Deacon: Usher, how does the church survive with church hoppers?
Usher: Who says it needs to survive in the form it’s in today Deak?
Deacon: Well it has been proven for about 2000 years.
Usher: That’s up for debate, Deak.
Usher: Let’s all be real. What is the motivation for a church to grow its membership? Money! It’s not furthering the kingdom. If it were, the church wouldn’t be telling its people to give, give, give and then only offer up an occasional prayer in exchange for all their investment.
Deacon: But the church is for those who are saved, so they can grow and the church is their to disciple them.
Usher: Deak, you’re more than idealistic on that statement. You call discipleship weak Sunday School (teachers who volunteer and are rarely taught, trained, held accountable, etc.), cushy little youth groups with watered-down curriculum or some “made-up-curriculum” from the youth pastor who’s never done a single thing in his life except go to college, get a degree (with the greatest real life application being a few week-long mission trips to a safe haven)?
Just what if that new person visiting is a seasoned disciple, has moved into the area with a job change and is a level 8 disciple and is far more advanced in his/her knowledge of the kingdom? He sits through a couple sermons and realizes the pastor preaches on a level of about a 2. He leaves. Is he a “church hopper”
Deacon: But that’s not a normal situation Usher.
Usher: Life ain’t normal, Deak. Everyone who walks in the church is unique. Why does the church fall into the trap of offering programs that only cater to one group of people, then preach as though everyone in the group should buy into the shallowness of it all? People are all at different stages in their lives. One size fits all doesn’t cut it! Church is not about the Sunday morning service, it’s about the body life. Yet all the money the church collects and all the effort put into raising the membership is about the show or what I call the Sunday morning demonstration: “here are our great programs, don’t miss all the announcements about our great programs” and isn’t our worship team great? And I (the pastor) worked so hard this week to prepare this one-size-fits-all sermon “just for you”.
Tags: building fund, church, church hopper, church membership, curriculum, Deacon, deacon & usher, deaconandusher, discipleship, further the kingdom, kingdom, mission trip, pastor, prayer, sermon, Sunday School, Usher, youth pastor
deaconandusher.wordpress.com 
June 26, 2008 at 11:10 pm |
Didn’t God create all of us exactly the same? He must have, because that’s the only way one size fits all could possibly work in a church.
September 28, 2008 at 4:55 am |
One must remember that the message on Sunday isn’t always for us. Sometimes it’s for someone else. That said, I am an anti-Cathedral, anti-stone heap believer. Count me in with the “Wincklers” and Waldensians who knew that God does not dwell in buldings made with hands.
The whole idea of spending large sums of money on church buildings, gyms, and so on is not in synch with the Great Commission. We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves, but a church “building” is nowhere mandated in scripture. I groan to see how much money is spent on facilities that in most cases are used only a few days a week. Where are the orphanages, widow’s and old saint’s homes? We are to show the love of Christ by showing love, not just providing an address. Most of us have houses to meet in and share. That’s putting our houses where our mouths are!