I wonder, would “church life” become more like “Church Life” if:
Instead of the forced and fruitless “turn and greet your neighbor” time, there was actually time for you to share with and befriend your neighbors in a relational way.
Instead of always hearing the one-man-pipeline from God to the people, people shared their experience with God as encouragement for each other, it may be in a song, a word, a psalm, a hymn or praying with them.
The people, including the leaders actually spent time with people during their daily living outside of the programmed-event-driven meeting and and with people outside of their own denomination, sharing the love of God by being hospitable.
The volume was was turned down on the music and the “worship leaders”, so that the voices of the flock could be heard, I wonder sometimes if God even hears the voices of His people...maybe His ears are not tuned to the overbearing music and voices of the leaders but to the voices of His flock.
There was dialogue rather than monolog by the sharing of questions and answers or encouragements by letting the people participate by telling how God is working in their lives.
Oh! and what if you got rid of the pews and created more of a togetherness atmosphere that allowed, the “pew warmers” to participate by being the “Church” instead warming the pews in the church!
We like to describe our faith as a relationship with Jesus Christ. Relationships require full participation. They’re interactive. No relationship grows when one person simply sits on their hind posterior and observes from the sidelines.
It is easy to blame the pew-warmers for being couch potatoes. But, in many ways, the religious culture has created a game that encourages their passivity. They’re simply being good spectators.
Sometimes I think it is dangerous for me to think especially when I write what I think!
Instead of always hearing the one-man-pipeline from God to the people, people shared their experience with God as encouragement for each other, it may be in a song, a word, a psalm, a hymn or praying with them.
The people, including the leaders actually spent time with people during their daily living outside of the programmed-event-driven meeting and and with people outside of their own denomination, sharing the love of God by being hospitable.
The volume was was turned down on the music and the “worship leaders”, so that the voices of the flock could be heard, I wonder sometimes if God even hears the voices of His people...maybe His ears are not tuned to the overbearing music and voices of the leaders but to the voices of His flock.
There was dialogue rather than monolog by the sharing of questions and answers or encouragements by letting the people participate by telling how God is working in their lives.
Oh! and what if you got rid of the pews and created more of a togetherness atmosphere that allowed, the “pew warmers” to participate by being the “Church” instead warming the pews in the church!
We like to describe our faith as a relationship with Jesus Christ. Relationships require full participation. They’re interactive. No relationship grows when one person simply sits on their hind posterior and observes from the sidelines.
It is easy to blame the pew-warmers for being couch potatoes. But, in many ways, the religious culture has created a game that encourages their passivity. They’re simply being good spectators.
Sometimes I think it is dangerous for me to think especially when I write what I think!
Comments
Post a Comment