By REV. DR. JOHN HATCHER
Religion Columnist

Inertia. We all learned in school that inertia is the tendency of matter to remain at rest or if moving, to keep moving in the same direction, unless affected by some outside force. Spiritual inertia has a hold on many of our lives and on many of our churches.

We are very familiar with physical inertia. It is the force that will not let you get up out of the comfortable chair, which begs for someone else to fill your iced tea glass, for someone else to pitch you the remote control. Gravity joined inertia as an ally long ago.

We are familiar with emotional inertia. It is the dullness and boredom in your life that makes you seek out a thrilling video filled with violence and sex to stimulate your lazy emotions. Emotional inertia wants to read a book that will "make" you cry. Truth is we all walk around like emotional zombies needful of something to make us laugh or cry.

We are familiar with financial inertia. It is the force that says if you do not try, you will not make any money. The Italian ditch digger knows this law because he says, "I diga' the ditch to maka' the money to buya' the bread to geta' the strength to diga' the ditch."

You have to take a risk to reap some rewards. Money does not grow on trees contrary to what we learned as children.

We are also familiar with romantic inertia. Particularly for married folks whose glands have calmed down since puberty, it takes some effort to stoke the fire of romance: dinner out, a dozen roses, and chocolates.

You see the tendency is to stay put. That is our tendency in our spiritual walk. To stay put. We've learned enough, we have grown enough, we've developed enough. Comfortable enough, we say it will take too much effort to get the ball rolling out of our comfort zone - out of our lazy-boy lives.

That is the tendency that rules many congregations: stay put in your little circle of friends; stay put where you sit every Sunday; come in and exit the same doors as you always do. The church sign read something like this: "If you always do the same thing that you always do, you are going to get the same results." That is inertia.

Jesus said, "If I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself." We must just break out of our comfortable patterns —controlled by inertia —and lift Jesus up. We must lift him up at church, at school, at work, at home. That will get the ball rolling and rolling in God's direction. So, get up and get going! Besides you need to lose some weight.

The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in Fayetteville.

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