Every now and then I hear church leaders lament at the fact that people consume church and don't participate enough.
When they say this, I think that they usually mean that people don't participate enough in the Sunday service. That they're not on a roster, I suppose.
I've been thinking a bit about this and it's easy to just agree, because its true. There are usually a few people who do a lot in the Sunday service. In a small church it's probably a higher proportion of the congregation helping out, but the bigger the church gets, the smaller the percentage of people who are doing stuff and the more noticeable it is that the burden of a Sunday service is shouldered by the few.
The last time I heard someone talk about this, I was sitting in a church (not my own) and one of the pastors sat there and lamented at the fact that there are not enough people participating in the Sunday service. I then looked around at the church and noted that the room can seat about 200-250 people on the pews that are lined up in such a way as to all face the front. In fact it's in a concave formation so that everyone isn't just facing the front, they're facing the middle of the front.
Of course people consume church; that's the way it's designed. It's a show. And we're kidding ourselves when we say it's not. We can't sit people in rows facing the one or 2 people at the front and then whinge that not enough people are participating. It's by design that we have a small amount of participation in the church service.
And then the thing that frustrates me the most is that when these pastors and hard working lay people complain that there isn't enough participation in the church services, what they're really saying is that not enough people participate on their terms. I don't see church leaders asking for men to get up and tell the congregation what they think about the Bible passage being studied. That has to be left to a select few. And not just anyone can lead groups or participate in ministries that see God's Word taught. Only a select few are knowledgeable enough to do that.
So what pastors and laymen who complain about this want is more people on rosters to set up chairs, operate the sound, prepare morning tea, and the like. They don't usually want more people up the front. What I think is that most people up the front want to keep the front for themselves and they want everyone else to work hard to keep them at the front.
I'm becoming disillusioned by the model of the local church that we follow and am seeing fewer and fewer reasons not to become increasingly so. From the attitudes of pastors to the effort we place in building ourselves up on a Sunday to the lack of community involvement and ministering to the poor and the needy; it's a far cry from the church we see in the New Testament.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I herd that you can not sue AA (alcoholic anonymous) because they are not a thing. They are not incorporated, there is no CEO or board members and they don't have a budget. It is run by volunteers who meet in buildings they don't own, drink coffee they didn't buy and the members bring their own donuts. AA is known for its regular meetings and their acceptance of everyone, despite their personal failures.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about this for a bit now and I wonder if any mainline church today has tried this model. I do wonder what would happen to the people in our church if we just sold the building and closed its doors on Sunday. How many would continue to meet regularly? And why should we be worried about that anyway because God does not let anyone be snatched from His hand (John 10:28).
Indeed! I agree and when I visit 'normal' churches I experience the same disillusionment! I'm a homechurcher and I love sitting in a circle and the 'everyone gets to play' model. But homechurch is full of flaws too!
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm despairing about the whole thing. The answer is pray more and be more real and put your money where your mouth is and challenge others to do that too!! Well that's what I think anyway!
Wow Graham, what a thought provoking but profoundly cynical post!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you see the NT church doing? I see pastors and teachers, and 'the rest'. I see people being appointed to administrative tasks (Acts 7ish I mean). I see Paul encouraging us to, in so much as it is possible, live a quiet life. This could be construed as building up the Sunday show, the 'home-front' so to speak.
I certainly don't see home churches or brethren style as the norm, but as an exception when there aren't enough people. Ie. I see churches with teachers being established when possible. Frankly I don't think I could tolerate the vast majority of church goers preaching. Imagine it. Every one? If the Bible clearly encouraged this (perhaps 1 Cor does?) then I guess I'd have to, but i don't think it does... I think.
Anyway, my question is, what do you see the NT church doing, and what should this mean for our model.
For what it's worth though, I very much agree that the consumer model can be unhelpful, and that pastors and up-fronters can at times be a little egotistical. I love the front more than I should. But I don't think the front is for anyone who'd be willing to occupy it, and there is a lot of leg work involved in getting a service working...
What do you propose? I'm keen to hear more!
It's not necessarily that I see the way we do Sunday services as a huge problem, but if that's the model we choose, then don't complain when what you choose is what you get. I really do believe that when pastors and the like complain about too little participation in the Sunday service that they are often wanting more people to prop them up rather than really sharing a load.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to have everyone up front preaching, either, I was just pointing out that pastors are rarely looking for more teachers, they're looking for more people to support them to lead. Pastors seeking help is a good thing, but doing so by lamenting to your congregation that too many of them are 'consumers' of church seems pretty hypocritical when they only want a few jobs shared by everyone, not all of them and when they are propagating a system that puts on a show for everyone to come to.
How I think church should work is this: (and I'm planning on writing a post about it later, so maybe now I'll do it sooner)
- Every serious Christian is part of a small group.
- It is through and with these small groups that we really minister to our communities, each other and the world. They meet together to read the Bible and pray and they strategise together how they can work together to bring the gospel to the people they meet. They are accountable to each other.
- These small groups have a thoughtful, equipped leader who supports them and is in turn supported by the pastors of the church.
- The Sunday service, then, is a time for these small groups to meet together with other small groups to encourage one another and build one another up. Perhaps each Sunday a small group could share what they're doing to share the gospel, what's worked and hasn't worked for them and what they're planning to do in the future.
- The pastor should take the opportunity to preach to everyone and to encourage, exhort and admonish.
It would be a show and it should be like a show. There should be a small number of people working hard to make this service happen as everyone else is working hard to make the spread of the gospel happen. We should have a small number of people working hard to encourage and build up the body, but it seems to me that that should be among our efforts, not the majority of them.
I see NT church preaching as equipping people to go out and share the gospel.
I see contemporary Christian faithfulness perceived as serving the local church service and/or leading a Bible Study.
I think there's a great difference between the two.
I think that the Sunday church service should be a regular sending out of disciples of Christ to go and make more disciples of Christ. It should be challenging and refreshing. It should be a time of reading the Bible, praying and hearing the Word explained.
It should not be referred to as a worship service. It should be looked upon more as a time of encouragement to people to leave the place and worship God by being obedient to him to love others and spread the Word.
That's what I think.
I like what you are saying Graham.
ReplyDeleteBut I always cringe at the word 'strategise' (and other similar words and phrases)used in a church/christian context. It just seems terribly "man's wisdom" focussed!
I just don't believe that is how the Kingdom is advanced. I do believe the Kingdom is advanced when God's people are obedient and repsonsive to His personal leading.