RETHINKING CHURCH (Part 2)

In my last post I referenced Perry Noble, the pastor of NewSpring Church in South Carolina, and his comments in “It's Not the Product… It’s the Service, Part One of Two.” In a later post on the same subject ("It's Not the Product… It’s the Service, Part Two of Two"), Perry brought up some interesting perspectives on the church, that I AGREE WITH and I wanted to share with you.

The two perspectives or views that are mentioned are:

1. The “inside of the church” view.
2. The “outside of the church” view.

Today, I want to focus on what He had to say about the "inside of the church" perspective. Here are a few of my thoughts on what Perry had to say...

The way many church services are conducted many would conclude that Jesus never rose from the grave!

We do not serve a God who is lifeless, boring and dull…thus our church services should not be either. I DO believe in reverence…yet many have concluded that term with rigor mortis!

This isn’t a “Traditional” vs. “Contemporary” service debate here… it’s a cry for MORE PASSION in worship. This week I was at a worship service for the pastors, spouses, and administrative assistants (That sounds like an odd gathering, doesn’t it?) of the churches of the United Methodist Statesboro District prior to our yearly setup and planning meeting. Dr. Ben Martin, Statesboro District Superintendent, gave an inspirational message on effectiveness in growing the Kingdom of God by our “sharpening our tools” and not “grinding an axe”. Prior to his message, Brandi Womack Harvey, sang Mercy Me’s song “Word of God Speak”.

There was no “big band” playing back up for her; just her and the piano. No production team, lights, cameras, projector screens, no choir robes, pipe organ, hymn book… just the piano, Brandi’s voice, and most importantly Brandi’s PASSIONATE HEART of LOVE for Jesus Christ!

From the first note that she sang, Brandi’s love of Jesus penetrated every heart in the room! This was no performance to her. It was an outward expression of her love for Jesus through this song…

Where is the PASSIONATE HEART OF LOVE FOR JESUS in the church today?

Back to Perry’s comments…

The following are some personal convictions that I really do believe that, if applied, CAN make a difference.

• When people show up they should be greeted by people who smile, say hello and are actually GLAD that they are there (and not worried about whether or not “those new people” are going to get the seat they’ve had for 20 years!)
• If we actually believe what Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21 and Acts 1:8 instead of claiming the extremely unbiblical line that “we aren’t one of those church who like to reach people… we just want to love one another.”
• Jesus did not save us for our glory… He saved us for HIS!
• If, when people showed up the music was actually good instead of letting the deacons niece sing, which always causes people’s ears to bleed and makes people pray for Jesus to come back at that moment!
• Actually taking time to PLAN the worship experience (with open hands of course) instead of letting a bunch of really bad things happen in consecutive order and then blaming the entire thing on the Holy Spirit.
• Begging God for HIS unbelievable power to be demonstrated among us!
• (BTW…some people say plan, others say pray…I believe the Bible says DO BOTH!!!)
• Use language that people can actually understand! (I’m all about the blood of Jesus…but if I am an unchurched person and you ask me if I’ve been washed in the blood of the Lamb… I am peeing my pants and then running like a bat out of Hades away from you!)

I could go on and on… what I’m really trying to say is that if we spent more time in our church services actually caring about reaching people rather than keeping people… I really do believe we could make a dent in the number of lost and unchurched people on the planet.

I look forward to hearing your comments on this. Later this week, I will be sharing about the “outside of the church” view!