Have You Ever Slept in Church?

As a former pastor, it was my privilege to communicate God's Word in a variety of settings and to multiple age groups. 

I've had my fair share of boring messages. One of the things I've noticed, that is fairly common in church, is people sleeping during those times. 

It's nothing new. It even happened to the Apostle Paul:

I've seen people with drool coming out of the side of their mouths as they were dozing off. 

I've watched people have the bobble-head effect as they fought sleep.

One well-meaning young man told me after a sermon, "Did you know there are 187 tiles in the ceiling of this building?"

Keys have clanked to the floor. Bibles have fallen out of the sleeper's hands. Elbows have been unleashed by a spouse or parent to keep the offender awake.

One dear lady used to greet me at the door every Sunday with the same, "Enjoyed it!" One Sunday (when I was much younger) I asked her, "Thank you. What did I speak about?" The silence was deafening. 

A classic example of sleeping in church was when a friend of mine was sitting next to me dozing off. The speaker was an older gentleman who could only speak in monotone. The room was hot, it was after lunch, the speaker kept going on and on and my friend must've been really tired because his eyes kept closing and his head was sinking rapidly.

As I saw his head bob up and down as he fought sleep, I elbowed him and whispered, "He called on you to pray!"

Immediately my friend jumped to his feet and started praying in a loud voice to dismiss the service. He looked around at the stares and the older pastor who stopped in mid-sentence said, "Young man, please be seated."

He turned twelve shades of red as tears were streaming out of my eyes as I fought back the laughter. 

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" was all he could say as he shook his head during the rest of the meeting!

Please don't feel sorry for him or think this was mean. He had already played many pranks on me and he paid me back royally!

If you've ever slept in church, you are in good company:

“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.” (Acts 20:7–11, ESV)

What funny things have you seen in church meetings? Please reply to this email and I may share it!

Rejoicing, On the Victory Side!

Beau