Today was an interesting day in many ways. Overnight, my three month old daughter slept for most of the night, about 7 1/2 hours. Once we got her fed, I had to head off to the church building for our regular Sunday morning worship. Usually, my wife and daughter show up for our later worship service, which begins at 10:30. However, today proved to be a somewhat interesting day for them. It seems the little one wasn't having a good morning. Between poor feedings and short naps, she wasn't in a very good mood. Nevertheless, my wife, like a trooper, loaded herself and the little one up for worship. Even though the little one didn't make it through the whole worship service, they were undeniably there.
It would have been far more convenient for my wife to stay home with the little one today rather than come to worship with a combustible infant. And the truth is, I wouldn't have blamed her one bit. But that's where my wife really came through and showed how much her faith life means to her. Even though it would have been far easier to stay home, she made the intentional effort to be with God's people and to hear God's Word.
I realize that I have to walk somewhat carefully when talking about this subject. It's very easy to point fingers at people who spend the whole summer camping or boating or vacationing, basically seeming to put God on hold until it becomes more convenient. Yes, I find myself wanting to point out to them that it doesn't seem that they take their faith very seriously when they so casually seem to dismiss the fact that God's will is for His people to gather together regularly. And the truth is, I'm not even all that Nazi-ish about this topic. I would hardly blame people for taking a little time to get away, especially since I know that the weekend is people's prime time to get away.
However, it really does seem like more and more people are what I'm calling Convenience Christians. They will be in worship, or participate in the congregation's ministries, or contribute their time and talents when it's convenient for them, but not otherwise. And the more I read through the Bible, the more I see that God has some pretty challenging things to say about that. It seems that when His people neglect Him or take Him for granted, well, that's usually the time when He serves up a reminder about what's important.
Maybe some of you have dealt with Convenience Christians before. Shoot, maybe some of you reading this are Convenience Christians, at least according to my definition. My goal in writing this isn't so much to point fingers, but to serve up the reminder that one part of God's will is not to cast aside the gathering of God's people so casually, but to take it seriously. Yes, it may not always be convenient, and you may feel that you will get more from doing some other activity. But I also think that you would be hard pressed to show God how that is living faithfully according to His will.
As always, I welcome responses, and realize that I may touch a few nerves with this. I won't apologize if I did, but really want you to think a bit about what it means to take your faith life seriously.
It would have been far more convenient for my wife to stay home with the little one today rather than come to worship with a combustible infant. And the truth is, I wouldn't have blamed her one bit. But that's where my wife really came through and showed how much her faith life means to her. Even though it would have been far easier to stay home, she made the intentional effort to be with God's people and to hear God's Word.
I realize that I have to walk somewhat carefully when talking about this subject. It's very easy to point fingers at people who spend the whole summer camping or boating or vacationing, basically seeming to put God on hold until it becomes more convenient. Yes, I find myself wanting to point out to them that it doesn't seem that they take their faith very seriously when they so casually seem to dismiss the fact that God's will is for His people to gather together regularly. And the truth is, I'm not even all that Nazi-ish about this topic. I would hardly blame people for taking a little time to get away, especially since I know that the weekend is people's prime time to get away.
However, it really does seem like more and more people are what I'm calling Convenience Christians. They will be in worship, or participate in the congregation's ministries, or contribute their time and talents when it's convenient for them, but not otherwise. And the more I read through the Bible, the more I see that God has some pretty challenging things to say about that. It seems that when His people neglect Him or take Him for granted, well, that's usually the time when He serves up a reminder about what's important.
Maybe some of you have dealt with Convenience Christians before. Shoot, maybe some of you reading this are Convenience Christians, at least according to my definition. My goal in writing this isn't so much to point fingers, but to serve up the reminder that one part of God's will is not to cast aside the gathering of God's people so casually, but to take it seriously. Yes, it may not always be convenient, and you may feel that you will get more from doing some other activity. But I also think that you would be hard pressed to show God how that is living faithfully according to His will.
As always, I welcome responses, and realize that I may touch a few nerves with this. I won't apologize if I did, but really want you to think a bit about what it means to take your faith life seriously.
I'll post this in two parts:
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll volunteer to weigh in on this concept of a "Convenience Christian." Just playing another perspective others might share but not feel comfortable sharing. (This is adding to conversation, not a criticism of Pastor.)
First and foremost, I don't disagree with the fundamental premise. It does seem more and more like worship takes a back seat to competing life interests. And, it is certainly true, the bottom line is that we should strive toward "living faithfully according to His will" and worship is an important reflection of a healthy faithful life.
So let's take a look at the issue from another perspective. First, I suspect this issue isn't really localized to that specific person, whomever he may be, who is doing nothing but taking a vacation from God with boats and hiking boots, although in fairness to Pastor that is the basic scenario he presented. Let's just look at this issue of Church Attendance more generally and how it often gets dealt with in many congregations.
Commonly, we are taught to support each other in our faith lives, and inevitably the pursuit of such endeavors will include discussions about our mutual responsibilities to one another to encourage a Christian lifestyle and even admonish a fellow Christian who is "being naughty" in some way.
That's all fine and dandy on paper, but we're dealing with actual people and, in the words of of someone I know for whom I hold much regard: "I'd love to go to church if it wasn't for all the people." This is the same person who walked into his old church, inhaled deeply through his nose and said, "Ah, the sweet smell of judgement!" *smile*
What am I getting at here? There's a fine line between constructive encouragement about issues like church attendance and good old fashioned judgement.
Complicated dynamics are at play. Even the simplest, seemingly harmless comments -- "It's so good to see you, I haven't seen you in ages!" -- can be taken the wrong way, made to make the person feel embarrassed and even singled out. The characters can matter. Maybe the speaker's "strong faith" is actually disguised self-righteousness. Maybe the Convenience Christian has extenuating circumstances (that no one has bother to ask about). Maybe the Convenience Christian has actually been going to the same church for 20 years and still doesn't know anyone. Maybe going to church with its cliques and "The Establishment" feels like attending middle school -- and who wants to do that again?
(Second half due to the blog's length limitation)
ReplyDeleteLet's be honest with ourselves. At some level, it probably really is finger-pointing if the target feels singled out -- and many will feel singled out. And people will apply a predictable interpretation: YOU don't attend church like ME or MY WIFE or (INSERT HERE) = YOU are not one of US. And that can then be decorated with all kinds of judgements. WE are more Christian, WE are more devoted, WE do everything, WE make the rules. You're not as pretty as us, as smart as us, or as saved as us.
And a lot of people won't hestitate to turn the tables, either, making the whole matter a death spiral of criticism. Are you a Convenience Pastor (or other congregational leader)? Why aren't there mid-week services? Why doesn't the church have online "Face Time" services or devotionals, etc...? (There are good answers to these questions, but people will attack when feeling attacked -- it's the growing combativeness that makes the whole situation unproductive.)
It all just makes me wonder, is there really any room for spiritual instruction that inherently "casts eyes" on others (no matter how much we say we really aren't) or, for that matter, singles out "church achievers" at the risk of making others feel bad about themselves? It may not be the intention, but, as we all know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Take note that this overall discussion really has only one *named* person, so to speak: the Convenience Christian. That's the identified party, the singled-out. The bottom line is simple: We all want to create a healthy congregational life that promotes a healthy Christian lifestyle, but a focus on church attendance will always be a risky venture. Folks who have poor attendance records feel even less inclined to go if they think people are criticizing them at some level. Who wants to feel like they have to weather the church experience like that? Indeed, it's likely more often than not that tackling elements of spirital life like church attendance through opaque finger-pointing masked in cute but inevitably socially isolating identifiers like Convenient Christians is doomed to backfire.
After all, the larger goal is to be an *inclusive* and forgiveness-oriented people, a respectful people, and a mature people. Mature people can empathize, put themselves in the shoes of others. But first, they need to know something about the shoes others are wearing. It's fine to say "God Says Go To Church" but everyone's lives are different, the only person someone really knows well enough to finger-point is oneself, and, by contrast, only God knows what is in each person's heart.
So, I suppose the next discussion could be about ways to address church attendance in a more positive, inclusive way.
We all know these things, of course. And yet, our nature still gets the best of us. "Why can't you be more like your brother?", says mom. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that never really made someone a better a person let alone more like their brother!