Major League Church? Not for me, thanks.
I’m worried about the condition of churches today. Let me illustrate what I see. Then, you can decide if I am worried about nothing or if we need to do something.
Major leagues, NFL, pro football—I don’t understand this phenomenon. People sit in the stands (an oxymoron?) and watch professionals play games. These spectators could be hanging out with buddies in the backyard, playing the same sports and interacting with their friends. Instead, they line up in rows and look around each others’ heads to see the action.
At the end, the fans of the winning team leave exhuberantly, saying things like, “We won!” “We showed them!” or “We did it again.” But they didn’t do anything other than yell, drink a few beers, and eat over-priced hot dogs. They are not participants yet by closely watching the pros, they feel engaged in the game. I wonder what percentage of spectators actually play ball with their own hands anymore.
This is a picture of what church has become.
Spectators attend church, see the well-rehearsed musicians and vocal artists (as we call them now) and are awed. We watch the major-league pastor preach a powerful sermon. We are moved. We laugh, we cry, we shout.
We leave the “church service” talking about “We had church today!” “My mind is blown!” and “Look at God, y’all!” We have tricked ourselves like the stadium fans to think we are participants. We gave our money, yelled, and wore the team Jersey. But that is not the game.
You see, to play football, you don’t need a seat, you need a football (I know this is hard to grasp, but stick with me). You need an open lot and you need a few people. Then you can truly say, “Let’s play ball!” Until then, you are just spectating as others use their skills.
To “have church” you do not need an organ, but we think we do. You do not need a platform, pulpit, altar bench, pews/chairs, or sound system. We have substituted that “stadium” style of church service for being church.
What happened to the original church model where everyone participated? I love our big services, great preaching, and excellent music. But attending those events cannot be all we know as church anymore than stadiums are all there is to football.
Ask any guy on the street what his position is. Are you a quarterback? A running back? A wide receiver? A kicker? What is your defense role? I wonder how many jersey wearing guys would know their place on the field.
In the church, I am afraid the situation is worse. People are better at knowing which pew is theirs than they are finding their place in the body of Christ. They have their spot marked in the stadium but have no clue what to do on the field.
You see, church is simply a gathering. That’s what the word means. It is a gathering of people who serve one another. They serve one another by the power of the Spirit who works through them to help each other.
“How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you:
- has a psalm,
- has a teaching,
- has a tongue,
- has a revelation,
- has an interpretation.
Let all things be done for edification.” (I Corinthians 14:26)
What do you contribute to the body? Are you an intercessor? Are you a safety? Is defense your main game? Are you looking out for brothers and sisters? Are you the encourager who helps them win? Where do you fit?
The brotherly love and heart-weaving of a true church cannot happen in front of spectators. But Jesus is glorified without colored lights and organ music. The Head connects with all the organs of His body, not just a Hammond B3.
I do not follow pro sports. I think people oversensationalize the QB (quarterback) or other all-star players as if they could do the job alone. It takes the whole team.
As a pastor, I do not want to develop a church with the QB effect. The Head has other members of His body He wants to use. Too many churches are full of eyes and have few hands, ears, livers, kidneys, or other necessary functions of the body.
“[We must] grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)
How can we get more people on the team of being a I Corinthians 14:26 church? What about I Corinthians 12? Romans 12:6-8?
Leave a comment below and describe church experiences where you have seen everyone “on the field” and not just “in the stands” (so to speak). When do you feel most involved?
20 Comments
I know exactly what you are saying… I have not felt that the churches want everyone involved…. we are told we must do this or that to get equipped to minister … or to do this or that….. if we aren’t big givers we are many times shunned… we are treated like we have the plague….
I know the callings and gifts God have me as an individual and have had People in ministry tell me something totally different…
For most people church is a building you go to to socialize and sing a few songs… hear a sermon that many have no idea what was about when it’s over…
When I attend at this places I leave worse off than when I came….
What can we do to improve this?
I can’t remember any time where the whole body participated other than as cheering spectators in an institutionalized church service setting. Too top down organizational, Jesus rarely is allowed to lead whereas the human Pastor serves as Israel’s king. Smaller gatherings where each member feels the call to share a testimony or a song or prayer or scripture. It takes patience and a willingness to let others “less confident and less gifted” to participate. But real growth of individuals can happen as opposed to letting the gifted few to dominate. Love for one another can truly flow and minister. Unfortunately the official church of the 3rd century hijacked the oneness of God with tri-theism but made deacons and elders into eccliastical positions instead of functions. The 58-0 one another ministerings disappeared.
In our hurried world do people have the patience for a close group of flawed/growing people like this?
I have experienced this a few times. How do we fix this? I like the model of the early church where they broke bread hiush to house. I really wonder how we can get back to that.
Perhaps it starts with a group of people who really care about each other. It is probably our western mindsets to think that if we just have church in a living room that something will magically happen. Those fellowship and worship experiences grew out of a committed community. That might be more of challenge to assemble than people to eat and visit together in a living room.
I really do not follow football because from what I see most of the people I know and don’t know. that will talk all day about football than or any other player. This is most of the people that I’m talking about. To me they are worshipping man instead of God. if I post people to attend a church service I get no answer and some will say things like I’m judging them or something else. now if I were to invite them to a game oh boy not that’s what they want to here. my bible says that there is one God and we should worship him only, and not man. I’m sure there are some people in church who are not whole heartedly serving God. but I can say my pastor is a great leader and tries his best to get every member involved some ministry or ministeries so we/ everyone will grow in Christ and develop his or her ministry that God has for them.
I hear you. In some ways, sports become a religion.
Yes I have: one where your told, and I’m not sure they understand what there doing, only Sis—— or Bro come and pray for ——- this person, the rest stay in your sets or stay back. And throughout the service they are put on a petistal. Your not as prayed up as this person or as spiritual as this person, you need to become as this person. Watch out ground for Jezebel to inter. You begin to get the felling you don’t matter or your not good enough for God to use. It causes a total miss understanding of who or what you are!
I believe that you must not single out anyone person we all have a purpose and a gift. And we all can pray. I for one do not want to be a spectator I want to be envolved. There is no one better than another, we all have a calling and thus we need to take that and learn of it, grow in it and share it. We must do what our part of the body is called to do. We’re not the same we’re diversified as the Bible say we are all the body of Christ, just some are eyes, hands, feet etc. but we must work together. There is not one better than the other.
I believe we all need to start doing our part it’s not up to one person but the whole body, do we stand as spectators or doers.
Music is good but when you think you need it so you can pray you better take a good look at your prayer life.
Maybe we just need to get back to the basics and reach out for the hurting, the lame, remember where Jesus brought us from so we can reach others with our testimony’s.
The church needs to be a hospital so they can grow and become whole and reach others. How did Jesus do it by parables, story’s, testimonies and examples.
Yes, we can’t just be spectators
Amen! So very true! When you go to participate in a service and not just go to watch, you get more out of the service and this allows God to move. You come away from those services feeling like you was a part of helping “win the game”.
Yes, indeed.
We have developed pentecostal traditions among us very similar to the “traditions of the elders” that Jesus pushed back against in His time on earth. We are so close to our own situation that we really fail to see where we have gotten, the idea of having “god church”. We truly need prayer for the Lord to open the blinded eyes among us. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great discusses in one place the idea of “confronting the brutal facts” in an organization in order to move from good to great. Whether elder or younger minister, district or national official, we need to take a good hard look at this. Thank you for being one of several voices out there that are seeing and addressing this. Blessings!
Yes, I don’t want “good enough” to stop us!
My wife Carol is an experienced piano teacher. She said years ago it’s not true that practice make perfect; but practice make permanent. When we repeat the same stuff, it becomes part of us. What do we usually repeat in our “services”? Same people up front, same people or person giving the message, same people sitting in the same places, etc ( I do realize that I’m overstating the case here.) So, what we become comes from those things that we keep repeating. It’s a wonderful testimony to the patience and power of God that the Kingdom of God does move forward. Everyone who obeys the plan of Salvation will receive gifts from the Lord which are intended to bless many and move the Kingdom forward. We need to structure ourselves to foster that movement rather than repeating the same stuff.
I hear you. My dad says a rut is a grave with both ends kicked out.
I have read this and also a lot of all the responses on here and so much of this is true. Almost all actually. I absolutely agree with you Daniel. I love my church but I also see a lot of this happening. I remember when I first received the Holy Ghost it was the most wonderful experience and after I remembered feeling like I could do anything. It was new and I was on fire. I struggle today with how much I have seen and learned. Not with the knowledge and growth God has instilled in me but how people whom I looked up too aren’t who they seemed to be. The list goes on. But I want a church that desires the deep things of God and the spirit. Who worship God for who He is not for what He does. And more that anything we need Unity!! Oh how God would move!! I really appreciate these articles and your heart for God and the things of God!! Keep it up!!
I think somehow we have done things have set us up for disappointment. We have run on the superstar system so long that those in positions and leadership feel the pressure to perform. Eventually, a person discovers they can keep up with the expectations of the crowd without having too have much depth themselves. Life in the spotlight is only one-dimensional. One can put on a front and then be something else behind closed doors. I do not think this is the case with most churches, but it explains how we end up being so disappointed when someone we thought was so gifted fails us.
Jesus warned us not to do it this way. While we don’t want to be judgmental or suspicious of everyone, we should look at the heart not just the performance. He said to beware of false prophets. A false prophet is not obvious because they are bad at speaking God’s words. The masses are deceived because their words are smooth and powerful. Inside, however, the person is a wolf, ready to devour those who come close. This is why we MUST inspect fruit. If we only have a stadium religion we will never get close enough to one another to know what someone is really like.
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