I have noticed an interesting pattern of human behavior that I have not yet totally comprehended. If people are paying to attend a production like Lion King they will spend large sums of money to get front row seats, but when attending a local production like a high school play they will leave the front row empty and fill the room from the second row back. It is the same in church. Often the front row or rows are vacant while people jam into the back. My sister tells me it so they can see who is there and what they are wearing. If you sit in the front you miss most of the show which is behind you. At a major production like on Broadway you don’t care who is behind you because you don’t know them. Last evening we went to a really marvelous production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. It was a high school production and much better than one would have expected. My wife and I were the only ones to sit on the front row and I was amazed that some people came and sat down right behind us. So my question is, “Why do people do that?”
I wonder how often it is that we settle for second best when the best is available. Jesus offers us the best. He tells us how to treat each other. He shows us the path to eternity. He offers us the abundant life. He forgives us. He assures us that we are loved. He really offers quality. And yet so many people walk away preferring second best or most often third, fourth or fifth best. Why is that?
Written by Roger Bothwell on March 27, 2009
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org