A few weeks ago I was asked to “preach” at my church.  We are a downtown church.  What I really wanted to do was get the worship and music team to set up in the street in front of the church and throw a worship block party for thirty minutes or so - you know - block off the street, free food, etc.  And then as the sermon, talk for four minutes ont “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it” - and go block by block cleaning trash and praying for the city.  I got excited about church, Todd.  Well, I didn’t throw the party or ask people to walk the sermon.  I preached a boring message.  And didn’t get excited about going to church.  Maybe there was a sermon there for me??

Howard Hendricks used to say, “It’s not what YOU get out of your Bible study that matters.  It’s what GOD gets out of it.”

Worship is much the same.

Some of us are more extroverted and relational...and attending church tends to feed that need.  But that has little to do with true worship.

I fear, as Jordon Cooper posted on his own blogsite, that we have succumbed to producing 52 weeks of “special events” to draw in the faithful.  The American church runs the risk of becoming a caricature of what God originally intended.  May we rediscover what He wants for us on our face before Him.

This was a real eye-opener. The real test is can we look inward and admit what is clearly pointed out here? We are the church, the Body of Christ. Especially touching is the point about being gracious and generous. If we are missing it, something is missing in us. Oh Lord, please restore to us the joy of our salvation, and let us find joy in each other. Amen.

This is a very interesting article. I think this 20 something needs to get married. If you realy want to be selfless, then you need to be in a situation where you not only have a great responsability to give, but are in a place where you are given to.

I am amused at this young man’s wornout position as it is similar to mine. There is one differnce though. He is in ministry and I, though called, am not. For me, I keep hearing people tell me that I have to do anything and everything except
what God asked of me. Doing the been there done that is just not going to happen with me.

Then there’s this silly notion of people who would perhaps claim to be my friend. Ask them when the last time it was that we actually done anything that friends typically do, like go to a movie, or have lunch after church service on sunday.

Another difference between me and this young man is that I have not been to church in a month due to no transportation. But then, the last time I was at church, I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for traffic to clear out. A couple young
gals were walking by in the parking lot, one looked at me and started running like I was some hideouse monster that would attack her. Now I’m pretty thick skinned. I care little if anything at all, what people think of me, but that was a bit much even for me. I doubt that I will go back to that particular church.

The if a man does not work neither shall he eat, and freely give as you have been given to mentality is beyond tiresome. What people truely mean when they make such statements is (you give to me and I take from you and if you complain about it or your not a very good christian).

This is akin to an person who abuses their place of authority telling you that you have a problem with authority because you won’t put up with them abusing you.

In the past I have given till I couldn’t give anymore. And those people to whom I gave merely turned around and returned their backsides to me. Even a sponge needs to be refilled with water once you have squeezed out it’s supply. Is it therefore selfish because it has no more water to give and requires water to be given unto it?

I am a 43 year old man and have been a christian since the age of 10. I have seen it all. I have heard it all. I have been accused of not having a very good christian attitude as if I am suppose to have some kind of predisposed attitude that automatically makes me appear like Jesus Christ. Clue one: I AM NOT JESUS CHRIST. Why should I have his personality and attitude. Clue Two: ITS NOT MY JOB TO DIE FOR YOUR SINS. So don’t expect me to role over and play dead like a dog.

I think this individuals attitude is more due to an awakening realization that those around him are not what they pretend to be. They show themselves as being his friends, but are they? Then there’s the question he doesn’t seem to want to ask: Is his attitude due to God wanting to lead him out of that particular church into a different minstry? If God is speaking and your not hearing, chances are, your not going to get much out of the service, no matter what you do.

For me, it seems pointless to go to church on a weekly basis to sit in a service where I don’t get anything out of. It is just as pointless to be the member of a church where I know that, despite the preaching to do God’s will, the leadership of the church will not do anything to assist me in fulfilling God’s calling in my life.

I could go on further, but what point is ther in that. It’s not like people are going to jump on the wagon that’s yet to get rolling. It’s what this article is about. They’re lazy. And it is because of that laziness that America is in the shape she is in. You don’t want God’s man, and you don’t want revival. In fact I’ve come to the conlusion that the church has lost it’s sanity.

Not true you say? Then why do they send a combine out into an empty field to sow seed?

It seems to me that if we are focused on ourselves, as Williams put it, “It’s all about self examination” we are completely missing the point of being a Christian.  Yes, I’m sure all of us in ministry get tired of no volunteers and no one joining our programs and the congregation complaining about one thing or another, but there’s more.

We are the body of Christ.  We are Christians so that God can use us to continue Jesus’ work here in the world.  To do that, we need to know what Jesus’ work was.  Read the scriptures...live the scriptures.  If we take in the Word, it will come out of us.

The Holy Spirit will permeate us and we will no longer require, “self examination” because if we study the scriptures we will already know who we are in Christ.

Doug,
I am with you!  The flesh is so weak and wants to be fed.  I deliberatly park my car away from the church and force myself to walk through a wooded park.  I use my walk to pray, begging God at times to help me be a gracious minister.  In my flesh, I would stay in bed too!  I feel like everyone wants a pound of that flesh on Sunday.  I have to be careful to give them the Spirit, and not my flesh!

Well, I really appreciate Doug’s honesty and I pray that others will find the same revelation as Doug has. I am a worship and praise leader and Saints like Doug (before his revelation) do not know how much more of a struggle it puts on this ministry and on Pastor’s everywhere (those who really have the passion to serve) to see people come and just sit expecting us to “work them up.” However, I have grown in the mist of this type of struggle because of this I am a better worship and praise leader. Even though I have my own struggles along with the struggles in the church also, I have grown (and still growing) to set myself aside and let the Holy Spirit take over and by His Grace he allows me to actually give Him true praise and to appreciate all that he has done. I sometimes wonder what would happen if all who gathered in the sanctuaries would come with one worship and one praise …would it be another day of Pentecost. Would He fill the House so mightily that even the priest couldn’t minister? Wow!

My House shall be called a house of prayer.

The purposes of the early church gatherings were to pray corporately and seek the presence of God. The believers came already filled with the Spirit of God and excited about joining their faith with others in corporate prayer because they KNEW the power of agreement in prayer. Their prayers shook foundations and flung open prison doors. God is his mercy has given us these examples for us who are mature to apply them to the spiritual realm. What I mean is this, when we agree together in prayer what God did in the physical realm by freeing Paul and Silas through the prayers of his people he now continues to do in the spiritual realm by freeing those who are captive to sickness and sin. Our purpose for coming together is not to hear a sermon, but to call on God corporately and acquire his presence and help to change the lives of those held captive and for the building up of the saints in the presence of God.

The gifts and fruits of the Spirit should be fully operating in every church in order to fulfill the commission that Christ gave us. Reading the comments on the blog we are still trying to move under our own power and initiative and we soon run down, but when we are under the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost we can leap over a wall or run against a troop. Without the anointing of the Holy Ghost we will always flounder. Although capable of many great things in our own strength we will never be able to reach people consistently and bring them to maturity outside of being directed by the spirit of God.

I know what it is to be persecuted and shunned for Christ and I know the pain of those who you trusted most taking your trust and defiling it. I know what it’s like in this world to be labeled a prophet and be put under death sentence simply because you love the Lord too much to compromise. I have lived in this mode for over eight years and I can still sing and the peace I know in all circumstances is the kind that only those who meet the master can know. I am not saying I have never despaired for life because of circumstances, for we are all tested, but when I do despair I run to my Father in heaven and call on Him in Jesus name and I spend whatever time I need to in his presence until I am able to emerge more than a conquer through Christ who loves me.  Our Sunday gatherings should be to call on God through prayer and fasting. It should be a time when we take our petitions before the Lord corporately and ask our Father in Heaven for our miracles that will change our circumstances and our society for Christ. We have an all powerful God who is the sovereign lord of all creation who is capable to do above and beyond all we should ever ask or think.  My brothers behold the trumpet of God is sounding will you not make a determined effort to come and feast at the table of the KING of Kings. 

1Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. ?Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4?Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
6But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”?
7Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

This article does remind me of where I was at when I worked within the ministry of other people. God used that time I spent in leadership to teach me very important truth concerning how He established His Church to be and what man has done in institutionalizing his own idea of church.

The true Church does not look the way many have been accustomed to seeing it physically. Christ is the true Shepherd, He is the vine. The Church is a spiritual body of believers. This does not indicate that a group of believers cannot co-own a building and property together, but for what reason is the question. And for that matter money easily become a big distraction from more important parts of serving God.

When we are part of the body of Christ, He Pastors us naturally through our participation in the body. People for centuries have chosen authoritative roles with the institutions that have become known as “churches.” However, we must ask ourselves if true pastoring is established through this authoritative process or does it happen as a result of people building relationships with each other. When relationships have been built than Christ is allowed to Pastor our spiritual needs through those relationships. The early church developed close relationships with each other in homes.

What we really see in Doug’s story is that he was discouraged by having to work under the authority of man within a man instituted ministry. If they were really operated in accordance to God’s Will they would have freed Doug to allow Christ to minister through him without the restraints of someone else’s ministry. We should not hold people captive to what we consider to be our ministry. People need to be free to see only Christ as their Pastor/Shepherd. This doesn’t mean that Christ does not use people. However, He uses the people and He ministers through them.

What we see today is people in the name of ministry using Christ’s name in vain to institute their own plans. There is no need for a group of Christians gathering to employ a person in a position of pastoring people if they are really following Christ and filled with His Spirit. If we are filled with His Spirit, than it is Christ through us who pastors others. This happens as He gathers His sheep and equips them for service. This begins with the building of relationships. Not simply surface talk once a week, or occassional counselling sessions, or Bible study classes.

A few people employed by a group of Christians cannot possibly build a relationship in which they really know the spiritual need of the person in who they claim to be pastoring. Beside this, I am very confident that Christ does carry on His Pastoring of His sheep and it does not look like what we are seeing within the institutionalized church setting. My word of advice is to begin to question what you have believed was truth. Hold leadership accountable to the Will of God and the spiritual truth found in scripture. Submit to Christ alone, by faith. He is capable of building you up. He is capable of gathering you where you are needed in the body. It will not look like what you have been accustomed to. You will no longer be engaged in the performance and rituals instituted by man. You will be engaged in the freedom that Christ has to offer in His body.

I really appreciated this article.  It is nice to know I am not alone.  I have attended the same church for over 10 years, and have had the hardest time lately getting ready on Sunday mornings.  We recently switched to a Sunday school class after having a bad experience with another class and have found ourselves in the same boat.  People use prayer requests for gossip and do not take studying the Word seriously.  Another class member asked the question, “Can you be a Christian and feel spiritually dead inside?” The teacher and other class members started laughing at him.  I spoke with him at church later and he said he would never go back to the class.  The teacher does not follow a lesson plan - he just comes up with silly games and breaks us into groups to talk about very personal things.  My husband and I have decided not to go back to the class either.  I learned more gossip about fellow members attending that class, and have had people (so called friends) gossip about me. I am very disheartened by how people (including our pastor) have treated me and others at our church.  I have to pray EVERY Sunday lately just to get to the doors of the church and then pray during church for the Lord to deal with my negative attitude about being there.  I remind myself that I am at church to worship Him and that is the most important thing.  I agree with the comment that we do need get back to helping others in need and ministering to the sick and needy.  And take gossip and alandering others out of the mix.  Also, members need to SMILE and be encouraging others in a loving, SINCERE WAY!!!!!

I can relate to this article, though I feel like the author is coming at it from a different angle than myself.
I am a church worker (education organizer) for a small (500 members, with approximately 150 attending each week) church in the Midwest.
I find myself not enjoying coming to church anymore either.
However, my reason is partly due to burnout: Due to dipping into the same pool of volunteers for children’s programming (and then having to do a lot of it myself-such as Children’s Church, which takes place during the worship service)—I end up missing the worship service anyway. So what spiritual nourishment do I get? None.
Our church already has Sunday school for kids, but that takes place after the worship service. Children’s Church is after about 15 minutes of the service, and whomever goes to run it has to leave and then miss the entire service. No parents want to volunteer because they are so happy to not have to deal with their kids during worship.
But, I ask, how are kids going to learn about the worship service if they aren’t there?
I feel my burnout has more to do with my church trying to “entertain” everyone rather than focus on the fundamentals: the worship experience. This entertainment model is the same sort of thing that so many parents feel compelled to do today: to overschedule their kids so they can be sufficiently ‘well-rounded’ and not get ‘bored.’ At church, I feel like a soccer mom running kids around (and I might add that I don’t have any kids of my own).
I know its important to minister to kids, but that’s why we have a short “Children’s Time” during the service and Sunday school. Isn’t that sufficient?
In my mind, church shouldn’t be about entertainment, it should be about worship. It should be about reverence, and it should be serious, and it should be about community. I am Methodist, but I married a Catholic. Lately, I have felt more spiritually fulfilled at my husband’s Catholic worship service: We went to Mass, we were allowed a quiet time to reflect and worship, and even the kids (except for a short, 10-minute children’s liturgy) sat there and took part in the service, being mostly quiet the whole time. This is how my husband grew up, and now, he takes church seriously and feels he “needs” it each week. After Mass was over, we returned home, and I felt more refreshed than I had in many weeks. I felt that the focus is where it should be. I wish my church would focus less on the “let’s-entertain-everyone-with-programming” model and focus on acknowledging various age ranges of attendees during worship, without having to orchestrate these grand, often difficult-to-staff marketing schemes.
Just my two cents.

I have moved to a city where my fiance is currently staying in. The church that he belongs to is the Local Church. I like going to church, worshiping God and listening to the preaching and all. However, I don’t like to go to this church. The preaching is about Recovery of God at ALL TIME! And they don’t preach from contents in the Bible, but from some booklets that were written by the church (,though there are quotes from Bible).  I feel troubled going to church on Sunday for the sake of going to church, which (seems to me that ) at least 20% of the members of this church are doing (because they chat with friends, play with their own kids when someone is preaching on the stage) including myself and my fiance. I feel more comfortable and understand more about Jesus and Christianity by studying bible in my room than going to this church. I really wish to go to some other church in the same city. However, his family are strong fan of this church and the possibility of family members going to other church has never come into their mind. And it is the “practice” to go to church on every Sunday. Sigh.. Can you tell me what I should do? I have read a lot of bad comments about Local Church and I personally agreed with most of them. If one is going to a church that she doesn’t feel comfortable with and feels that the church can’t help her know better of Christianity , should she still stick to the church because it is her selfishness that makes her dislikes the church?

I’ve been looking for something to help me understand the frustration(s) going on in my church. I believe your article has helped grasp this. I am a victim of this and am seeing victims reacting in ways that are destructive. I think our church should look to God and teach a series of sermons that will speak to the dangers of this phenomenon and the possible solutions.  Thank you.