Reason #3:
“I haven’t found a church I really like,
a church that fits me just right”
“I haven’t found a church I really like, a church that fits my own personal style and tastes.” This is the third most common phrase I hear from lukewarm Christians as to why they haven’t committed to a local church. I’m beginning to encounter this more and more. As we become more immersed in a consumer culture, individual tastes become more important than dirty words like sacrifice, submission, and service. What’s the assumption underneath this? Beneath the surface is the unstated assumption, 1. Spirituality and church involvement is dependent upon my personal likes and dislikes… 2. Church involvement is dependent upon my preferences and tastes… 3. Fundamentally at its very core, church is about me.Welcome to Idolatry 101
This is a unique 21st century excuse. From my reading of church history, I can find examples of many reasons people used for not involving themselves in a local church, including examples of #1 & #2 above. But I’ve yet to come across examples of 3rd century or 13th century or 18th century men and women who reasoned, “ I haven’t found a church I really like, a church that fits me just right.” We live in an age of unprecedented individualism and consumerism. Our culture is one of endless options, one that teaches young people to keep their options open, endlessly open, so as not to miss out on that better opportunity that just might lurk around the next corner. You see this in the number of jobs people will have in the course of their careers, marriages that come and go, and the declining numbers of volunteers. Past generations would’ve frowned on our modern phrases: “church shopping,” “church hopping.” Without even noticing it, many Christians have let 21st century American consumerism shape their thoughts on the local church, rather than the biblical model, arguments, and narratives. And again, I’ve found that a few probing questions can help prompt a shift in both thought and behavior towards the church. Questions: What is it that you haven’t liked, that hasn’t fit, about the churches you’ve visited? Explain to me in detail, what would it take for you to really like a church, to feel like there’s a fit? [Do you think such a church exists, and if it did, do you think other people would want to be a part of it?] Where in Scripture do you see the words “like,” “fit,” “preference,” or “taste” held up as criteria for choosing a church? What do you think about this idea, that part of God’s brilliant design for the local church is for it to be a community where our personal likes and preferences are broken down, refined, and sanctified so that we can experience a community unlike anything the world offers? Where in your search for the perfect church do you rate things like, opportunities for me to serve, challenges for me to grow outside my comfort zone, or brand new perspective on what it means to be a disciple in a hostile world? Ask these questions. Pray through them. Stick with them. Trust that the Holy Spirit can use these questions to open people’s eyes, yes, even the eyes of us stubborn Christians like you and me, to the importance of the local church. To read Part 2 - http://steve4040.wordpress.com/2007/12/20/i-dont-need-to-go-to-church-part-ii/Email Subscription:
Having physically moved from town to town, I can say that it is a difficult time to seach for a living church. Although there are many churches in Marietta/Parkersburg/Williamstown/Lowell, there are very few churches that offer opportunity for service that is not just managing fundraisers. And for us, although we rarely have missed going to church, we have had to search diligently to find a church that was vibrant.
And of course, the church of the 3rd and 13th centuries had a legal monopoly and discouraged the ministry of the laity. In the church of the time, the purpose of the church was to provide the sacraments, particularly the sacrifice of the Mass. At that time, the church needed priests and building keepers. Evangelists and teachers aren’t so needed when there is no legal basis for not attending church. This is in great contrast to the involved church of the 1st century, where the purpose of the church was to bring the saving Gospel to the nations – a purpose which involved all people.
How much do you think this attitude of shopping for a church is correlated to the rise of the seminary educated professional class of pastors?
If pastors are paid to entertain then shopping for the best show makes sense.
If pastors are paid to equip and enable “the priesthood of all believers” then church shopping should occur only at times of relocation or change in the vision/purpose of the church.