Observations of a Church Shopper
For the first time in our lives, my wife and I are church shoppers. We've been visiting different churches until God gives direction as to where He wants us to "plug in". Here are a few of my observations as a visitor.
All of the churches we have visited are "inner-directed". That is, they are more concerned with getting their own itches scratched, and having their own backs patted than they are in reaching the world for Christ.
Worship is an after-thought in most, if not all of the churches we've visited. The pre-set order of service precludes the Holy Spirit leading in any direction other than what has been prescribed. Very little of the worship is God-focused even though the words to some of the songs are. We're still mainly singing to ourselves or each other...not to God. Almost all worship is confined to singing or listening to singing. Little thought is given to the fact that music is only a small aspect of true worship.
Sunday school classes are more interested in fellowship than Bible Study. Not that fellowship isn't important, but in the 5 or 6 hours of SS that we've attended over the past several weeks, we've experienced maybe 2 hours of Bible Study. The rest of the time has been spent fellowshipping or sharing prayer requests. Oh, and the request time beats the actual prayer time a good 3 to 1.
Those are just a few of the observations we've made. Hopefully the lessons we're learning will stand us in good stead when God plugs us in somewhere else, or maybe even back where we came from. There are many things I've noticed as a visitor that I never paid attention to as a member. Perhaps we should require that everyone get out of their comfort zone and experience life "on the other side".
All of the churches we have visited are "inner-directed". That is, they are more concerned with getting their own itches scratched, and having their own backs patted than they are in reaching the world for Christ.
Worship is an after-thought in most, if not all of the churches we've visited. The pre-set order of service precludes the Holy Spirit leading in any direction other than what has been prescribed. Very little of the worship is God-focused even though the words to some of the songs are. We're still mainly singing to ourselves or each other...not to God. Almost all worship is confined to singing or listening to singing. Little thought is given to the fact that music is only a small aspect of true worship.
Sunday school classes are more interested in fellowship than Bible Study. Not that fellowship isn't important, but in the 5 or 6 hours of SS that we've attended over the past several weeks, we've experienced maybe 2 hours of Bible Study. The rest of the time has been spent fellowshipping or sharing prayer requests. Oh, and the request time beats the actual prayer time a good 3 to 1.
Those are just a few of the observations we've made. Hopefully the lessons we're learning will stand us in good stead when God plugs us in somewhere else, or maybe even back where we came from. There are many things I've noticed as a visitor that I never paid attention to as a member. Perhaps we should require that everyone get out of their comfort zone and experience life "on the other side".
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