Yikes. Those are strong words. But I have started thinking about this. Have we, over time and with good intentions and pure motivation, turned our churches into vendors of religious good and services? In our desire to attract people to our churches, have we taught that church is where you come to learn about how God can help you fix your problems? Where you come to have others teach your children about God for you? Where you come for your weekly feeding in the Word of God? Where you come for quality programs to help you live life better and develop a social network? Where you come to experience high quality worship music?
If the church has become the place instead of the people on a mission, leaders only naturally start focusing their efforts on what people experience when they come to the place on Sundays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. In recent years, churches have added the words excellence and relevance to their value statements for the church. In doing so, have our churches naturally began to spend more time focusing on the quality of the music, sound system, and bulletins? As the church grows, the pressure to continue this focus increases and the problem escalates.
The bigger the church gets, the better the preaching needs to be with more dynamic presentations and better PowerPoint slides. The music needs to be more professional with better sound systems and lighting. The youth ministries need to be better to keep the teenagers happy and paying attention so their parents can sit in the larger gathering where religious goods and services are dispensed. Great intentions, but as a result the church can subtly lose sight of its identity and missional function, and people come to church to have their needs met by others, volunteering only if they have time to spare. We must be careful not to create a culture where people come to church; if so, people generally are content to remain spectators.
Remember, we don't go to church. We are the church.
pcraig
2 comments:
Amen, that's really all I can say, but maybe I'll think of something later to go along with it.
I knew it wouldn't be long, anyway..
I agree that this is the how the church is becoming. Although its all great to have a dynamic music program and awesome top notch sound systems, etc. That's not nearly as important as getting out and reaching the lost and dying world. I think about "Christ came to serve; not to be served." Sometimes I like to think of the church as like a hospital. Caring for the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental needs of the world. The main purpose of a hospital to treat their patients and get them well. How is the church supposed to help the lost when all they possibly always think about how bad the music might sound b/c of the not so good sound system? What about the pastors deciding between two or three power point templates to display points and notes of the message? Again, as Pastor Craig mentioned, these are good intentions and are not bad things to have , but at the same time who is being reached?
The people outside are searching for something. We are the CHURCH! Not a building with four or more walls...
When Christ does return for the second time...he will not be taking any building structures with him...only His people...the CHURCH.
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