I tease my pastor a lot. He’s a dear friend and a gifted speaker. I am blessed to have him as pastor and friend. I joke that I read while he preaches, but there has never really been a time that I didn’t come away with something valuable from his sermons.

A few Sundays ago, he asked some “What if” questions near the end of his sermon. I jotted them down as I listened, and they stayed with me throughout the week. So, I typed them out one day, printed them and hung the list on the pantry door of our kitchen. I read it at least once a day.

What if our families read the Bible together 3-5 times a week? The Bible is God’s word. If we spent time in that word with our families, we would see enormous changes at home and outside the home. Filling our lives with God’s truth, sharing and studying with our families  – what if all our families did this? As I said, enormous change.

What if every believer in Christ read on their own from the Bible and prayed every day? God created us to have fellowship with Him. How better to know someone better than to read His word and talk to Him daily? Personally, I know that my life improves greatly, in many ways, when I spend time reading and talking to God. And listening.

We were all born sinners. We sin. God asks us to confess our sins to Him. What if?

What if we recognized our shortcomings each day, took ownership and responsibility, and asked God not only to forgive us but to also help us? What if we were constantly aware of our sins and asked God to help us hold thoughts captive, tame our sharp tongues and help the joy that is within us overflow and cover up all the nastiness?

You hear folks fuss about going to church these days. Those places are full of hypocrites and not-so-nice people. Indeed, I’ve heard people say these things about my own church. I’ve heard people say they’ve walked in and walked out without being spoken to. It happens. There aren’t many churches where you won’t find wounded and sometimes not-so-nice folks.

But we aren’t supposed to go to church to see what we can get from other people.

We go because we are in need of fellowship, both with God and with other Christians. Sure, you might not get it right away, but if we are obedient, I believe God puts people in your life.

What if we went every week? What if we met people who were loving, giving folks who would bless our lives and help us through good and bad times? What if we met people who needed us? Some folks have never experienced being needed or serving others.

The last one is a “what if?” that strikes a real nerve with a lot of people: What if we were to tithe regularly? Yes, I’m talking about giving back to God what is His in the first place. I wonder what would happen. What if we regularly, just like a bill we must pay, gave a percentage of our income back to the church? Not only is it promised that God will bless us and take care of us, it is something He has told us to do.

I’m thinking that if people tithed regularly, even the 10 percent that most folks talk about, we’d see huge changes worldwide. Think of the people who could be ministered too. Would we have the homelessness, the lack of funding and the great needs we have if everyone gave back to God? I’m thinking we might have more money in the church than we’d know what to do with.

Our world is having a wild time right now. It’ crazy. Instead of fretting about it all, I’m wondering what would happen if we were to look at this “what if?” list and get to it. All of us on our knees every day praying for this world. All of us, coming together each week, supporting one another and praying together. All of us, spending alone time reading the Bible and talking to God. All of us, every day, asking God to forgive us of our sins.

What if?