Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Timothy 4:2)

I doubt that spirituality was designed to be seasonal, but there are times our approach to summertime spirituality stretches that premise.

It begins innocently enough. With summer comes more schedule flexing, vacation planning, weekend trips, and random acts of recreation. As a result, the temptation is to simultaneously put our spirituality on the shelf.

As it increasingly impacted the church through the past decades, the phenomena was labeled the Summer Slump and reflected weekly decline in church attendance and giving. It wasnt simply that the church was affected, but the summer slump impacted personal spirituality as well. Im not positive, but perhaps the origin of the summer slump phenomena first surfaced in the post apostolic period. Late in the first century (A.D.) Christians in Ephesus determined to spend weekends body surfing on the beaches of Ephesus while staying at the Ephesus Super 8. The rest is history!

If were not cautious, the summer season potentially impacts all things spiritual from personal devotions to worship attendance to stewardship, even to the depth of our intimacy with Jesus. The tendency to dial down our walk with God seems to be part of the annual summer American religious experience.

Faith should never be routine, but it should always be part of our routine. Within the realm of personal piety, there is the routine of the spiritual disciplines (practices) such as devotional reading of scripture and prayer.

There is the routine of the community of faith:gathering for worship, Bible study and relational accountability. The reality of church life is that many church programs take a summer hiatus due to lack of volunteer availability or recreational preoccupation.

As a result, there is an intriguing cause and effect relationship between our devotion to spiritual growth and the church program calendar. The reality of our personal life is that if we have the resources and time, were out of here! Vacation time, baby! While theres obviously nothing inherently wrong with vacations, (in fact I highly recommend them) the risk is that vacations rarely enhance our spiritual growth.

It was Paul who wrote to a young pastor named Timothy about the significance of being prepared regardless of the season. The gospel was too strategic to be proclaimed seasonally. I would suggest our relationship with Christ cant afford to take the summer off either.

Brian Vriesman, pastor of Twin Falls Reformed Church, may be reached at 733-6128 or brian@-tfrc.org.

Read more:

Pastor's Corner: Summer Spirituality