The church
ByI am really tired of churches. I know that not all churches can be placed in the same category but it seems like a lot these days can be. There is such a disconnect between the church and the world. It seems as if church has become a Sunday morning country club. How many people that attend church every week actually live out their faith every day.
It seems to me like churches are just becoming the cool place to be on Sunday morning (or whenever your church’s service may be). Churches seem to be more focused on the next biggest thing to attract people to come to them - by using cool lights, having hip bands, by pastors dressing in super cool clothes, by preaching what people want to hear rather than what the Bible actually teaches. They don’t seem to be so worried about what the congregation does during the week. They don’t seem to be worried about whether or not they’re discipling their people. They don’t seem to be making any kind of impact on their community or the world. Do you know what I mean?
Since when is the church about being hip and cool? Since when is it the church’s job to entertain everyone on Sunday morning? I’m not saying there is anything wrong with any one of these things. In and of themselves there’s not. It’s the fact that these things seem to be the main thing. Isn’t Jesus supposed to be the main thing?
I had a conversation with a mom recently about how kids these days are into such bad stuff. We really can’t just let our kids go out and do things with a lot of kids anymore because of the kinds of things they’re doing and the bad influence they can cause. The really sad thing is that we were saying that even church kids can’t be trusted anymore. My daughter was at a party recently and I heard about some things later that, while not too terribly bad, they were things that kind of caused me to raise my eyebrows a little – especially since these were church kids we were talking about! When you can’t feel comfortable letting your kids hang out with other Christian kids – church kids – isn’t there a problem in the church? Definitely a problem in the parenting department but isn’t part of that a problem in the church?
I believe if more of our pastors were speaking out against sin and teaching that certain things are wrong – whether anyone wants to hear it or not! – we wouldn’t have the kind of problems we have today. If more of our pastors would quit trying to be self-help authors and start preaching God’s word wouldn’t things be better in the church?
Now, I’m not placing all the blame on the pastors in any way. While I think they have a responsibility, I also believe each and every one of us is accountable for our own actions and behavior. We all have the ability to read God’s word and know what’s sinful and what’s right in God’s eyes. We are all able to seek God through prayer and ask for the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin and then repent! We need to do it! We need to start living out our Christian faith – not just by going to church on Sunday morning but by living it every day. We need to mentor others, we need to build relationships with unbelievers, we need to serve others in some way, we need to apply what we learn in church to our lives, we need to disciple our children, we need to spend time with God!!!
We need to quit being passive and start being active in our faith.
I would love for you to read two great posts I read recently, here and here. These two posts, as well as the conversation I referred to, are kind of what got me thinking about this.
Tell me what you think – do you agree or disagree with me?
Amen, sister! I agree.
I agree. I really don’t care about the music, dress, ect. cause I don’t think God cares much about that, but I think the problem starts when the service becomes a show, or just pure entertainment for the congregation. Church should be completely interactive.
We should participate in the praise and worship, not just singing but engaging God. We should participate in the preaching, not just listening but realizing God is speaking to us and receiving His word into our spirit as much as we possibly can.
We should be in churches that engage the community, not just the congregation. We should be in churches that send people into the mission field, and we should be supporting those missions financially.
And most importantly, like you said very well, we should be living as a Christian every day, not just Sunday. It should be WHO we are, not WHAT we are.
Great post!
I totally agree with you, as you probably know from my post, to which you linked (thank you!!!!).
If you listened to my pastor’s message (which, btw, is very meaty and worthwhile, but also very long — 53 minutes), he says many of the exact same things that you did, here in this post. He said, basically, “I know we could grow the church with a more ‘sensitive’ approach, with flashy lights, more special programs, more entertainment, and gourmet coffee in the foyer, but that won’t happen on my watch. Too many times, those things come at the expense of actual discipleship, and Christianity throughout the week, not just on Sundays.”
There’s a fine line there, though… Church culture *is* important. The way we worship does make a difference, and it’s OK, to some extent, to account for taste. And, of course, we want *people* in the seats. But, it seems like more and more people are exalting church culture — making the “way” we do church of utmost importance. Also, pastors oftentimes focus on the number of those in the church, instead of the number of disciples who are actually becoming more like Jesus.
But, you’re right. Much of it comes down to our own attitudes, and our own willingness to pursue Christ and Christianity for ourselves. But… I do fault SOME of the pastors. Leadership matters. What, how, and where the leaders lead is important. Sheep need shepherds. God does call some into pastoring, and the way that pastors answer His call is incredibly important and significant.
So, I think the responsibility rests on both we as individual Christians and the pastors.
I know my husband, the pastor of our church, frequently says that the local church shouldn’t be a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners. And our Christian life isn’t something you do on Sundays but it’s a way of life 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I know there are a lot of churches out there that are all about the crowd and many have even become so bogged down in man’s traditions that anything else is “wrong” to them. But I also know there are many great churches out there who still put Christ first and reaching others of the utmost importance.
Thanks, Neil!
Missy, I wholeheartedly agree!!
Karen, you’re welcome – that was a great post! You said, “But, it seems like more and more people are exalting church culture — making the “way” we do church of utmost importance.” Amen!! And also just like you said – leadership does matter! Very well said, Karen.
Jennifer, hello and welcome!! “hospital for sinners” I love that!! That’s so perfect! I know you’re right about there being some great churches – I just wish we could find them!
Thank you all for your great feedback and comments!!
We have allowed the world to enter affect todays churche instead of the other way around so we get water down messages.The reason why many pastors don’t preach against sin is because people get offended. I am so glad that my pastor still preaches against sin.
arm5, very true. It’s really sad to see. You are very blessed to have a pastor preaching against sin!!
I agree!
Well said.
Thanks, inspiredbrio! Thanks for stopping by as well!