I remember when I was a child that I hated going to church. On Sunday morning I would stay in bed and listen carefully to see if I could hear anyone getting ready for church. If it was quiet then I would know we were skipping church and that made my day. The church that my family went to was boring. Nothing against the church, but it was the worst part of my entire week.
Now I am a church planter in the midst of a culture that generally responds to church the same way as I did as a kid. Almost every week I have a conversation in which the person feels compelled to tell me why they were not at church on Sunday (thankfully most of these conversations are with people who attend other churches). One lady went as far to say that she could not come to church because the bathrooms don’t offer enough privacy and she suffers with irritable bowel syndrome!
Why? Why do people go to such great lengths to make excuses for not being more involved in their church? It would be better if they would just be honest and get to the real reason; church can be boring, irrelevant, and unchanging.
Over the last year as our team has planned the start of a new church we have perpetually asked what is going to take for Impact Church to be different. When I read the scripture I don’t see Jesus having the same problem. Everywhere Jesus went people flocked to Him. To so many Jesus was irresistible. They were drawn to Him for so many reasons but mainly because He was the living Son of God.
Here is the tension. Isn’t the church supposed to be a reflection of Jesus (Matthew 5:14-16). So if Jesus was irresistible to so many why is it that many churches are very resistible?
What would be different if the church would allow the light of Christ to shine…would people flock to church like they flocked to Jesus?
July 16th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
good post! i ask the same question. people flocked to Jesus and the church talks about jesus and the same things that he did, why don’t they flock to church?! i can think of many reasons but not all churches are the same. they have no excuse
July 16th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I have been to several churches and finally came back to the church of my parents. For me it was the complete feeling of being in a prayerful place that had structure and where I could find answers. It is for me a religious experience rather than a “social event”.