How much should we challenge the Christian culture in our communities? Or should we just embrace it and go with it?
This is something that I have struggled with as a church leader and pastor for some time now. I know that church goers have very busy lives and do a number of different things from day-to-day. I even look at my own life and my schedule; I don’t have a ton of margin in my life to do some things that I want to do, let alone some things that I should do.
As leaders and pastors in the church how far should we push people and challenge people with the things they say yes to and no to? It’s obvious in the Bible that church and Biblical community is very important (Acts 2:44-47). So, should we just embrace the fact that people are busy and fill their time up with a ton of things, or should we challenge them on it? Do we schedule events and activities around what people fill their lives up with or do we challenge them to make choices to yes to some things and no to others? Depending on what they say yes and no to, does it reveal something about what is really in their heart, or is it more complicated than that? Is there a line that separates busy and too busy? If so, what is that line and who decides what that line is?
There is a ‘large’ church in Indiana (near South Bend) that is totally changing and rearranging their service times on Saturdays coming up this Fall. They are rearranging the services based on the Notre Dame football schedule because much of their congregation is comprised of Notre Dame fans. They will changing the times of services from week to week and sometimes they will end the service early to show the game in the main auditorium (depending on the time of the game that week). Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a slippery slope? Where does it end? What are things we will schedule around and things that we won’t schedule around, as a church? What if that church starts to add more Purdue fans, do they change that services to be around the Purdue schedule as well?
Is there a spiritual principle at play here? What message does it send that a church would change service times and events around a football schedule? Does it say that, this church in Indiana, cares about football more than their own church services? Does it say that they know that their congregation cares about Notre Dame football more than church? As Christians, we have to make decisions about what to do and to not do on a daily basis. We have to make a choice as to what we say yes to and no to. Is it an important exercise for a Christian to have to make a choice regarding the priority church is in their life? Is it a struggle that Christians are supposed to go through? Football schedules are just this particular example… It could be many other things in our life that could take us away from church… work, friends, laziness, leisure etc.
Is this choice that this church made counterproductive or even wrong? Does it communicate something that a church should not be communicating? Is it a slippery slop, what is it communicating to future generations youth/children?
Or… does the choice that this church made communicate something different to their community and their church body? Does it communicate that this church cares about their community and the things that the people of community care about? Does this communicate that they want to break down every obstacle for people to come to church… and take away as many excuses as possible?
Changing and working around people’s schedules to make church easy for them, does it communicate that we (as a church) are allowing people to fill up their time with stuff that is less important… and therefore depriving them of a spiritual process of choosing things that are important to God over things that are less important… or does it actually communicate that we care about the people that we are ministering to and that we want to make a church service as easy as a “yes” can be in their lives, regardless of schedule? We want people to be involved in church, God wants his people to be involved in His Church… Does it matter when it happens or does it just matter that it happens? In the end, its less about going to church and more about being the church and being what God has called you to be as a follower of Jesus… Right?
_Andrew
Andrew's Blog 