I have come to a realization...truth can withstand scrutiny. Think about it. Imagine you go out to eat, with your family, at a local restaurant. You have a fun time and enjoy a good meal. Afterwards, you spend the evening enjoying family game night. The next day, at work, a coworker asks you "So. What did you do last night?" You happily share about all that took place. You neither lie, become embarrassed, or defensive. On the other hand, a wife is preparing for her husbands surprise birthday party. She has been out for several hours and when she returns home, her husband innocently asks "So. What have you been up to, today?" She can't tell the truth, but she has an aversion to lying, so she tries, her best, to avoid his questions, and he suspects that she is hiding something.
My wife and I were having a conversation, as we headed down the road, to get something to eat Sunday evening. It all stemmed from something I saw, at a local church. They were having Sunday night service, and I noticed a large bus in the parking lot. Recognizing this as a singing group's bus, it got me to thinking.
What would happen if churches were to begin to question everything? If we (and I say "we" here to represent those of us who, in some way, shape, or form, make up the church) were to make questioning everything a normal part of our church culture, how would it change the face of the church, in America? What if they used this formula, for activities: What is the intended purpose of what we are doing? What is the actual purpose of what we are doing? What is the possible outcome? What is the actual outcome? What purpose did it fulfill?
What follows are few examples, to explain my thinking.
Scenario #1: A church decides to have a singing group come in. What is the intended purpose of what we are doing? 1) to entertain, and/or 2) to reach the lost.What is the actual purpose of what we are doing? If the intended purpose is to entertain, then this purpose is fulfilled, if the music and singing is of a quality level that meets the expectations of the intended audience. What is the intended outcome? Satisfaction and enjoyment. What is the actual outcome? Satisfaction and enjoyment, or a lack of either or both. What purpose did it fulfill? It either entertained and was enjoyable or came up lacking. If the intended purpose is to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ, let's look at its effectiveness. How many unchurched people come to our churches, when we have a singing group to visit? If our intended purpose is to use this as a ministry, to the lost, but the lost are not interested in attending, then is it an effective tool? Also, if we say that the intended purpose is to reach the lost, but the actual purpose is entertainment, then haven't we, essentially, caused our selves to fail before we even get started? Don't get me wrong...I see nothing wrong with having a talented singing group perform for corporate worship and entertainment. I love good music and singing as much as the next guy, My point is, question why we do something and do that something for the right reason.
Scenario #2: Why do many churches follow the same service schedule? I mean, in almost every church you visit, you can expect that there will be singing, followed by offering, followed by preaching. There are other things thrown in (don't even get me started on churches that still stop the service each week to sing happy birthday to some poor guy or girl who did nothing more than avoid death for another year, and now has to stand, often at the front of the sanctuary, while everyone sings an obligatory verse), but this is the basic three elements of many church services. What is the intended purpose of what we are doing? If it is to follow tradition, then "we nailed it!". I've never understood why we don't have the preaching before the singing. How would it be if we left each service with an ear worm (song stuck in your head) of our last praise and worship or our favorite hymn? True story: I had a pastor (I was a youth pastor) tell me that he always wanted a minister of music that would "hand me the ball, rolling." In other words, he wanted the music, before the sermon, to work up the atmosphere so that, when he got to the pulpit, the people would be ready. This reminds me of old hand water pumps, some of which needed water poured into the top of them, to "prime the pump" before they would draw water. It also reminds me of what a Master of Ceremonies does to prepare a crowd for the headline act. Even professional entertainers have opening acts that "prime" the crowd so that the headliner is "handed the ball, rolling." Maybe it's just me, but if the intended purpose of singing, in church, is to sing, then, again, we've nailed it. If the intended purpose of singing, in church, is to share the gospel message through singing and offer up worship and praise, then maybe we should question what we are doing and how we are doing it. If the purpose of preaching is to entertain and make people feel good, then by all means, hype it up. Who doesn't enjoy a circus? If the intended purpose is to shine a light into a dark place, mentor, teach, correct, etc., then why do we need to build it up? Do we do that in Sunday school, bible study, or our bible devotions?
Scenario #3: Since I talked about music, in church, let's tackle that one next. Why so much controversy of tradition vs contemporary music? If you go to churches in different cultures, you will find music that is unique to that culture. I have friends in Pakistan and India. I've heard the music & singing they use in corporate worship. Totally different from what I've experienced in the U.S. Should I tell them that they need to be singing from the hymnal? Should I insist that songs on the contemporary christian top 40 are the ones they should use? The purpose of songs and music, in church, should be to share the message of scripture, sing praises to God, sing songs of worship to God, etc (I typed "etc" in case I missed something). The purpose of corporate singing is not that we be seen, but that people would see Christ, through us, and be led to God.
Scenario #4: I have to admit something here. This one is a bit of a pet peeve, for me. Let's talk about VBS. Yep...I'm talking about Vacation Bible School. What is the intended purpose of what we are doing? Tradition? Fun activity? Outreach? What is the actual purpose of what we are doing? Are we truthful when comparing the intended and actual purpose. Are we claiming outreach, but fulfilling tradition? What is the possible outcome? Let's assume that the purpose of VBS is to reach out to the children of the community, and through that effort, reach out to the families of the community. A possible outcome could be that we minister to families, who come to know Christ, and become part of our church family. We continue to minister to them and eventually they learn to minister to others. What is the actual outcome? How many years has your church worked hard to have VBS? It lasts a week. You have more children, in church, than you've seen since last time you had VBS. The children have fun. The adults have fun and are tired, from all the work. Everyone feels that the event was a success.What purpose did it fulfill? Did the church grow? Did the children's ministry get larger? Are there any new families attending services, now? How many of these families actually attend another church, but brought their kids to our VBS so that they would have a christian activity to be involved in, during this long summer break. After all, mom and dad are tired of coming up with stuff to entertain bored kids. Did we even follow up with families? I can't tell you how many times we took our kids to other churches, for their VBS, so our kids could participate in a safe activity and have some fun. Did they follow up? Most churches I've visited don't even have visitors fill out a visitor card, thus there is no follow up. How many times have we visited churches and, after we left, commented that "They didn't care if we were there or not. They don't even know who we are." Many times, when I was a youth pastor, I would start working at a new church and notice that there was no way to follow up with visitors. I would make sure that if I saw a family with teens, I would make my way to them, as soon as service was over, speak, and try to get, at least a name and number, so I could make contact later.
These 4 scenarios represent all of the activities that consume our church world. I didn't talk about christian concerts, but could have. I've seen them fulfill the roles of entertainment, as well as ministering to the lost. If we were to take every church activity and question it, what would be the result?
What if we used this formula, for scripture: What does the scripture say? What does the earliest scripture say? What do those words mean to me/us and to the original writer/speaker? How does that apply to me/us? How do I/we flesh that out? My whole childhood, I was encouraged to read my Bible. I can't recall ever being encouraged to study my bible. Sure, we attended Sunday school and "bible study", but we were told what to believe. What if we started encouraging Christians to question everything. In other words, search scripture to find out what it might really be saying. It might be what we've always been taught, but what if it isn't? What if God begins to reveal deeper things that you were never taught. I'm not saying that churches are all wrong. I'm merely stating that many Christians are hindered by lack of first-hand knowledge and understanding of scripture. Years ago, I was a children's pastor to over 200 children. One of the volunteers, who worked with the preschool group, was a young Christian lady who had been in church her whole life. Her extent of biblical knowledge was limited to the basic Bible stories, like David & Goliath and Noah's Ark. Her knowledge was not incorrect...merely incomplete. I have found that many Christians suffer from incomplete Biblical knowledge and/or understanding. Shouldn't churches strive to correct this?
So...If truth can withstand scrutiny, (and it can) why not ask questions. I believe in faith (believing that which can't, as of yet, be proven, but some biblical truths don't require faith. They are plain and simple. It may take faith in order to walk through the forest with your eyes closed, but not with your eyes wide open.
My wife and I were having a conversation, as we headed down the road, to get something to eat Sunday evening. It all stemmed from something I saw, at a local church. They were having Sunday night service, and I noticed a large bus in the parking lot. Recognizing this as a singing group's bus, it got me to thinking.
What would happen if churches were to begin to question everything? If we (and I say "we" here to represent those of us who, in some way, shape, or form, make up the church) were to make questioning everything a normal part of our church culture, how would it change the face of the church, in America? What if they used this formula, for activities: What is the intended purpose of what we are doing? What is the actual purpose of what we are doing? What is the possible outcome? What is the actual outcome? What purpose did it fulfill?
What follows are few examples, to explain my thinking.
Scenario #1: A church decides to have a singing group come in. What is the intended purpose of what we are doing? 1) to entertain, and/or 2) to reach the lost.What is the actual purpose of what we are doing? If the intended purpose is to entertain, then this purpose is fulfilled, if the music and singing is of a quality level that meets the expectations of the intended audience. What is the intended outcome? Satisfaction and enjoyment. What is the actual outcome? Satisfaction and enjoyment, or a lack of either or both. What purpose did it fulfill? It either entertained and was enjoyable or came up lacking. If the intended purpose is to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ, let's look at its effectiveness. How many unchurched people come to our churches, when we have a singing group to visit? If our intended purpose is to use this as a ministry, to the lost, but the lost are not interested in attending, then is it an effective tool? Also, if we say that the intended purpose is to reach the lost, but the actual purpose is entertainment, then haven't we, essentially, caused our selves to fail before we even get started? Don't get me wrong...I see nothing wrong with having a talented singing group perform for corporate worship and entertainment. I love good music and singing as much as the next guy, My point is, question why we do something and do that something for the right reason.
Scenario #2: Why do many churches follow the same service schedule? I mean, in almost every church you visit, you can expect that there will be singing, followed by offering, followed by preaching. There are other things thrown in (don't even get me started on churches that still stop the service each week to sing happy birthday to some poor guy or girl who did nothing more than avoid death for another year, and now has to stand, often at the front of the sanctuary, while everyone sings an obligatory verse), but this is the basic three elements of many church services. What is the intended purpose of what we are doing? If it is to follow tradition, then "we nailed it!". I've never understood why we don't have the preaching before the singing. How would it be if we left each service with an ear worm (song stuck in your head) of our last praise and worship or our favorite hymn? True story: I had a pastor (I was a youth pastor) tell me that he always wanted a minister of music that would "hand me the ball, rolling." In other words, he wanted the music, before the sermon, to work up the atmosphere so that, when he got to the pulpit, the people would be ready. This reminds me of old hand water pumps, some of which needed water poured into the top of them, to "prime the pump" before they would draw water. It also reminds me of what a Master of Ceremonies does to prepare a crowd for the headline act. Even professional entertainers have opening acts that "prime" the crowd so that the headliner is "handed the ball, rolling." Maybe it's just me, but if the intended purpose of singing, in church, is to sing, then, again, we've nailed it. If the intended purpose of singing, in church, is to share the gospel message through singing and offer up worship and praise, then maybe we should question what we are doing and how we are doing it. If the purpose of preaching is to entertain and make people feel good, then by all means, hype it up. Who doesn't enjoy a circus? If the intended purpose is to shine a light into a dark place, mentor, teach, correct, etc., then why do we need to build it up? Do we do that in Sunday school, bible study, or our bible devotions?
Scenario #3: Since I talked about music, in church, let's tackle that one next. Why so much controversy of tradition vs contemporary music? If you go to churches in different cultures, you will find music that is unique to that culture. I have friends in Pakistan and India. I've heard the music & singing they use in corporate worship. Totally different from what I've experienced in the U.S. Should I tell them that they need to be singing from the hymnal? Should I insist that songs on the contemporary christian top 40 are the ones they should use? The purpose of songs and music, in church, should be to share the message of scripture, sing praises to God, sing songs of worship to God, etc (I typed "etc" in case I missed something). The purpose of corporate singing is not that we be seen, but that people would see Christ, through us, and be led to God.
Scenario #4: I have to admit something here. This one is a bit of a pet peeve, for me. Let's talk about VBS. Yep...I'm talking about Vacation Bible School. What is the intended purpose of what we are doing? Tradition? Fun activity? Outreach? What is the actual purpose of what we are doing? Are we truthful when comparing the intended and actual purpose. Are we claiming outreach, but fulfilling tradition? What is the possible outcome? Let's assume that the purpose of VBS is to reach out to the children of the community, and through that effort, reach out to the families of the community. A possible outcome could be that we minister to families, who come to know Christ, and become part of our church family. We continue to minister to them and eventually they learn to minister to others. What is the actual outcome? How many years has your church worked hard to have VBS? It lasts a week. You have more children, in church, than you've seen since last time you had VBS. The children have fun. The adults have fun and are tired, from all the work. Everyone feels that the event was a success.What purpose did it fulfill? Did the church grow? Did the children's ministry get larger? Are there any new families attending services, now? How many of these families actually attend another church, but brought their kids to our VBS so that they would have a christian activity to be involved in, during this long summer break. After all, mom and dad are tired of coming up with stuff to entertain bored kids. Did we even follow up with families? I can't tell you how many times we took our kids to other churches, for their VBS, so our kids could participate in a safe activity and have some fun. Did they follow up? Most churches I've visited don't even have visitors fill out a visitor card, thus there is no follow up. How many times have we visited churches and, after we left, commented that "They didn't care if we were there or not. They don't even know who we are." Many times, when I was a youth pastor, I would start working at a new church and notice that there was no way to follow up with visitors. I would make sure that if I saw a family with teens, I would make my way to them, as soon as service was over, speak, and try to get, at least a name and number, so I could make contact later.
These 4 scenarios represent all of the activities that consume our church world. I didn't talk about christian concerts, but could have. I've seen them fulfill the roles of entertainment, as well as ministering to the lost. If we were to take every church activity and question it, what would be the result?
What if we used this formula, for scripture: What does the scripture say? What does the earliest scripture say? What do those words mean to me/us and to the original writer/speaker? How does that apply to me/us? How do I/we flesh that out? My whole childhood, I was encouraged to read my Bible. I can't recall ever being encouraged to study my bible. Sure, we attended Sunday school and "bible study", but we were told what to believe. What if we started encouraging Christians to question everything. In other words, search scripture to find out what it might really be saying. It might be what we've always been taught, but what if it isn't? What if God begins to reveal deeper things that you were never taught. I'm not saying that churches are all wrong. I'm merely stating that many Christians are hindered by lack of first-hand knowledge and understanding of scripture. Years ago, I was a children's pastor to over 200 children. One of the volunteers, who worked with the preschool group, was a young Christian lady who had been in church her whole life. Her extent of biblical knowledge was limited to the basic Bible stories, like David & Goliath and Noah's Ark. Her knowledge was not incorrect...merely incomplete. I have found that many Christians suffer from incomplete Biblical knowledge and/or understanding. Shouldn't churches strive to correct this?
So...If truth can withstand scrutiny, (and it can) why not ask questions. I believe in faith (believing that which can't, as of yet, be proven, but some biblical truths don't require faith. They are plain and simple. It may take faith in order to walk through the forest with your eyes closed, but not with your eyes wide open.
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