"I'm tired of church."
This was the bold statement our pastor made to us this morning. He went on to say he remains passionate for God, and he loves us, the people, even more than ever. He's not tired of God. He's not tired of us. He's tired of "church."
Now, I can't speak for him, and what he means, but for me, that statement was revolutionary.
Let's take a moment to think about the Sunday church service. We may go a few minutes early to catch up with people we haven't seen in a week, have some coffee and donuts, and smile together. We then go into the service, sing joyfully with the praise and worship team, and then sit down to hear the announcements. We then are instructed to get up, introduce ourselves and greet one another as the praise and worship team gets ready to sing another joyful song. Then, we begin the prayer service, inviting anyone needing prayer to go up front and receive personal prayer from the pastors, elders and other praying members. Our praise and worship teams sings a couple slower songs during this prayer time. After the prayer time, we sit down to listen to a 30 minute sermon by any one of our talented pastors. Then, we pray for anyone who may wish to give their life to Jesus, and we are dismissed. That's our pattern. Other churches have other patterns.
Are we in a rut? Maybe.
Have we become married to the patterns that we forget to pay attention to the needs of the people? Are we really digging into the depth of God's Word? Are we equipping ourselves to go out into the world and win souls for Jesus?
I wonder.
The New Testament Church was not a pattern of services, but was a living group of believers who followed after one purpose: going out and winning souls. I can't wait to hear more about this in our church, and I hope others will join me in prayer for our leaders. I believe we are hearing the wake up call of the American Church.
"All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer.
"They worshipped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved." ~Acts 2:42, 46-47 (NLT)
The New Testament Church is the model we need to follow. Love God. Love People.
Amen Kathy! For God to heal our land, He must start with the Church. Most churches take on the personality of it's pastor ... and there is nothing wrong with our pastor's personality. It's full of God's love for those he pastors. I know his heart ... he wants others to see only Jesus in him. Concerning the order of the service ...
ReplyDeleteI remember many years ago when Dr. Helms was the pastor ... he said the order of service was actually backwards. Before you can worship God, you must learn something about Him which leads to worship. So for a while he changed the order of the service ... preaching came first and then worship second. It didn't work. It fell flat.
I understand what Pastor Dave is saying. But I sure don't know exactly what is needed ... if anything. Let's all stir up the ash covered embers into a fire ... not wildfire ... maybe just more of allowing Jesus to control what happens. If ... and I say "IF" there is anything wrong ... it's us ... not God.
Very good post to get the conversation rolling.
Blessings ... Carl
Hi Carl, I'm glad you weighed in on this topic. I'm eager to hear from God this week in my devotionals. I can only hope this wake up call to me goes out widespread. That's the mark of true revival.
DeleteI really want to engage in this conversation, but I think I need some time to process my own thoughts. I completely understand and agree with the statement, "I am tired of church". I think I would tend to say I am tired of our world view of how the church functions in the world today. The way we function in the church today, in my opinion, is comparable to me wanting to be a good fisherman. I get the best boat, the best rod and reels, a variety of the best baits available, and some great books written by expert fishermen. I put the bait, the rods, the books into the boat and park the boat in my front yard. Then I place a sign in front of the boat saying, "Fish Wanted". And wonder why, I am NOT catching fish? I see similarity in the way the Church functions today. The Church is NOT about buildings, great locations, or nice signs as we enter the property. The real CHURCH is made up of people with a mission to win the lost at all costs. Somewhere we got off the road and into the ditch. In many ways the people attending "church" has given over to worldliness based on "consumerism". We have become preoccupied with an image of something "less than a Biblical perspective". It occurs to me that we have become more concerned with what people think than what GOD's WORD declares. "We are in the world, Not a product of the world. We are NOT to conform to the way of the world, but rather we are to be "transformed" by the renewing of the pathways of our thinking according to the WORD of GOD. I must end for now and go to work. Please feel free to comment. Blessings.
ReplyDeletePhil, I'm glad you commented here. We need elders like you who challenge us when we stray from the Word. It is God who speaks through you that can stir the hearts of the American consumers in our churches. I'm one of them, feeling the wake up call in my own heart.
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