Eutychus and the Bored Church Member

Eutychus loved church! He loved the Lord's Day and worshiping with other brothers and sisters in Christ. One of the best parts of church was the time to hear God's Word preached. He loved to think about the reality of the true and living God, and he loved to hear the Bible faithfully and sincerely preached. Somehow that always comforted him no matter what he was going through in life.

One day the pastor preached a message on the joy of knowing eternal bliss through Christ. The pastor did a great job exegeting the biblical text, and it was obvious that the truth of the God's Word spoke to the pastor's own heart. Eutychus was excited!

On the way out of the worship center to the foyer he ran into a member of the church leaving worship, and the man was yawning. Eutychus thought the man must have had a late night Saturday night, but the man replied, "No, it is just these boring sermons we get from the pastor." "Boring!" Exclaimed Eutychus! "What could be boring about hearing the greatest and most glorious destiny ever?", Eutychus queried. The man said, "Are you kidding? All this talk about God and the Bible text and eternal bliss in heaven is not relevant to my life. What I need is something practical and applicable." "Like what?", asked Eutychus. The man stared disdainfully at Eutychus and retorted "Well...you know...how to get rid of negative feelings about yourself when you sin. Or, how wonderful I am and how God doesn't want me to have a bad day. At the very least pastor could tell us a few good jokes to make us laugh, or give an inspirational speech about human accomplishments." Eutychus almost laughed, because he thought the man was joking. A quick glance at the man's face told him that this bored church member was deadly serious.

Eutychus didn't really know what to say, so he just stood there dumbfounded. Finally the man left trying to avoid shaking the preacher's hand as the bored church member slinked towards the front door of the church. Eutychus wondered, "How can the most glorious God, His most glorious Revelation, the Bible, and the greatest news one could hear ever be boring? Some people are really strange."

Eutychus thought about the bored church member all week. He thought of some things that he wanted to tell this man. Eutychus was looking forward to the next Sunday, and he was hoping to see the bored church member again. When Sunday came Eutychus entered the worship center quickly making a broad glance around the sanctuary hoping to see the bored church member. But the man was no where to be seen. After church Eutychus asked a friend about the bored church member with whom he had talked the previous Sunday. Eutychus' friend replied, "Haven't you heard?" "No, what", asked Eutychus. The friend paused and said, "He died this week." Eutychus was stunned! And all he could think about as he left church that day was, "What is relevant now?"