There seems to be a fad right now of attacking the church in one form or another today. I am referring to the church structure, as in coming to a building on Saturday or Sunday to worship. I think what bothers me most is that most of the attack is coming from within the Christian church (universal). I continue to hear excuses about why they do not want to go to church on Sunday to worship. I hear it from young adults to the older generation, and there seems to be every excuse in the book.
One I hear a lot lately is that it is hard to stay awake or focus on the sermon. Usually this comes from the younger generation. One easy answer is to go to bed earlier, as these same people seem to think that because it is Saturday that they should stay up all hours of the night playing video games, watching television or whatever else one does until early morning. Then they wonder why they cannot focus or pay attention for the whole 20 to 30 minutes the message is given to them. Why do we make sure we focus at our jobs, but not when we are worshiping the reason we have the lives we do, Jesus Christ, who provided our salvation.
Another reason they cannot focus in my opinion is because they have been so entertained in youth groups and in everyday society. Their attention span to anything deep has been dwindled down and down to the point that if their ears or eyes are not being amused then they lose interest. Because of this churches have become more like a circus then a time of worship through learning and singing. We make sure everything is timed accordingly and leave no room for God to move anymore. If it interrupts the service in some form then it cannot be of God. I digressed there a little. The point is we have taken the real reason out of church in order to cater to the people that really do not want to be there worshiping anyway.
Church to me is supposed to be for the believer, where we gather together to worship our Creator through song and message. I am not suggesting that we go back to Gregorian Chants, though I like those, but that we stop trying to tickle the ears of the people that are just there because they were dragged there by a spouse or parent. We need to turn the church back into a place where the Inerrant Word of God is taught, where the Trinity is the forefront of our focus and not the joke in the sermon or the style of worship (contemporary or traditional). We need to start challenging the believer and start talking about sin and righteousness in a more profound manner then cliché and fluff surrounded by stories regarding a television show or the most recent sporting event.
“So and so offended me” or “the preacher does this or that I do not like,” are other excuses not to go to church. If everyone were to stop going to church because someone or the pastor said something to offend them there would be no one at church. Unfortunately that happens in the family of God here on earth just as it happens within our own family, but instead of working it out we make it an excuse not to go to church and be with our eternal family. It is a good thing that we do not treat our families like we treat the church, there would be no family left. Why do we treat the family of God this way? Ultimately it hurts us, as we lose the opportunity to worship God the way He deserves and commands. He is a jealous God. We need to quit putting ourselves before Him. Where is God in your life?
We need to change our perspective about why we go to church. We have lost the real reason. We think we go to church for us, but we do not. We do go to church for ourselves, but not in the way most people think; we go to church to worship God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), God the Holy Spirit. We do not go to get our ears and eyes tickled by contemporary worship, power point sermons, and flowery sermons. We go because we realize what Jesus did for us through the cross and resurrection. We go to demonstrate our love to God and because we want to worship Him with all our heart, soul and mind. Do you go to church to be entertained or to be filled?
If you are not going because you think church is boring, or because you cannot focus on the sermon, or someone offended you, then you need to really rethink why you come to church. Who is the church for in your life? You or God?
1 comment:
I have found this problem with many in todays culture. It is an attitude of what does Church do for me. I like that you proposed the real meaning of the church as for those who have joined the universal church through faith in Jesus Christ alone;my paraphrase.
When we replace the worship of God with entertainment and a selfish need of gratification within the body of Christ we will lose why God said to " not forsake the gathering of yourselves togther."
We were bought at a great price and we have been gifted by God the Holy Spirit to aid one another along and bring glory to Him whom paid for us. This is lacking in an ever increasing generation of if it does not do anything ofr me personally than I wil find something that does. Even if this is sleeping in on Sundays or taking the day to have family time as I have heard from many as well. They sadly miss the point. We gather in His Name to worship Him. Paying homage to a God of love and mercy who freely gives His grace to all who will recieve it. It is not about a couple of hours on Sunday or Saturday or any other day for that matter but it is a matter of the heart. " Where your treasure is there will your heart be" unfortunatlly too many treasures are stored up down here where it will stay. Thanks for the blog and I too could go on and on but will keep this short.
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