Posted on 01/13/2018 10:03:11 PM PST by tiredofallofit
One of my favorite places to sit and work is Panera Bread. No, this is not a plug for Panera Bread! It’s just that I enjoy the atmosphere – something about it helps me to complete my tasks more efficiently. I can sit in a booth for hours and lose myself in my work despite the noise around me.
But once in awhile I will tune into that noise and pick up on some interesting conversations. Especially about church. Sometimes there will be a pastor sitting nearby talking about church matters with a staff member. More often than not, however, I will just hear people complaining about their church. And usually, they are complaining about the worship service or the pastor’s sermons. How the service does not conform to their tastes. Or how they wish the music was different or the sermon was more interesting.
This got me thinking about what people expect from their churches and how they might be easily disappointed. The church experience is supposed to be a time of worship and communion yet how many American Christians expect to see a show on Sunday mornings? And how many churches try to oblige this wish by creating a “production” as opposed to a genuine worship service? Unfortunately, I have been in plenty of churches where I felt like I was more of a TV show prop than a congregant.
Years ago, I attended a church that offered a popular contemporary music service complete with a shiny reflective wooden floor, spotlights that changed color, stage fog, and large screens on either side of the stage on which were projected lyrics and closeups of the worship leaders. It was a loud experience; I could never hear myself singing. I could never tell if anyone around me was singing either. But there was a certain energy in the room that built up as the worship service proceeded. People raised their arms and their bodies drifted back and forth. And then just when the emotion in the room seemed to reach a high point, the music would stop and the pastor would run onto the stage with a Starbucks mug in his hand. He would tell a few jokes and begin the sermon, hoping I suppose to benefit from the positive energy that had been created by the worship.
Thirty to forty-five minutes later, when the service was over, I always felt somewhat drained and disappointed. The emotional high was gone and in its place was an emptiness that made me question if this was really all there was to the worship experience.
After having read the author’s blog, I am not convinced that he is a follower of or believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He does, however, have a book to sell.
The mystery of God is what most enthralls me. I’ve experienced it from black Baptist, Missouri Synod, Anglican, Evangelical churches and synagogues.
Deut 4:19 & Mal 1:11.
“Church is to worship.”
Yes.
“I can get that at home...”
You know Hebrew and Greek and have studied for years?
Pastors are teachers who know more about the subject.
BFL = Bump For Later
Think of being a Christian as joining God’s Army. A solider can do pushups at home, shoot by himself at a range,, read books about military tactics at home - but he won’t get anything DONE unless he joins up with others and works together with them!
“For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.
According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts:
If prophecy,
use it according to the standard of one’s faith;
if service, in service;
if teaching, in teaching;
if exhorting, in exhortation;
giving, with generosity;
leading, with diligence;
showing mercy, with cheerfulness.” - Romans 12
Your finger isn’t effective without a stomach, and you need your feet to go somewhere and your eyes to see where you are going. “Excitement” isn’t the point. That we can pray while driving isn’t the point. We NEED the Body of Christ in order to achieve the AIMS of Christ.
No one who has been in the military thinks it is always fun, or that you always like your fellow servicemembers. But you either work together, or fail.
Church isn’t about worship, or bible study, or charitable giving. It is about being part of the Body of Christ, and needing all parts of the body in order to achieve the goals of Christ.
“And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.” - Ephesians 4
We’ve got our orders. If we refuse to carry them out, we are rebels.
And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ..."
Jesus didn't ask us our permission. Jesus PERSONALLY gave us our roles and duties, which may change over time, and others theirs. Some may be told to be lonely scouts, going alone into enemy territory. But even they need to be trained and supported.
We can accept God's will or reject it. If we reject His will, we are not part of his army. Good luck with that!
Well, it was so boring in the early church that some fell asleep and then fell out the window.......................
Act 20:9 As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below.
We’ve got our orders. If we refuse to carry them out, we are rebels.
I can also quote you verses of what goes on in the wilderness. In fact, most stories in The Bible are about personal relationships with God, not communal.
Our concept of church today is vastly different than what it has been throughout history.
Now define church. It is a building?, an institution?, A program?
When most people describe their church it is about the program or their experience. Note the comments here. Every comment is about their experience. Some like the loud music, some like the tradition of the Catholic mass. Note the very title of the article presented. We think it is about us.
So where does that leave us?
1) God is God, and he will work things out in his own creative ways that make no sense to us.
2) How does God define church? His church is those that have a relationship with him?
There may be RARE times God calls someone to go it alone, or with just one or two others for support, for some time. But it is NOT the normal state of affairs. The New Testament does not teach Solo Christianity. One needs to be pretty certain God has called one to be an exception to the rule before rejecting a clearly stated requirement. For the vast majority: "We’ve got our orders. If we refuse to carry them out, we are rebels."
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in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other,
Again, does this only happen in the church institution. The person you responded to WAS doing this...................
Well, most are just social clubs anymore. Might as well be entertaining too.
Pastors are teachers who know more about the subject.
I can get that at home with my Christian wife, and at a local diner with a couple of my Christian brothers.
I don’t need some fancy-pants glamour-boy and the Rockettes Choir to have fellowship with God. In fact, my walk with God is closer than ever after we stopped going.
I understand that. So much church thinking is institutional these days. I can think of no better Christian fellowship than you describe.
There is much difference between fellowship and Christian fellowship and much confusion. I will let the reader do his own thinking one the differences......................
This is God’s universe and He does things His way. You may have a better way, but you don’t have a universe.
J. Vernon McGee
And it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t express our thoughts because that is iron sharpening. But the conclusion to every discussion should be like the conclusion to every Psalms, “but you Oh Lord......”
I was at Chik fil a one day during a very busy lunch hour. Some gal was taking up a whole booth by herself and working. One person in a booth for four. She was oblivious to what was happening around her.
No. I prefer reverence, time for quiet meditation, and a sermon that provides guidance, encouragement, insightful thinking, that reminds me how thankful I should be.
I grew up in a church like that.
“Again, does this only happen in the church institution.”
Building? Part of a recognized denomination? No.
But does it happen at home, and meeting a couple of guys once in a while? No. Not very often.
If you are the only Christians in town, OK. What happens more often is that there aren’t any Christians you like being around. In honesty, in a small town some years back, I went a year without going to church because the only church seemed more interested in numbers, entertainment and $$$ than in God. But that is an unusual situation.
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