The other day as I was driving down the highway, I passed a car that had a large magnetic advertisement sprawled across the driver's door. When I read what was written on that placard, I had to slow down to take a double take. This car was advertising a mobile DNA paternity testing service that would come directly to your home. Is this something that we really need? Have the phone lines been burning up for this kind of service because there are so many people who want to determine the baby's daddy in the privacy of their own homes?

There are lots of things out there that I question the need for.

• Do we really need another reality show on television?
• Don't we already have enough "popular" music on the radio with people singing through those ridiculous microphones that make everyone sound the same?
• I saw a lollipop in a store not long ago that was bacon flavored...and it cost $4 (and yes, it was for people, not for dogs). And we need this?
• Do we really need 9 different 24-hour television news stations, each complete with a non-stop scrolling news ticker at the bottom?
• My children have been effectively done with their school work and end of year testing for over a week now, so why do they still have to be there for 5 more days?
• If I call Hair Club for Men and use their products, will my days really be spent in the pool or on the lake all day riding wave runners? Will my life really be that much better?

We look at these things and many more like them and laugh, shaking our heads at the ridiculousness that enthralls much of our culture. But the church is not immune to such nonsense either.

• How many committees (and committees on committees) do we really need to accomplish what God has called us to do and be?
• Will fellow believers really refuse to come and worship and study God's word with me if I don't use a version of the Bible that they claim is more inspired than the actual Greek and Hebrew?
• Do we really need more guys claiming to know such things as the timing of the end of the world or burning Korans?
• Will we really not cooperate with other churches and denominations because we are too territorial and don't want to share in the growth of the kingdom?
• Is "your service" truly better than "my service" just because you think the music is better in the service you attend?
• Are 1980's era keyboards still necessary to use in 21st century worship? (okay, that was an attempt to be funny...but it's still a good question)

I'm just hitting the tip of the iceberg here to be sure, but maybe it will get you thinking. How much of what we prefer and fight for in the body of Christ is really all that essential? Comparing what we desire to the authority and teaching of the Scripture, are all the programs and meetings and events and staffing that we plan and endlessly budget for and lose sleep over really necessary?

I believe these are questions are worth prayerfully asking.