Something’s eating at me. I’m really trying to determine if it is the Holy Spirit or if it’s just my mind being dissatisfied with status quo. The question I’m working through is, “What on earth is the Church here for?”
If I look at my own local church, I see in our actions that we are mixed up as to what we’re trying to accomplish. There are a number of fallacious ideas, some of which are as follows:
1. Timing: When we meet – There are people that believe that the day of the week – as well as the time of that day – are found prescriptively in Scripture. Therefore, only “church” can only occur on Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM for Sunday School and 11:00 AM for “Worship”.
OK, the only place in Scripture where Sunday morning is highlighted is in Acts 20 where it says that they were gathered together to “break bread” and Paul talked until after Midnight. You might be able to make a case from Christ being raised on the first day of the week and that we should meet then as a memorial to Christ. You could even make a case from history that the Church (big “C” intended) has typically met together on Sunday mornings. The fact of it, though, is that there is no prescription anywhere in Scripture that dictates that we should meet on Sunday mornings.
The point I am attempting to make here is that people bring their own ideas of what “church” is supposed to be like into the time that we gather – whether it is Biblical or Christian. Those two words are not necessarily synonymous. Sometimes those words may actually stand in contrast to each other.
2. Target Audience: Who we speak to. There are people who believe that we should “target” certain people based on the age/philosophy/generation by creating an atmosphere where everything is geared to reach them in particular.
I, personally, have a huge issue with this. Not that we can’t be inclusive of those people groups, but to consciously target those groups by changing the methodology – at the exclusion of others – just doesn’t make sense. You all know me as a “techie” kind of guy, but the tech stuff is only a tool to be used. And then only applied to make the biggest impact. To have videos during every sermon destroys the impact they could have based on two things: First, there’s a point that comes where a video actually distracts from the core message we are trying to proclaim – We end up using a video for the purpose of having a video just so we can say that we’re “communicating” effectively; and, two, the overuse of videos cause people to either tune them out or to question why in the world we are watching cartoons instead of hearing the Word of God proclaimed.
I fully understand that we must be able to culturally proclaim the Word of the Lord. You could not find a more committed supporter of this truth. But, we can’t bastardize God’s Word by corrupting it with things that distract from the Bible itself.
There IS an appropriate target audience, though – believers. The church service is for those who profess Christ. The foundational purpose of the church is the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, that is, the propagation of the gospel. The body has gotten into a bad habit of thinking that the church is where we bring our unbelieving friends & neighbors to hear the gospel. Our friends & neighbors are supposed to hear the gospel from US, not the pastor. The pastors and elders have the responsibility to equip the saints FOR the work of ministry. Too many believers are not exercising their spiritual muscles by actually using the equipping they’ve received. We’ve allowed those muscles to become spiritually atrophied.
3. Content: What we say – This is obviously tied in to the previous element. I am not a big fan of the “seeker-sensitive” movement. If the purpose of the church coming together is to equip them for the work of ministry, then why do we design services so that they are easy on the ears? When we have to dumb-down the Word of God delivered through the message of the morning, we do everyone a disservice. We almost certainly miss in our delivery of what God wants the church members to do today based on what they hear. If the goal of the sermon is to
“attract”, then we’re doomed. We are told in Scripture that the world will reject the message – and the world will not even be able to understand or comprehend it – apart from the working of the Holy Spirit. If a non-believer is sitting in the pew some Sunday morning and the Holy Spirit wants that person to understand to the point of salvation, then, dog-gone-it, He’ll make that happen – apart from how simple the message is.
Where is the equipping? Does our congregation even sense the need for a life that is spiritually demanding? Where are the sermons covering topics like:
1. I’ve been bought with a price, I am no longer my own. (1 Corinthians 6:20)
2. I have been transferred from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. (Colossians 1:13)
3. Those whom God loves, He reproves and disciplines; therefore be zealous and repent. (Rev 3:19)
4. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)
5. And so on…
Let me be clear in something: we can worship alone or with others. We can pray alone or with others. We can sing to God alone or with others. We can study the Word alone or with others. The church can do all of these things as well when we come together. The difference is that the equipping occurs when the church comes together.
4. Activities: What we do – People “go” to church, right? Obviously not true, but we all say it from time to time. The problem is that we too often see activities AS church, or even the church AS an activity. I believe that the problem we’re seeing in the modern church is that we’ve lost our way. We’ve lost our focus. We’ve lost our vision.
If the purpose of the time together as the church is to equip the saints for works of ministry, then that ought to refocus our energies to that end. Everything we do when together as the Body of Christ ought to be for that one, solitary purpose.
So, my heart is burdened and I am passionate about equipping for works of ministry – especially the ministry of reconciliation.
As Diane & I were talking last night, I was trying to figure out why I am becoming MORE impassioned about these things. Is it that I’m just getting older and time is slipping away? Is it that I am dissatisfied with my current church and they way that we “do” church? I don’t know. Pray for me that the Holy Spirit will make things clearer for me and that I will follow God more readily and influence those near me more effectively.