He stood by the door waiting, anxious and excited; anticipating the sweetness of their time together. He couldn't wait for things to start. It was Sunday morning, time for the big church service, and he was early, like always; he didn't want anyone else to get there before he did.

Finally after waiting for what seemed like eternity, along came the pastor to open the doors of the little church. He didn't even say hello to the one who was waiting; just went on in and turned on the lights.

People started drifting in to the little church in drips and drabs. One, or two at a time, sometimes a whole family together they came. Each of them walked right on by the watcher, without saying a thing to him. They'd gather together with friends to talk, or get various things ready for the service, but they didn't pay attention to him, standing there by the door.

It was almost funny watching some of these people come into the service. If you watched them drive up to the church, they were sad, sullen, or even angry. The Smith's, like usual, were fighting with each other in the car on the way. But, as soon as they got in sight of the church, they put on a big smile, and acted like everything was just great. Almost all of them walked into the tiny church building with a mask on. They may as well have been going to a masquerade ball with how phony their faces looked.

Looking at the people, you'd think they were the greatest bunch of believers this side of heaven. But, the watcher knew better. He'd seen how they were in their homes. He'd seen the sins, the bad attitudes, and the petty actions of each of them. They might look holy, but he knew how short of holiness they actually lived.

A few women had gathered at the altar to "pray." I say that in quotation marks, because they didn't really pray. All they did was cry and complain to the Lord. Not a prayer for the service, nor a prayer of faith for God to move on their behalf, nor a prayer for the needs of somebody else, just a long, drawn out complaint about the same old things.

Eventually, a few minutes later than it should have been, everything and everybody was ready to start. He watched from the door, as one of the deacons intoned a prayer and read a psalm. From the look on the deacon's face, he didn't think much of the prayer he said, nor of the psalm he read. He just did it because he was supposed to. The watcher noticed this, and wanted to reach out to him, but knew from previous experience that it was futile.

The deacon gave way to the worship leader. This woman truly loved to sing. Unfortunately, the watcher had seen her enough to know that she really wasn't singing for the Lord's glory, but for her own. She loved the comments the people made to her after the service.

Since she was looking for the applause of the people, the worship leader chose her songs accordingly. She had to have pieces that showed off her great voice, whether they glorified God, or not. If the people couldn't sing them, that was okay; in fact, it was better for her. Then she could sing by herself. God would get the glory from how well she sang, wouldn't He?

Today, she had a new song to sing for the congregation. It was a rather impressively written piece, which she sang "for the glory and honor of the Lord," or so she said. "But," the watcher thought, "if it was for the Lord's glory and honor, why wasn't he mentioned in the song?"

The congregation went on singing and singing. Some of the songs had a great message, if the people would only take the time to think about what they were singing. Others, quite probably written out of ignorance, said the opposite of what the Bible did.

There was one woman in the congregation who started to tremble during the singing. It was supposed to be a manifestation of the Holy Spirit touching her, but the watcher knew better. This woman trembled the same way, at the same time, in every service. If it was truly the Holy Spirit causing her to do that, it wouldn't have happened like that. It would happen at different times, or to different people, or in a different way. Instead, it was just her getting emotional about the songs.

While there's nothing wrong with getting emotional about the Lord, there is about saying it's the Lord doing it. This woman, the watcher knew, was just like the worship leader. She wanted people to look at her, and see how "spiritual" she was. This was her way of getting that attention.

Interspersed with the singing, people were given opportunities for "testimonies," or to sing a "special" song. A few even got up to quote a favorite scripture verse. The watcher always wondered if those people really understood those verses, or if they'd just memorized them because they sounded good. There weren't many of those this day, but there were several "special" songs.

As the first special started, "for the glory and honor of the Lord," the watcher wondered how this person thought they were glorifying God the Father. "When cows sound like that," he thought, "it's normal. But, when people do, where's the glory? That brother is gifted by God, but not to sing. Why doesn't he use his gifts for God, instead of trying to do something that he's not gifted, or prepared to do?" At least when the worship leader sang, it sounded good, even if she wasn't truly giving God the glory.

Some of the testimonies were really rather good. The watcher loved to hear about how people were healed, and delivered, and how all their needs were met by God. But, then there were the others. The ones where the people talked more about the devil than they did about God. "Nobody, is going to overcome listening to that," the watcher muttered to himself. She just spent ten minutes complaining to the congregation about all the attacks she's received this week. Then, she has the gall to finish by saying "but God helped me to survive all that." How in the world is somebody's faith going to be lifted up by listening to that?

Once the singing and testimonies were done, it was time for the offering. This was one of the watcher's favorite times. He knew how much giving opened the doors for God's people to be blessed. One of the elders gave a short lesson about giving, exhorting the people to give for the work of the Lord, and even mentioning a missionary that the church was supporting. "This is good," the watcher thought, "the people need to be encouraged to give.

When the people passed to give their offerings, the watcher was curious. He looked over several people's shoulders to see what they did. "What's this," he said to himself in alarm, "how can these people expect to have their seed multiplied if all their giving is a pittance? Didn't they listen to what the elder said?"

The watcher was saddened by the offering. He knew how much these people needed to receive a blessing. He knew the struggles in their lives. "That woman over there, is trying to raise three children without a husband. Those two older sisters are living on a fixed income. The couple over there is struggling to raise a child with many health problems. This brother just opened a new business. How can these expect God's blessing on their finances if they aren't faithful to God with their finances?"

The elder prayed for the offering, enraging the watcher in the process. He prayed for God to bless the people who gave, but many of them weren't even tithing! Then, to make matters worse, he prayed that God bless those who didn't give. Didn't he know what the Bible said about that. The watcher decided he had to do something, so tried to catch the elder off to the side, so that he could explain how necessary it was to pray in agreement with the scripture, but the elder, as usual, refused to listen.

Finally, after spending way to long announcing the soccer game that afternoon, the picnic the next week, and all the other social activities they were planning for "fellowship" the pastor turned to the Word of God. The watcher had been waiting for this all morning. He'd been trying to speak to the pastor all week about this message, giving him ideas, showing him scripture verses, working to prepare him for this important moment.

The pastor muttered a short prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of the people, and "bless the reading of the Word." The watcher had heard it before, and wasn't impressed. This pastor (and many others) said the same thing every week, almost like a ritual.

Then, shocking the watcher, the pastor didn't open his Bible, but instead, opened a magazine. The watcher took a good look while he was opening it and was amazed. This wasn't even a Christian magazine! "What does he think he's doing?" the watcher asked himself. "What kind of spiritual food is he expecting to find in there?"

As the pastor quoted from the magazine article, he drew out some life lessons for the congregation, even quoting, or more correctly misquoting a scripture verse to back up his point. The watcher couldn't call it a preaching though, it was more of a lesson on social responsibility than it was a preaching, or teaching. The pastor kept repeating himself too. It was as if he thought that saying the same thing over and over would make it true. "Or, maybe," the watcher though, "he doesn't have anything else to say, and is trying to take up time."

The people sure got excited over this "message." The watcher looked in amazement as they nodded their heads in agreement, jumped to their feet, and shouted "amen" and "praise the Lord." One even shouted "amen" when the pastor talked about something bad happening to a friend of his. That didn't make any sense at all. It was as if the person who shouted didn't even hear the words, just shouted because there was a pause in the message.

Finally, after exactly thirty-five minutes and fifteen seconds, the pastor finished his message. He gave a short prayer, which was so full of platitudes and empty of power that it really didn't mean anything. It sure sounded impressing, but that's all it did.

As always, before ending the service, the pastor gave a very typical altar call. "If anyone is here who doesn't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, please come forward, we'd like to pray for you. Or, perhaps you're here, and haven't been walking with the Lord. If you'd like to rededicate your life to Jesus, please come up, because we'd like to pray for you too."

The watcher really didn't like that word "rededication." "Doesn't the pastor know that the concept of rededication isn't in the Bible?" He asked himself. "The right word to use is repent, not rededicate."

Of course, nobody moved. There were several people who really needed to go to the altar and do business with the Lord, but none of them did. They didn't want people to think they'd been living in some great, horrible sin. The watcher wasn't concerned about those "great sins" as much as he was about the supposed little ones that everyone kept secret. He knew that when people are in great sin, they know it. But, those who were just not doing what God wanted them to do were usually quick to rationalize their sin. "What about all those people who aren't tithing, who aren't studying their Bibles, who aren't praying, who aren't loving their neighbors, or who aren't demonstrating the character of Christ to the world. Why don't they go up there as they should?"

After a moment, when it was obvious that nobody was going to come forward, the pastor offered a few closing comments, and a short prayer. "Thank you all for coming," he said, "we'll be looking forwards to seeing you next week."

The people started filing out of the church. Many stopped to talk with friends and acquaintances. They seemed more animated and alive in these discussions than they had in any other part of the service. Instead of looking sad, like when they were giving their offerings, they looked like their team had just won the ball game.

Even with the talking, it didn't take long for everyone to leave. The Smiths restarted their argument as soon as they were out of sight of the church. Others hurried to catch the ball game on television, or get to their favorite restaurant before it filled up. Even the pastor hurried to lock the door, calling out to a friend that he'd meet them at their usual restaurant. The little church was once again quiet, waiting for the next time.

Seeing all this, the watcher turned away sad. In the whole service, nobody had invited him, Holy Spirit, to come in and take part.

Note to our English Readers: This was originally written to the Spanish speaking church in Mexico. Although we don't se all of these errors in the church in the United States, I can assure you that they are common in the church in Mexico.