Since I began going to church some years ago, I have found that there are many different kinds of church people. In the average church, there are basically two classifications of people who attend Sunday morning services, the committed and the non-committed.
The committed church goers, the ones who do most of the work to keep a church growing spiritually, are essential to the congregation. There are two groups of committed church goers, "the go-getters" and the "genuine walkers."
The go-getter group is made up of the pastoral staff, teachers, ushers, choir, and anybody willing to be involved in contributing their time to help in the functioning of the church.
An example of the go-geter group that comes to my mind is the witnessing team. this group is full of zeal. They are energetic and enthusiastic about their faith and want to spend every weekend going out into the public sharing the gospel message, which is that Chirst died and rose again, and anybody who believes on Him for the forgiveness of sin, will be saved. Their zeal is a boost to the others in the congregation, because they help to promote the Christian way of life, which gives hope for the uncommitted. It reminds them too, of their first love with Christ.
The genuine walkers, those who support the go-getters, make up the majority of the committed church goers. They are primarily concerned with helping the pastoral staff and teachers. They are not involved in the "lime light" activities, but nonetheless, help in the functioning of the church.
An expample of the genuine walkers would be the custodial staff, they make up those people who clean the toilets, clean the kitchen, and vacuum the sanctuary when everyone is gone. They practice what they believe without any complaints and do so with a joyful heart. Without this group of people, the church would be in dire trouble. The committed church goers, the go-getters and genuine walkers give strength to what church life is suppossed to be. But, the non-committed make life in genral difficult for all. There are two groupls of non-committed church goers, the "groupies" and the "snoozers".
The groupies make up the majority in this category and they are the cause of many problems in the church today. For example, some goupies are more concerned with gathering together for a good gossip session than hearing from the Word of God. They speak in what I call, "Christianeese", which is similar to speaking in code. They talk about who's doing what, and discuss the latest news. Unfortunately, these groupies can be cancerous to a congregation. This most definitely can lead to unnecessary division in a church. Groupies hardly ever get involved with church functions, except when it benefits their personal knowledge of a person or situation, which is none of their business.
The "snoozer" is one who faithfully attends church, but does not stay awake during the sermon. You can depend on the snoozer to occupy the same spot in the pew, week after week, year after year. The snoozer wakes up when the final "amen" is shouted by one of the go-getters, and when the smell of freshly brewed coffee drifts by their nose. The snoozer doesn't get involved in church funtions either, unless of course, free food is involved. It can be certain one knows when they are sitting by a snoozer when one hears, "zzzz zzzz zzzz!"
The church is made up of all kinds of people with different personalities. With the Grace of God and the perseverance of the committed church goers, perhaps some of the love and Christ-like character can rub off onto the non-committed curch goers. This would enable them to become more faithfully committed, and spiritually enrich not only their personal relationship with Christ, but also enable them to bless others as well. The important thing to remember though, is that no matter what, Jesus still loves His church.
William E. Nielsen
June, 2006
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An accurate defining of average churchgoers. As for the "snoozers." Well, Jesus had some choice words for them in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, didn't He? Wake up, snoozers.
