I’ve enjoyed thinking about the three things I wish every church member knew (yesterday’s post) and the three things I wish every church member did (today’s post).
Here’s the truth of these posts: your attitude and actions will determine what you get from church and also what other people get from it. Because you and I are the church, unchurched and unreached people will base their experience on who we are and how we live.
Here are three of the many things I wish church members would do each Sunday as they worship.
1. Treat Church Services Like a Football Game. When I go to a football game, I am a participant. I feel that the team is depending on me. I yell and cheer. When our opponents have the ball, I make as much noise as possible. The team depends on me and I know it.
Shouldn’t I think of church in the same way? Shouldn’t I “get up for the game,” arrive early, and be ready to do my part to help the team?
What would happen if you treated church like you do attending a game of your favorite team?
2. Seek Personal Holiness. God longs for our holiness. We are to be holy as He is holy.
How different would church be if those who attend for the first time could see Christ in us? What if we sought to live righteously (but not judgmentally) and showed it in every part of our lives?
You can be as much like God as you want to be. The problem is that many, many church people don’t want to be much like God.
3. Look for People to Help and Encourage. People attend church because they expect it to be a place of hope and encouragement. They want a kind look, a smile, and, if appropriate, a time of prayer and a word of encouragement.
I’ve often believed church would be so much more interesting if we arrived looking for someone to bless.
Church means the most to me when I can serve and encourage others.
What are those things you wish church members would do? Please leave us a comment.
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9 Responses
Waylon, I couldn’t think of anything better. Being a participant in church service means your excited, listening, and the message is meaningful to you. Why not express yourself! Personal holiness is just what it says, personal. But it is also the touching of your heart by God himself and that just makes me more excited. The depths of the soul are stirred when God produces holiness within you. And encouragement of others is the results of the first two circumstances. When God speaks to me and touches my heart I want to reach out to others. All you have to do is just look for someone to encourage and you will find them. It might just be that elderly individual sitting alone at the rear of the worship center who just looks lonely to you. Reach out and greet them. It’s your being Christ to them at that moment. Touchdown brother, touchdown.
I wish people would treat the “altar call” with more reverence. Many people are trying to make the most important decision of their lives and any unnecessary interruption may cause them to resist. It is not the time to begin gathering your things, leaving the service to get a head start on the traffic or going to the bathroom. This also applies to those of us who serve in the church who may leave to go to their respective assignments in the next hour.
I wish a higher percentage of church members would serve in any capacity within the church and it’s outreaches, the more we serve others the more the church grows and God’s Kingdom multiplies.
When I’m serving others, the worries of this world go away and the peace of God dwells in me.
Some times you wonder how we got to this place of being spectators only.
I couldn’t agree more. Paul in his writings seemed to express, as I have shared along with you, the same hopes, wishes, pleas. However, to ignore issues of wolves being in the midst or some other predatorily behavior is a real concern Paul addressed, as did Luke in Acts, shades of Achan.
It is a reality, many cultures are represented under the roof. Often it is a marketing opportunity. I have always sought out “Christians” with which to place my hard earned funds for services rendered or employ. Some different cultural examples may be a surprise. If you are in a bureaucratic type of employment you likely have a much different mindset than the one who is an employer or are self employed. If you have spent a life of service and following the principles of investing as outlined in Proverbs and had someone rob the system that was carefully maintained and developed, you likely have a different perspective on the culture of the one who is getting in their “golden years” a regular retirement check. A haughty attitude of a “superior choice” is usually the position of those who vested themselves in the system that survives. I appreciate the description Paul used to describe economically himself and the other Apostles. It is interesting how God uses the strong made weak to elevate the Ideals presented in Scripture on how a Church is to “Behave.” Thanks be to God when His Show up! It is a frightful thing to have seen so many God fearing die a sad, lonely death with the dismissive attitudes of the “churched” pressing on as if passing a dead animal on the side of the road. The times I have been alone or nearly so to morn the passing of a Christian is a sobering reminder of “our” sin problem. To see the gathering of many after the fact when it is too late to be of service in life is another extreme.
May we continue to see God working in our Midst. So Mote It Be.
Blessings
At my old church in Warner Robins, Ga. we used to STAND and CHEER when someone was baptized, because we just scored one for the team. NOt just for the popular people either, for everyone. I have enjoyed my time at FBC and thanks to all in the Stoner SS class for making us feel welcome when we moved in almost a year and a half ago. We are moving out and returning back to Georgia to be near family (our daughter is having our first grandchild) and longtime friends. The job market here doesn’t seem to want to support me here so i have to go. “Be good”.
Craig
We will miss you, but we understand. Please stay in touch. One of the reasons I write is to stay connected with all those folks I have known at some point in life.
Carry church with us all week long, not only when we are in the building on Sunday. Be salt & light.
Isn’t it amazing how many things we wish every church member knew and did?