Rethinking Church

Posted on September 5, 2020 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

I am becoming increasingly dubious about the goal of having a large church with a multi-million dollar facility and large, professional staff. I’m still waiting for a really good experience in such an organization.

The main problem I’ve encountered is that to build such a large church, one of the necessary components is a really gifted speaker who most likely then becomes the de facto leader of the church. The leader then surrounds himself with like-minded staff and elders, and groupthink sets in. As a result, the only opinion represented in the leadership is the opinion of the gifted speaker (and de facto leader).

This is not how the church is represented in Scripture. Paul uses the analogy of the body, where all the parts are valuable, and Jesus, as the head, assumes the authority and the responsibility to bring together all the necessary parts of the body. These include elders who are gifted with the ability to shepherd the people in the church.

When groupthink sets in, elders that challenge the groupthink are ignored. To ignore those elders or tell them that their input is not required goes against Scripture (and common sense).

Then there is the pragmatic question of how the financial resources of the church are spent. I wonder if the money spent on the large venue is the best use of those resources. You not only have the expense of building the large building, there is also so a large increase in the maintenance and operating budgets to support the building.

I have attended two churches that have undertaken building programs. In both cases, rather than being a tool for ministry (as was intended), the building itself became the main focus of the church. In addition, the size of the mortgage and operating budget put unhealthy pressure on the leadership to evaluate the ministry based on potential impact to the giving.

Perhaps we should keep in mind Jesus’ words about the impossibility of serving God and money?

In the year 2020, one of the results of the COVID-19 pandemic is that those who have lived through it will have a different attitude toward large group gatherings for the foreseeable future.

Notice that when you watch a movie or a television program, the sight of a large bunch of people gathered together without masks looks a little weird right now. It is strange to think of being in a group of a thousand or more people, shoulder to shoulder, without masks and copious amounts of hand sanitizer.

This makes me wonder if this isn’t a good time to reexamine the goal of having a large church. Is it a good time to say good-bye to the desire to have thousands of people gathering together in the same place on a Sunday? Is it a good time to say good-bye to large, opulent church buildings? Is it a good time to say good-bye to big, showy productions on Sunday mornings?

This post was prompted by a recent reading of the second chapter of Acts. Specifically, I was challenged by Acts 2:42 which says:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.”
Acts 2:42, CSB

In this verse, Luke tells us that there were four components to which the early church was devoted. Below, I’d like to briefly share some thoughts on how these components are handled within many large church settings in 2020.

The Apostles Teaching

Some of the preachers in large churches still do expository preaching from the pulpit. But many have succumbed to the idea that expository preaching is a thing of the past and to draw large crowds, the preacher must do topical sermons to speak to “felt” needs of the people filling the seats or pews.

As I see it, there are two problems with topical preaching. The first is that it is very, very difficult to do it well and to correctly represent what Scripture says on a particular topic. It is all too easy to find the passages that support what the preacher thinks about the topic and ignore the passages that are more difficult or nuanced.

The second problem is that not everything we need to hear from Scripture appeals to a “felt” need in the culture. To cherry-pick passages on which to preach decreases the likelihood that all that God wants us to learn from Scripture will be proclaimed from the pulpit.

Expository preaching, where the preacher goes through a book of the Bible verse by verse, allows for everything in that book to be examined. The preacher can’t skip over the parts that are uncomfortable or the parts that go against popular culture.

In addition to all of this, with a majority of the focus of the church on the Sunday service, one-on-one or small group discipleship can be relegated to a secondary status.

This is a shame because most people who feel very grounded in Scripture would say that much of their grounding came about in a small group or one-on-one setting.

The Fellowship

Can we be totally honest here? Some of the people who are drawn to large churches love the anonymity of being in such a large group. They can hear a sermon, say hello to a few people, and then not have any interaction with other members until the following week.

Is that fellowship?

When you have 1,000 people attending a service you don’t have time or the means of really connecting with others. We get there, say hello to a few people, sit down, sing a few songs, perhaps even have a 2 minute time of greeting other people, listen to a sermon, sing the closing song and then figure out what we’re doing for lunch. There is absolutely no time in such a service to get to know others or get to be known by them.

In every experience I’ve had in a big church, there has been discussion about how to make the big church feel small. The goal is to get people into small groups of various types and various names. This is a tacit admission that large churches don’t do fellowship very well.

Perhaps, maybe we should ask if this is not an indication that smaller churches might be a better way to go.

The Breaking of Bread

A shared meal is a great way of really getting to know someone else. It is a time for conversation to begin and continue naturally. This is how real fellowship takes place.

The logistics of a large dinner for the entire church are increasingly difficult as the size of the church increases.

I’ve known some smaller churches that have a pot luck dinner after service nearly every Sunday. This would be nearly impossible with a large group of people.

Prayer

Upfront, I must admit that I have been at prayer meetings that were difficult for me to sit through. I remember one prayer meeting where one of the saints entered into a long prayer that reminded God and his fellow saints of the dangers of reading the Harry Potter books. There is always a possibility that prayer meetings can devolve into such unhelpful behavior.

The solution to such antics cannot be to eliminate prayer meetings entirely. This is indeed throwing the baby out with the bathwater to use the well-worn idiom. Prayer done badly is no excuse to eliminate it from the church calendar.

But, it seems that many churches, especially the large ones, have indeed eliminated a dedicated time of corporate prayer. The Wednesday evening prayer meeting is a thing of the past.

And for those that do have a prayer meeting on the calendar, often the leadership of the church is not committed to participating in the meeting. Is there a sense, on the part of the leadership, of the absolute dependence upon God for the health of the church? Is the leadership demonstrating that dependence by leading the people in prayer for the church and community?

But then, why do we need to pray when church growth experts have mapped everything out as to how to grow a big church? Perhaps the “proven” methods of filling the seats on a Sunday have eliminated the need to cry out to God in a sense of complete dependence upon Him.

Yes, I’m being a bit cynical here. But my cynicism is fueled by my hurt and confusion over how people, including myself, have been treated in large church settings. The attitude in such churches seems to be, “we have a program, get with that program, or get out.”

I suggest we look at how Jesus interacted with people while he was on earth. Everyone was important to Jesus and everyone felt that they were important to him. We have many stories of Jesus seeking after those who were overlooked or scorned by polite society.

But in large churches, too often the attitude is that “this church isn’t for everyone” which results in a cavalier attitude about those who leave.

The fact that people are leaving and they are leaving after being hurt too often doesn’t cause sufficient alarm among the leadership.

Something is very, very wrong with this.

Leaders – How well are you getting people grounded in the faith?

Posted on September 19, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 6 Comments

It should come as no surprise to anyone who is at all paying attention to the culture around us that we can no longer assume that the people we interact with subscribe to a Judeo/Christian worldview. In fact, an increasing percentage of the populace is hostile to such a view.

This begs the question of church leaders, “what are you doing to get your people grounded in the Christian faith?”

I believe that good preaching does part of the job, but assuming that the average sermon is 30 minutes and the average parishioner attends 50 service per year (I like easy math), that is 25 hours per year of instruction that may or may not address the issues that the parishioner struggles with.

Highly motivated people will find web sites, podcasts or other materials that will address the questions and concerns they have. They may even take classes or pursue a degree to become better trained to understand what they believe and why they believe it. But what about the ones that are not so self motivated or who don’t know where to turn?

I know that some denominations have formalized catechetical training. I have never been part of a group that had such training but I wonder if the nature of the catechism is such that it addresses or helps people understand and respond to the challenges to the Christian worldview that are on the rise.

There is not a one-size-fits-all approach that will work in every church context, but I thought I would catalog some ideas on how to go about getting people grounded in the faith. Here are some ideas in no particular order:

Develop and teach a “Bible 101” or foundations class. When you do this, I would encourage you to distinguish between the essential doctrines of Christianity and the non-essential issues. There is nothing wrong with having denominational distinctiveness as long as it is understood that not all true believers agree on non-essentials. To give an exchatological interpretation the same importance as the deity of Christ does damage to the Church Universal.
Along the same lines, avoid drawing unnecessary lines in the sand on non-essential issues. For example, while I believe in a literal six day creation, I refuse to argue with those who believe in a longer time frame. If we can agree on God as the agent of creation, that is good enough for me.
Provide a means of getting questions answered. This could be through a Sunday School class geared toward answering world view questions, occasional Q & A sessions with the pastoral staff or an email address where questions can be sent in and answered. Help people find the answers they need.
Train small group leaders and Sunday school teachers in how to handle Biblical and world view questions. While “I have to ask the Pastor” may be an appropriate response if the leader does not know the answer, it would be so much better if the question could be handled effectively (and correctly) on the spot.
Bring in seminar speakers who are trained to address the issues of the day. There are several seminaries that are training Christian apologists who would be able to help you find a suitable speaker.
Model grace to those who have questions or struggle in understanding and belief. Look at how Jesus handled those who raised questions and respond in a similar fashion.
Don’t ignore the young people in your church. They have the same questions and are often more honest about their struggles. Perhaps if we did a better job of answering their questions at a young age, fewer of them would leave the church in their college years.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-12 that it is the job of church leaders to equip those in their charge to minister to the people around them. Part of this equipping is to get them grounded in their understanding of the Christian faith and how it speaks to the issues of the day.

Leaders need to periodically gauge how well they are doing with regard to equipping their people. If you find that improvement can be made, try something new. Use one of the ideas above or listen to the ideas of your people. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

If you have other ideas, I would appreciate if you would share them in the comment section below.

The balance between worship, service and fellowship

Posted on December 3, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

The Balance

For a church to be healthy, each believer must have opportunity to participate in worship, service and fellowship.

Some definitions are in order. First, when I refer to worship, I am speaking of the activities of the congregation when we come together on Sunday morning. We worship through singing and the teaching of Scripture. Both are important. Yet, a good worship experience cannot be the only aspect of church life. A great teacher and worship band may draw a crowd, but it is the addition of service and fellowship that make it a church.

Service is the acts that are done within and outside the church body to minister to specific needs. An example of service within the body would be teaching Sunday school or working on a cleaning team. Service outside the body would be typified by short term missions, or providing meals or clothing to people having physical needs. Service alone makes for a charitable organization but not a true church.

Fellowship is when members of the body share life together. When the church group starts to feel like family, then we are nibbling at the fringes of true fellowship. Yet fellowship without worship and service makes for a clique, not a church.

When one side is atrophied

If we are not coming together for singing, praise and teaching, then the church body will be fragmented and struggle to find unity. Fellowship may happen, but it will not be centered around a common vision for what God is doing in that church body.

If the acts of service are minimized, the church will become ingrown and proud in it’s attitude toward the community in general and newcomers in particular. This is a Christianity that is self serving and smug.

If we are worshipping and serving without real fellowship, then the saints will advance from feeling unappreciated to feeling abused. People will come and then drift away when they do not find the interaction that they feel should typify the true church.

In my experience of evangelical Christianity, it is the fellowship leg of the triangle that seems to suffer the most. Evangelical, Bible centered churches understand the need for good teaching and worship on Sundays. Even a cursory reading of Scripture prescribes the need for service, so opportunities to serve abound. Fellowship is a different story.

Home group Bible studies, home fellowship groups, adult fellowships, koinonia groups, etc. may be the beginning of fellowship, but they cannot be the total solution. Fellowship is not something that can be arranged with a program.

Toward Deeper Fellowship

If we are in need of deeper fellowship, how do we go about finding that depth? Here are some thoughts:

In John 13:35 Jesus tells us that love is to be the defining mark of the Christian. If there is resentment or division in the church, those who are participating in that behavior need to repent and be restored to the opponent.
Keep in mind that while there may be different roles in the Church, there are no differences in value. (Galatians 3:28) Everyone is to be valued, not for their giftings or accomplishments, but for the fact that Jesus sacrificed himself on their behalf.
In Matthew 25:41 Jesus tells us that by responding to the needs of those who have no resources, it is as if we ministered directly to Jesus. By seeking to support, encourage and meet the emotional and spiritual needs of or church mates, we are ministering to Jesus.
Each of us, no matter how strong we seem now, will come to a place where we will be needy. Since Christmas is upon us, the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” comes to mind. George Baily came to the point where he needed the community into which he had invested so much of his energy. It was there for him. So should the church be.

This certainly is not an exhaustive list. Any other ideas out there? Feel free to chime in with comments.

He sat down to teach – Sermon on the Mount Series #2

Posted on October 21, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

The beginning of the Sermon on the Mount:

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them . . .” (Matthew 5:1-2 NASB)

At the end of chapter 4, Matthew informs us that “large crowds” followed Jesus. The crowds followed him because of his ability to heal their diseases, pains and birth defects. They needed physical help and Jesus was able to provide it.

What does Jesus do in response to the large crowds? He looked for a place to sit down and begin teaching them. Why would he do this?

Throughout the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) we find Jesus expanding our understanding of God and his view of righteousness and godly living. We are encouraged to move beyond physical obedience to spiritual conformity to a higher calling. We moved past doing to being and Jesus shows us that who and what we are determines what we do.

It is not enough to refrain from murder, we are called to live without hatred. It is not enough to refrain from adultery, we are called to live without lust. What we do on the outside is supposed to match what we are on the inside.

Why does Jesus take the time to tell us this? It is not so that we can be proud of our spiritual accomplishments. Apart from the work of God in my life, I cannot even begin to live up to the standards that Jesus presents in this sermon.

I believe that Jesus takes the time to preach this sermon because the crowds then and now need to know that not only do they need physical healing, they also need a spiritual one. This sermon calls me to the understanding that left to myself, my situation is hopeless. On my own, I can manufacture a pseudo spirituality that may perhaps look good on the outside, but I cannot fix the core problem of my sin.

In this sermon, Jesus provides a glimpse as to what true Godly living looks like and invites us to join him in living it out. Paul tells us in Romans:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16–17 NASB)

It is by the power of the Gospel that I can begin to live up to the standards that are presented in this sermon. So as we read these beautiful chapters of the Bible, we will be alternately scared to death and encouraged. We will be scared to the death of our self-will and encouraged as we yield control to God who promises to bring his work in us to completion (Philippians 1:6).

Jesus teaches us these things so that we look beyond our own abilities and look to Him. We need to quit the self-help movement and embrace the God-help movement. It is then, and only then, that we can begin to experience ultimate healing, healing the part of us that no doctor or pill can fix.

They asked for healing and Jesus gave it to them, though perhaps not in the form they thought they needed.