We're Not Doing Church RIGHT Anymore

Impromptu theo-sophical conversations at church on Sundays.  They are really one of the MANY reasons I look forward to "cresting the Ridge" every Sunday morning.  I know that my daughters look forward to absconding with "Mr. Steve" to get a popsicle (the breakfast of champions), which is generally washed down by donut holes.  I know that my wife sincerely cherishes every moment she is allowed to serve on the Worship Team.  And, of course, so do I.


Then again, on those weeks when I'm not serving on the Worship Team, and I'm standing behind the Hospitality Desk (or sitting and drinking coffee would probably be more accurate), I find that I often become engaged in some pretty hefty discussions of a practical spiritual nature.


And this week was absolutely no different.  My friend, Randy and I were discussing how much the modern American church just "doesn't get it" anymore (Randy probably won't read this for another two and a half weeks, since he's on a "media fast" during the month of July).  No, I'm not talking about evangelism or discipleship (although we tend to do very poorly with the latter of the two).  I'm talking about our actual mission in today's society.


It seems to me that we get wrapped up in the most absurd things, and it steals our focus from the things in which we should be engaged.  We get all up in arms about social policy, and argue till we're blue in the collective face, but nothing comes of it.


But one social policy has come up recently that should literally make us hang our heads in shame:  The Affordable Health Care Act.  I'm not here to sermonize regarding whether or not it is a good idea.  But what I am here to talk about is how much of a "gut punch" this should be to true believers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.


The Greatest Commandments


What did Jesus say was our most important commandments?  Let's take a look at Matthew 22:36-40 for the answer:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

So did you catch that?  Obviously, loving God with everything we have is the first commandment, but the second is "Love your neighbor as yourself".


Guess what?  The modern American body of Christ in general is doing an awful job of loving our neighbors.  If we truly loved our neighbors as ourselves, we might find the following things happening:

• You might see less people begging for change on the corner of every major interchange of every city in America.  Why?  Because the local churches would be housing and feeding them.  They might even be getting treatment for any substance abuse problem they might have, also through the local church.
• You might find fewer people declaring medical bankruptcy, as the local church would collect funds to help with medical bills.
• You might find less neglected senior citizens, as the local church would be offering time and money to help the elderly among us who might have needs they are simply too proud to talk about.
• You might see foreclosure rates drop, as the local church would offer resources to prevent those in desperate situations from losing their homes.

Let me tell you what we see instead.

• We see poor people begging everywhere because we've left their care and welfare to social programs run by the government, which never have enough money or personnel to see to the needs of everyone who needs it.
• We see the federal government trying to intervene in a monumental way to "fix" the American healthcare system.
• We hear stories of retirees who, even though they collect Social Security from the government, still don't have enough money to live on, and are forced to make seemingly inhuman cuts to their living situations.
• You see ham-fisted programs from the federal government to help beleaguered homeowners.

You see, the federal government has been left to do what we in the church should be doing.  We should be providing for the needs of the homeless and poor.  We should be providing for those who can't afford medical treatment.  We should be out in our local towns and cities offering assistance to the elderly.  We should be using our combined resources to help homeowners in dire straits.

Jesus called us to love our neighbors and to serve "the least of these".  After all, His life was a life of service, even service to us in His death.

So, where have we failed?

1. We've failed in our giving of money.  According to a Christianity Today study, 247 million people in America claim to be Christians.  That number is ridiculous beyond imagination, since a great number of those are probably people who claim to be Christian, but do so only because they attend church once or twice a year, but who otherwise have no concept of what it means to follow Christ.  However, let's assume that 30 million households are true Christ-followers.  The average household income in the US as of the last quarter of 2011 is right around $50,000.  If every Christian household tithed on their income, the American body of Christ as a whole would have $150 BILLION.  Realizing some of that has to go towards paying pastors and staff and funding other local ministries in the church, let's say that HALF of that was left over to fund the above-mentioned initiatives.  Really, don't you think $75 BILLION EVERY SINGLE YEAR might be enough to radically change the face of poverty, hunger, homelessness and medical bankruptcy in America?
2. We've failed in our giving of time.  Even though money is a highly sought after resources, especially in today's economy, we should never underestimate the value of our time.  As Christ-followers, we should be willing to sacrifice our time for others.  We should seek to serve others by giving of our free time to those who truly have needs to which we can minister.  Instead, we find ourselves "hoarding" our free time under the auspices of "deserved relaxation".  I'm not saying that a little earned rest is a bad thing.  What I'm speaking of is the systemic and consistent willful ignorance of the needs around us as we tend to our own wants and fritter away our time on ourselves.
3. We've failed in even CARING.  Have you ever found yourself driving by one of those hand-written-sign-wielding people on the corner and just shrugged thinking "What can I do?".  First of all, that question is always posed as an internal exercise in rhetoric, but in reality, the answer to that question is a mile long.  The real problem?  We just don't care.  Is it possible that the person would take any money you gave them and spend it on booze?  Of course.  Did you take the time to find out more about their situation?

How can we fix it?

There is no panacea, no magic bullet, that will solve this problem.  Every individual has their own struggle and their own weakness when it comes to serving their fellow man.  But I think it starts with point #3 above.  We actually have to care.  And, if honestly examine yourself and find that you don't care, then you really need to spend some time examining your relationship with Christ, who made it His mission on earth (aside from dying on the cross) to serve everyone (who was willing to be served).

And it's time for churches in general to stop worrying about growth and numbers and start worrying about meeting needs.  If we stopped looking to the next enormous building project and started looking to the next great humanitarian project in our community, things would change.  It's time to stop thinking about outreach in terms of knocking on doors to invite people to church and start thinking about outreach in terms of humbly serving the community.  If we, in the church, conduct ourselves with humility and a willingness to get our hands dirty for the betterment of those in our community who are in need, we won't be able to stop the influx of new people darkening our doors to "check out what's going on with that church".

I'm pretty sure, at the end of everything, when we stand before the Lord God Almighty on Judgment Day, we are not going to hear Him say, "Oh, by the way, great job on that enormous arena you built for your Sunday services.  That was a great use of resources."

---

Jesse S. Greever is the CEO of eLectio Publishing, a digital publisher for Christian authors.  If you are a Christian author and have a manuscript that you think is worthy of publication, check out the submission guidelines and follow the directions for manuscript submissions.

Greever is also a co-author of the book, Learning to Give in a Getting World, and numerous fiction titles from Untreed Reads publishing.

You can become a fan of eLectio Publishing on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/eLectioPublishing

You can follow eLectio Publishing on Twitter (@eLectioPubs): https://twitter.com/#!/eLectioPubs

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $9.99)

Amazon.com (paperback, $9.99; eBook, $2.99) 


Directly from eLectio Publishing (eBook $2.99 in ALL formats for one price)

Pastors and church administrators can contact me directly at jesse@accidental-author.com to find out about discounts available for churches that wish to use this for teaching and small group curriculum.

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever