Worship

The Complacent Church

by Darlene Kennedy
10/31/18
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I recently saw a movie about a small town church that hired a new pastor to lead their flock. He found the congregation devoid of power with no community outreach, no growth within the membership, divisions, and factions amongst the congregants that threatened to tear them apart. 

He immediately met with the deacons and church leadership to implement changes that would catapult them from a church that was dying on the vine to a dynamic, spirit-filled presence in their town. Sadly, he was met with intense opposition, a complacent attitude, and the typical response from those who were fearful of change, "We never did it this way!" 

Unfortunately, many of today's churches are in that same rut. Their congregants are satisfied to attend weekly services where they are spoon fed the milk of the word, never growing up into the fullness of their inheritance in Messiah, simply going through the motions, powerless, ineffective, lifeless, asleep in the pew. 

I want to share my own experience with you that confirms what we are seeing so much today in many of our churches. I was a member of a major denominational church until age thirty-five. I was active as a Sunday school teacher, vacation bible school director and choir member. I was a member of a women's weekly Bible study and was deeply committed to studying the word. 

It was that commitment to the word that eventually led to my leaving the church. As I studied the scriptures, I began discovering truths that I had never been exposed to before, some of which were in direct opposition to what was preached in the pulpit. When I approached the pastor with questions, he took it as an affront against his authority. When I spoke with the women in the Bible study, they tried to convince me that I was being deceived and led astray by Satan. 

I began to question my own sanity, but as I gave careful thought to what I witnessed each week in church. I had to admit that many of the members were not well versed in the scriptures, although some had been in the church for more than twenty years. Some showed little love for one another, while others sat lifeless during services, unattentive, glancing at their watches. 

It has been said that church attendance is vital to spiritual growth. For many, I'm sure that is true. For me, however, that was not the case. Although I did miss the fellowship and often desired to seek congregational worship once more, I could not get past the lifeless teachings and complacency of the attendees. I continued my study into the word of God and remained dedicated to prayer. I researched the culture, history, and language of the first century in which Yeshua lived and taught. I discovered that the early believers met in homes, where they shared the individual gifts the Spirit had endowed to each of them. They engaged with one another through psalms and hymns, words of knowledge, prophecy. The pastor was responsible for maintaining order within the group, as a servant. He was not to be on a pedestal, preaching each week to a mute congregation. Everyone had a role in building up the body. 

What a different picture we see today! Congregants sit lifeless in pews each week as a minister funnels into their brains "Jesus" stories that they have heard thousands of times. No one is allowed to speak during the sermon. Anything that the Spirit would wish to impart is suppressed. Often, the members don't really get to know one another, as in mega churches. Some may have a deep relationship with God and would have much to share if given the opportunity. 

Our churches should be a living, active, supporting, sharing body of believers, involved intimately with each other, meeting the needs of one another. They should be family. Some say our churches are dying. Many are leaving and have lost faith. Without a solid foundation in the word, they feel disenfranchised and directionless. 

If church leaders don't wake up and reenergize their congregations, encouraging them to walk in their individual giftings, they will continue to see a falling away. Even those who remain do not read the bible for themselves or seek a greater relationship with God. Their worship is one of habit. 

Unfortunately, my experience has come full circle. Recently, I began attending a ladies bible study hosted by that same denomination, although a different church. I opened the time capsule I closed thirty-four years ago and, as is the case with time capsules, what was put into it is what one finds when opened. Nothing has changed. The church today looks exactly as it did when I left all those years ago. There has been no growth, no excitement, no increased knowledge. It is sad as the knowledge base of the world has increased dramatically in our generation due to the internet. Greater biblical understanding is at our fingertips and so few seem interested in challenging the teachings that have been handed down through the centuries by those for whom this knowledge was inaccessible. 

The Bible is the inerrant word of God, but man's interpretation is not. Regardless of their sincerity, many pastors and teachers have failed to challenge their inherited doctrinal beliefs under the microscope of biblical truth, as have their members. Western Christianity has adopted a Greek mindset and has, therefore, for all intents and purposes, ignored what they call the "Old Testament" and redefined the New Testament through the lens of their Gentile understanding. However, the New Testament is a book written by Jews in the first century, some of who were taught by Yeshua himself. Much of what they wrote were direct quotes from the Old Testament, which at that time were the only scriptures they knew. They were raised in the Torah and, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, saw more clearly the words of the ancient prophets and writings. 

We need to get back to our Hebrew roots, to the culture, language, and history of the first century, to their world. We need to study the Bible with a Hebraic mindset in order to understand what these disciples were really teaching. 

Jude 1:3  "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." 

This is what the body of believers need today. We must earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints who penned the scriptures. ​​​​​​​Otherwise, we will remain ineffectual, unable to meet the spiritual needs of a lost and dying world.