What would it look like if people put just as much (if not more) energy, effort, resources and time into their local church as they do for other groups and organizations? What would our churches look like?
I believe in the church. I firmly think and believe what we are doing in our churches will matter in 10,000 years. The message that we carry is the most powerful message the world has ever seen. Yet, when it comes to people actually being committed to the church, it seems as if we BELIEVE (by our actions) that the church really is not important whatsoever. Look at the stats.
Fifty-one percent of churchgoing (professing) believers attend church ONCE A MONTH! And do you know what the number-one reason is for not going to church? “Because it’s hard to get there in the mornings.”
I’m just going to say this: We do what we want to do. If you wanted to get up and go hunting or fishing you would bust your backside to make that happen. I know men who get up at 3 and 4 a.m. to go do some type of hunting and fishing. Yet we struggle to make it church by 10:30 AM? I’m not buying it.
Christians today are not buying into the message of what the church is. Why? Well, there are a ton of possible reasons, but I’ll cut through all of the red tape and just say this: I think we don’t love and believe the message of Jesus. We do not LOVE the idea of gathering and worshiping with fellow believers. How can I say that? Because we do what we love to do.
We, as Christians, are a part of so many other organizations and activities, and we give our time and our creativity and our resources to make those places successful. What would those activities and organizations look like if we only showed up once a month? I think you can answer that.
So my next question is this: why do we only want to be a part of the church ONCE a month? Do you believe in the message/mission of your church? If the answer is yes then why not go all in at your church?
What would your church look like if you dedicated a good chunk of your time, money, creativity and self to make that place successful? Sometimes the church has some cranky stuffy folks in it. But so does Rotary and the Scouts, but we don’t give up on them. We keep pressing forward.
Like I said before, what we are doing in the church will matter in 10,000 years. If you don’t like how things are going at your church, GET INVOLVED AND HELP MAKE IT BETTER! They would love to have your input. They would love to get you on a committee. They want to hear your ideas.
If you’d like to see a study or activity happen then tell someone. Or even better, just jump in and start putting something together. GO ask your pastor, where can I get plugged in. What can I do? Pastors LOVE those questions.
I think that if we saw Christians who were members of our local churches start going all in for the things of Jesus and the mission of the church, our communities would look different.