January 08, 2007
Smorgasbord
When my children were growing up there was a time that our church program wasn’t meeting their spiritual needs. We found that worshipping at our church, going to youth group at the Baptist church and attending Bible study with the Presbyterians worked well for them. At the time I felt we innovatively dealt with our problem, but the religious landscape of today is revealing our solution wasn’t unique at all. Many people are flitting from church to church and program to program in order to have their needs met. On Sunday mornings we often have people coming to a portion of our worship service and then hustling out the door to make it to another church for their program. Without reservation or excuse, worshippers are sampling from a smorgasbord of programs and activities…and they’re not limiting themselves to any particular denomination. Actually I find it appealing to think one could listen to the best preacher in town, scoot over to another church for the best Sunday school teacher in town and then drop by another church for the best fellowship in town. I love buffets!
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1 comment:
Gail;
----The church as presented in the New Testament was simply the gathering together of the believers for a variety of purposes. The the Bible talks about singing to one another, speaking to one another, helping one another (both physically and emotionally), inspiring one another, reaching out with one another, and much more. It speaks about men who are of spiritually mature character who live as examples among the gathering, deal with sin and its spread within the gathering, bring insights from the Word to the gathering, and co-ordinate the general harmony of the gathering, among other things. But what the Bible does not do is establish the specific rank and structure of the gathering, describing its departments and projects, property posessions, and its authority over the doctrine, faith, and life of the believer. Man has rounded out that side of the church.
----I am refreshed to hear that people move around among the churches to find the supply they need for their spiritual life. Although those who feel compelled to safegaurd the church's control over its believers call this "church-hopping", I call it gathering together. As long as each person carries their eagerness and abilities to serve others to the various churches, I believe it is benefitial to make a broader acquaintance with the rest of the church in the comunity.
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