Let me start out by saying that I love church. I am a firm believer in the necessity of attending church. Not a necessity for salvation, but a necessity to fulfill the calling of Christ. We need the church in order to build each other up, to keep each other accountable, and perhaps most importantly, to worship God together. So what happens when we forget why we go to church? Instances like those described below happen.
I used to attend a church in Grand Rapids. I started to go there because it was right next to my school, and they had a very good college program. I really enjoyed it there. I went there for two years and got very involved in the group. I was a part of the worship team but eventually switched out to be a part of the welcoming committee (cause they wouldn’t let me be a part of both). I had talked to the pastor of this group for months about doing my internship there. The whole time he was excited about it and said that the following school year (when my internship needed to start) that we would be able to do that no problem. However, when it came time to set it up, he decided he “did not have time.” Issue One: Over-commitment. If you can’t do something, say so right away. Don’t commit to too many things and then have to back out later. Too often, Christians are afraid to say no to others because they are supposed to help out. And if they say no, they aren’t doing their “Christian Duty” but it’s far better to say no off the bat because it won’t work out than to say yes and have to back out later.
This same church was very large. They had many people wishing to join membership most of the time. While I have problems with church membership to begin with (I understand the importance of being committed to a single body, but I don’t see why it has to be official membership. Are we not all members of the Body of Christ at the point of salvation? Is that not good enough? Why must I become a member of this church or that church? [more on that point later]) the way this church went about it really ground my nerves. It wasn’t enough for them to simply meet with the person pursuing membership, they took it to the next level. Issue two: Leadership induced gossip. For every member that wished to be a part of this church, the leadership felt it necessary to put their name in the bulletin in the following way, “So-And-So is requesting to be a member of this church. If you know anything about said person that the board should take into consideration during this process, please contact us.” (Nick’s paraphrase). I’m sorry, but when the heck did it become okay for churches to invite people to gossip? Last I knew, that was something condemned, not something that should be expected within a church. It’s just sad. This was one of the final reasons I left this church.
So, my current pastor was asked to speak at another church coming up soon. Which is great. Nothing wrong with that. However, the last time he left to speak at another church, the congregation kind of freaked out. What was the problem? We did not tell them beforehand that the pastor was not going to be speaking. They were upset we had a guest speaker (a missionary speaker) and did not know prior that it was coming. The reality? They would not have shown up to church had they known the pastor was not going to be there. Because they were upset, we now must announce when the pastor will be gone. Which is Issue Three: It’s all about the pastor. There are too many people in churches who are there because of this person or that. If the pastor isn’t there, they won’t be there. If the pastor leaves, they will leave. For them, the church isn’t about God or fellowship or worship- it’s about the pastor. Personally, this pastor and disagree with this decision, but the board made it so we have to go with it.
Similar to this incident, back in the summer our church decided to switch things up. Instead of having a normal service (worship, prayer, preaching, worship) we did an entire prayer service. It was really cool, and most of the congregation got really into it. However, not all went smoothly. We got complaints from a few people that they didn’t know it was going to happen. In short, “We expect something when we come to church, and when this happened we were thrown off and that is not okay.” I give you Issue Four: I think we should… I want to…. I deserve… I…I…I… and Issue Five: Change is not okay. Let’s talking about issue four for a second. When we approach church from this standpoint we completely forget the meaning and purpose of it. Church is not about you, nor is it about me. It is about God, and it is about we. (Sorry, was that too Dr. Suessy? Well, I think you got the point.) When we focus on what “I want” and “I think” when we go to church, we forget about the others. The purpose of the church is primarily two-fold: worship of God and edification of the body. We worship God in various ways-singing songs, playing music, praying, reciting Scripture, tithing, and teaching. Often we go to church to “learn about God’s word.” That’s very “me”-centric. Why do we not go to church to ‘Praise God through learning what He says, and worship Him in song.” Is Christianity not about God? Why is Church so focused on me? In terms of edification of the body, this is done in many ways as well. However, the distinction between this we mentality and the “me” mentality is that this edification is for the whole body. We go to church not to edify ourselves, but to edify each other. To hold each other accountable; to pick each other up. To help each other through life’s troubles. It’s not about what you can do for me, it’s about what I can do for you. If we’re all looking out for each other, we won’t need to focus on ourselves, we’ll have many other (probably more qualified) people looking out for us. How much better is that?
This last story is the one “straw that broke the camel’s back” as they say and inspired me to write this post. I wasn’t at the church when this happened, but it was told to me by the pastor and it actually kind of upset me. My church is currently named “[Insert City Name Here] Community Church”. Not a bad name. It’s not as weird as some I’ve heard, and it’s pretty straight forward. However, the board and pastor at one point suggested changing the name to “The Church in [Insert City Name Here]”. The church laughed at the idea, and still mock the pastor for it today. Looking at it now, I see this as two issues. Issue six: The church part is the least important part, and Issue Seven: Church people don’t know their Bible. Why did the board want to change the church name? To show the rest of the churches in the area (and trust me, there are a lot) that the most important thing is not where you are, your denomination, or stance on this topic or that; but that you’re a church. We’re not “This or that special church” or “this or that bible church” or “this or that baptist church” we are “the church in this city”. First and foremost it tells people that we are a church, and second, it tells them where we are. The lead is the important piece of information. People wondered why we would do this name change? That’s how churches were named in the Bible. It was the Church of Ephesus; or the Church of Corinth. Not “1st Baptist church in Corinth” or “Holy Cross Luthern Church” (that happened to be in Ephesus). No. They were simply “The church in [Insert City Name Here]”. Much more streamlined, and central to what they were- a church, following after Christ as best they could. Why can’t we go back to that today?
Again, I’m not writing this because I’m planning on leaving the church, or even my church. I love my church, I love the people, and I love working there. And I love the Church as a whole, I think it is wonderful. I just think the people in the church need to wake up, and change how they few the church, and themselves, before it gets everyone into more trouble than we already are in. It’s time to retrofit our churches, and potentially our Christianity, to how it should be.
