I look forward to attending church this weekend. My crazy schedule has prevented my attendance in the past few Sunday’s and I’ve dearly missed being a part of it. It seems that I’m in the minority though, because some recent statistics that I’ve been perusing indicate that church attendance is on the decline.
Hmmm… I have to wonder why? I so much enjoy going to church and look forward to it with great anticipation, it is difficult to imagine not enjoying worshipping God on Sundays.
A good part of my life has been spent analyzing things and then trying to find ways to improve them. I think that is the very nature of being an entrepreneur. If I can establish a company that will make people’s lives easier, more pleasurable, or somehow otherwise fill a missing void in their lives and find a way to offer it to them, then I will prosper.
This process requires objective analysis which is difficult for most people.
Why?
Because most people look at things from their own perspective instead of from others. If they like a certain a type of music, then they think everyone should like it; if they like the color blue, then that is the color the logo or product must be; if they like to arrive at 6 a.m., then that is when the business should open; if they like French fries with mayonnaise then everyone should, (gag).
One of my favorite books is, “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. It confirms that the overwhelming majority of the public is most interested in themselves and couldn’t care less about others. Understanding this concept is essential in dealing with others. If we want to be successful, (especially in sales), we must consider the likes and dislikes of others, first and foremost, rather than our own.
Indeed one of the most difficult processes in business is to convince employees to depart from their natural line of thinking and convince them that the company must be about the likes and dislikes of the customers and not the employees; the diametric opposite of human nature.
So if I was founding a church, I would take all of the preceding into consideration, (to a point), keeping in mind that the Holy Scripture must never be compromised. I was thinking of the purpose of a church and it is perhaps more complicated than we might imagine. I wrote down my primary reasons for going to church:
- I want to worship God
- Learn more about Him from others whose opinions I respect
- Fellowship with other believers
- Consolidate resources with others to evangelize the world
Hmmm…Now all of that stuff is fun and rewarding to me, but churches are on the decline. Why isn’t it fun and rewarding to others?
My wife had a conversation with some folks about offering a contemporary service in addition to their traditional church service. One person attended a Methodist church that offered one, and the other was a Baptist that did not. The Baptist member’s comment was that the contemporary music was too loud and hurt his ears and he didn’t want one. Not surprisingly that gentleman was up in years. A youngster would likely say of his traditional church that it was ancient, dull, dead as the bones in a mausoleum, and made him want to puke.
If a church is to attract young people then it cannot be tailored to the “blue hairs” of the world. Therein lies the problem, most churches are controlled almost entirely by old buzzards my age and beyond. They have the big bucks and want them spent as “they” see fit.
I worry about the church that I belong to because I don’t see enough youngsters in it and I wish it had a contemporary service. I probably would attend the traditional, but it isn’t about me. It’s about kids who are, after all, the future and our legacy.
My son is literally hounding me on a daily basis to begin services at Honey Lake Plantation Church. I have such an aversion to the politics, (all out WAR), within churches that I’ve witnessed in my life that it has been difficult for me to face this prospect. Like my son I feel that God is beginning to apply pressure to get off my duff and get this done, and as that pressure begins to intensify and be applied in earnest I know from experience I better get cracking. I don’t want to buck the Lord I tell you.
Sigh…In all candor I already dread dealing with the complainers, whiners, committees, and so forth, (that will be sent by satan to infiltrate the HLP congregation in order to disrupt and destroy it). I don’t want it to be the Church of Bob though, and other folks who love the Lord will necessarily need to be involved and I suppose I will just have to find a way to deal with it through God’s capable assistance.
We all need to keep in mind though that although a church is organized and administered by an assembly of believers, the church is not their possession. Believers should establish a church based on Christ’s instruction, (the Bible). It is Christ who owns the church, it has been bought and paid for with His blood, and it is He that is the Head of the church.
As I’ve rambled along this morning thinking out loud, I think I’ve hit on why churches are on the decline. We shouldn’t be such a pain in demanding our own way and get cracking towards accomplishing the goals as set forth by GOD!
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!
Acts 20:28
“So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock–his church, purchased with his own blood–over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.