Lover or Prostitute?

David Ryser in a brilliant one page article entitled "Lover or Prostitute?" (click pic and scroll to page 4 of PDF to read article in its entirety) recalls a quote from Sam Pascoe that goes something like this: "Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became a business.” But isn't the church supposed to be a body (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:27)? And if a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute? What's the difference between a lover and a prostitute? They do many of the same things, but a lover does what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends to love, but only as long as you pay.

What would happen if God stopped paying you? What would happen if He stopped blessing you? What if He never did another thing for you? Would you still love Him like crazy? Why do you serve Him? Are His blessings in your life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that you have earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? What's it going to be? Lover or prostitute? Click this vid below to see what the latter looks like in worship.