Pastor’s Update, June 29, 2018
IN THIS UPDATE:
LAST SUNDAY, in our message series on the book of Hebrews, we delved into Hebrews 10:19-25 and learned, order to flourish, we need deep relationships with God and others. We saw the importance of being committed to a church family, in which we allow others to love us enough to both encourage us and to even “spur” us- irritate us, challenge us- when needed. As painful and uncomfortable as that can be, it plays a vital role in how we grow and mature to be more like Jesus. As Proverbs 27:5,6 says, wounds from a friend can be trusted.
Our culture has produced a generation of church shoppers and hoppers. But God calls us to be committed to a local church family, through thick and thin. Jesus actually places his family, the church, above earthly families (Matthew 12:46–50.)And yet, if we treated our earthly families as casually and nonchalantly as some treat their church family, others would be shocked!
The following article from Jonathon Seidl, entitled, “Are you guilty of one of the ‘most damaging’ attitudes within our churches?” touches on this very theme. It’s a good, short read.
My wife and I recently moved about 40 minutes away from our church. As covenant members of our congregation, we met with our pastors and told them we would like to find a church closer to our new home and would appreciate their blessing to do so. They didn’t think twice, and in fact gave us recommendations about churches in our new area that aligned with the gospel. What a relief!
But that started a months-long search for a new church home that revealed some things in our hearts that we needed to work on. Let me explain.
See, we started trying out different churches every week. We’d go to one, then talk about what we liked and didn’t like, and then not go back. We’d go to another, talk with a pastor there, and then go to lunch and pick apart what he said. We’d grade the worship, the preaching, the greeting, the children’s ministry, and even the parking situation. We started keeping a type of unofficial points system in our minds.
After one Sunday, we started feeling exhausted. And that’s when we finally did what we should have done from the beginning: we took it to the Lord in prayer. The answer came pretty quick: One of the churches we had visited but “docked” for less-than-perfect worship was where He wanted us. Within a week we started the membership process. If only we would have done that sooner we would have saved so much time and wasted energy!
Here’s what we realized. We were treating finding a new church like used-car shopping. We were looking to be wowed and sold. And when we found the tiniest thing we didn’t like, we picked at it until it became something big enough to make us move on. A church could have “everything” we were looking for, but if we didn’t just “feel it,” we kept looking.
In other words, it became all about us. In his marriage course, Kirk Cameron made an observation: What if marriage isn’t about making us happy, but rather making us holy? I think the same thing goes for churches. My wife and I were looking to be tickled just the right way, instead of seeking the Lord about where HE wanted us and where we would grow.
And that brings me to the “most damaging” aspect of this article’s headline. I was scrolling through my Facebook feed yesterday and came across an article for Relevant Magazine. The author, CM Joyner, details “The Most Damaging Attitude in Our Churches.” That attitude? Cynicism. Are you looking for a church that will make you “feel all the feels,” or are you looking for a church that God will use to challenge you, grow you, and bring Him glory?