Some congregations lose their way because the motions take over for what matters. This statement seems difficult to understand. Let me explain the habit of some congregations. Congregations can fall into a routine of habit. These congregations will hold a Gospel Meeting, have a door knocking campaign, conduct a Vacation Bible School, and have monthly potlucks for fellowship. These great events were started to reach into the community, to strengthen the congregation, and to mature one in the faith. These activities provided life to the congregation. But as years passed by, as these events became the norm, they started to lose their meaning. The events lost their purpose.
Instead of having a Gospel Meeting to evangelize the lost, a congregation was having the meeting because they always had a meeting. Vacation Bible School was done not to reach out to young families in the name of Christ, but because every year the congregation had a VBS. The potluck meals were a time of fellowship and relationship building, but turned into a thoughtless habit. The events and works of the church changed from a purpose into a habit with no meaning.
Activities in the church must not sink into mindless actions. When the works of the church turn into simple routine, then it is time to reevaluate the purpose of the project. Too many churches go through the motions, but have neglected to keep the purpose of the work in mind.
Related posts:
- Review of “Action Research”
- Review of “Winning on Purpose”
- The Purpose of Lectureships
- Review of “Prophet of Purpose”
- Developing a Growth Calendar
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About The Author
Matthew is originally from Nova Scotia, Canada. He has a beautiful wife named Charity and a precious baby named Gabrielle. He has graduated from the Brown Trail School of Preaching, Heritage Christian University with his Bachelors of Arts in Biblical Studies, Lipscomb University with his Master’s of Arts in Biblical Studies and his Master’s of Divinity at Freed-Hardeman University. He is presently working towards his Doctorate of Ministry at Harding Graduate School of Religion. His articles have appeared in the World Evangelist, the Highway to Holiness, The West Virginia Christian, The Christian Echo, The Firm Foundation, Church Growth, and the Gospel Advocate. He enjoys hockey, golf, boxing, and chess. In his spare time he enjoys reading numerous genres of books. Also, he is working on climbing all of the 14ers in Colorado. Matthew is the Pulpit Minister for the Castle Rock church of Christ.
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Well said!
Excellent….and amen.
Thank you Trey, these works are not bad activities, but when we lose the purpose behind them, it just becomes a mindless tradition.
As I read this post the word “routine” jumped out at me. Being humans, a lot of us like and work better with routine. This is not always for the best. How do we collectively and individually avoid the pitfalls of “routine”? I realize the most common answers would be study and prayer. I just wonderd if someone had more specific input that helped them avoid the pitfalls of “routine”.
We love our golden calves… That is what makes reevaluation and potential change so difficult.
Rex
Ithaca Church of Christ
Ithaca, NY
I have gone to churches such as the ones you mention all my life. I also think that while these activities can become routine that the life of a church goes through periods of stagnation, revival, and back again, depending on “new blood” that comes and goes.
Your post reminded me of the time I visited a Greek Orthodox Church during a Greek culture festival in my city. A priest was telling the audience about Greek Orthodox Christianity. One person in the audience raised her hand and asked why the Greek Orthodox burn incense during their worship assemblies. The Orthodox priest explained that during the early years of the church, Christians had to meet secretly in catacombs where dead bodies were buried. In order to make the catacombs bearable, the early Christians would burn incense to try to cover the smell of the rotting bodies. Although the need went away, the practice remains to this day. True story. I like to imagine what would have happened if the early Christians had access to Lysol.
Great story Terry. Also a great point.
Excellent post. I have really appreciated many of your most recent posts. I would like permission to reprint this post in our church bulletin.
When we just go through the motions we are no better than the examples of 1Cor 13… we are nothing, mean nothing, and contribute nothing.
The stagnation of the Lord’s Supper in so many congregations has bugged me for years. I will attend somewhere while visiting my family and watch perhaps the most important thing that has ever been done for us be treated like something that has to be moved along as quickly as possible. No comments, a brief prayer and a swarm of servers come out of the woodwork so that we can make it happen quickly so as to move on to the next item of worship.
Just one example of how something of great importance can become mundane and mindless. When that happens it becomes a mockery. We need to find some way for huge congregations to still find the significance of Christ’s sacrifice, focus and dwell upon it, and still not turn it into ‘dead air’, to use a broadcast term.
When functionality, ritual, and repetition become the norm, then we have lost the passion, the love, and the reason for what we do. That applies to all things ‘religious’, and frankly it infects too many things that congregations do in worship.
Jimbo
I would be honored if you did Jonathan. Jim, great thoughts.
“But we’ve always done it this way!” Great post, Matthew!
Great post–I’m going to throw it in our bulletin too. We have a “fellowship” meal this Sunday so it might cause folks to think!