Luke 9:56-62 — And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Our Bible and Life Group teacher talked about three types of churchgoer as part of this Sunday’s lesson. The Congregation, the Committed, and the Core. I’d add two more … The Casual, and the Cautions.
The Congregation is formed of the majority of those who attend church. Church on Sunday is part of their life, but that’s as far as it goes. If the church was only made up of people like them it would be like the church of Laodicea, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” (Revelation 3:15-17)
Fortunately, churches have the Committed too. They are the ones who don’t just attend on Sunday, but who are there at other times too, and probably engaged in some kind of service. In all fairness, it seems likely to me that the three “would-be” disciples whose eyes Jesus opened would be in this group … They were committed, but not part of the Core. The Core are those churchgoers who are “sold out to Jesus”, disciples who are always willing to sacrifice their own agenda for Jesus’s.
That leaves me with my two “extra C’s” — the Casual and the Cautions.
The Casual are like the one’s I call the “CEO”s — Christmas and Easter only! They come to church now and then — but not if there’s a good round of golf to be had or an interesting art show to go to!
And now we come to the Cautions … sadly, every church has them. They often conceal themselves among the Committed and the Core. They are the ones who put their own agenda ahead of Jesus’s, and so remind me of the scribes and Pharisees — “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23:27-28)
When I heard the 3 “C”s I was really challenged. I think I know which group I fit in, and I want to do better. Where do you fit? (I know you’re not in one of my two extra groups!)