Nitpicking 101

The young man paused, unsure the church of choice,
Of which to join, where Jesus would be taught;
From source unseen came a heavenly voice,
"Why tarry without? All are Bible fraught!
Any church is a fount of grace and truth,
And will suffice, of your Lord Christ to tell."
"But these folk are so old!" demurred the youth;
For them, not I, the grave soon tolls the knell!"
"See not the tomb in these snow-colored manes,
Deeply-lined faces, and red rheumy eyes;
Tho' their times are brief, the graveyard retains
Nothing but flesh; to heaven each soul flies!"
Long years of service build a trove of truth
That will enhance growth in wisdom of youth!

This poem selects a rather small example of the delaying excuses supplied by Satan in an accelerated assault upon a young new believer to keep him from immediately following his acceptance of Jesus with beginning his discipleship. He needs to follow his profession with a determined effort to overhaul his worldly lifestyle, to break himself away from old habits that offend God, replacing them with gentleness, loving others, and become an habitual churchgoer. A multitude of nitpicking excuses to put the new lifestyle off, maybe forever, immediately confront him within just hours of his new resolution to follow God. I'm sorry to say that a majority of new converts do allow themselves to be diverted from making the necessary change to a new life, and, therefore, their salvation to heaven for eternity is very much in doubt. You must be prepared for this assault of excuses from Satan, and to overcome them, so that you can be allowed to grow into a wise and determined soldier in Christ's war against evil.

The dissuading excuses are legion, but here are listed a few.
"I believe in God, but church is not my thing."
"They are always asking for money."
"The church is full of hypocrites."
"You can go to heaven without going to church."
"I don't like loud preachers."
"I don't get 'fed' there."
"I don't like the music."
"Sunday is my day to be with the family/"
"Sunday is my only day to relax."
"I must do my shopping on Sunday."
"The people are cold and unfriendly."
"Bible classes are segregated by sex and age."
"The services are too long."
"I don't like to leave my baby in the nursery."
etc., etc.

I'm sure you get the idea. The same kind of nitpicking leads to long-time Christians moving from church to church to church. It also leads to long-time Christians staying home altogether from church. We tend to forget what the church is for---it is a hospital for sinners, not a collection of saints on earth.