I’ve heard a great deal about the minister and this church. I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. I have high expectations.
Consider these four discussion questions about Church #42:
1. Inside we weave through a throng of people, but no one acknowledges us. We’re invisible. Do they even care about newcomers, or are they too big to notice?
How much do your actions show you care about visitors?
2. The service is a copy of a church we attended thirty-five years ago. Then it was exciting. Now it’s tired. I’m painfully disappointed.
What do you need to change in your service to stay fresh and relevant?
3. We learn that doctrine is important to them. Though the teaching seems grounded in scripture, the minister makes divisive claims not found in the text, which he delivers with dogmatic passion.
Does your doctrine divide the church of Jesus or unify it? What needs to change?
4. In his sermon, the minister criticizes “heretical charismatic ministers.” Though he might be referring to specific charismatic teachers, I infer he thinks all charismatic leaders are heretics. It’s human nature to vilify what we don’t understand.
How can you better embrace people who hold different views than you?
My high expectations for this church led to great disappointment. But even if I had lowered my expectations, my disappointment would still have been high.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Too Many People Are Spiritual Consumers Who Pursue a Retail Religion
This idea of receiving services influences our church selection process. Seldom do people look for a church that gives them the opportunity to serve. Instead they look for a church for the benefits it provides: the music, the message, and the ministries.
They’re church shoppers, pursuing church selection with a consumer mindset.
Retail Religion
The result is a retail religion. These folks shop for a church the same way they buy a car or look for a gym.
They make a list—either literally or figuratively—of the things their new car, gym, or church must have. Then they make their wish list of what they hope their new car, gym, or church could have. And then they make a final list of deal breakers, detailing the things their new car, gym, or church can’t have.
Then they go shopping.
They tick off items on their list. With intention they test drive cars, check out gyms, or visit churches. In each case, they immediately reject some and consider others as possibilities.
Eventually they grow tired of shopping and make their selection from the top contenders, seeking a solution that provides them with the most value.
Instead Pursue Service and Community
A better, and more God-honoring approach, is to seek a church community that provides opportunities for us to serve. We need to stop thinking of church for the things it will provide for us and instead consider the things we can do for it, that is, for the people who go there and the community surrounding it.
We should look for a church that provides opportunities for us to serve, according to how God has wired us, ways that make us come alive. This includes service within the church and to those outside the church.
Service is not an isolated activity. As we serve, we do so in community. Church service and community matter more than church programs and benefits.
Retail religion is out, and church community and service are in.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
Be Sure to Follow Through on What You Promise to Do
Have you ever promised God that you’d do something for him? Sometimes these occur from the Holy Spirit’s stirring within our souls.
Yet other times, these come at a traumatic moment in a person’s life when they’re in the middle of a crisis.
They bargain with the Almighty. They make a conditional vow to God: “If you get me out of this jam, then I will do ______ for you.”
What goes in the blank varies. It may be an act of service, to give money, or to change a behavior, either to start doing something good or to stop doing something they shouldn’t be doing.
Regardless of the promise they make and the fact that it contains a stipulation for God to act first, the result is they are making a vow to God.
I’m not sure how God views these provisional pledges. On one hand it seems a bit manipulative by the person making the promise.
Yet there is the potential for good to come out of it, providing the person making the pledge keeps their vow to God.
Lest there be any doubt about it, God expects us to follow through and keep our vow.
In the book of Numbers, Moses writes that when we make a vow to God or promise to do something we must keep our word and not break our pledge (Numbers 30:2).
Though the Bible doesn’t require us to make a vow to God, it does clearly state that if we choose to do so, we must follow through and do all that we promised.
Moses later writes an additional command on the subject. He adds that when we make a vow to God, we must not be slow in fulfilling that promise. To procrastinate is a sin (Deuteronomy 23:21). A delayed obedience is disobedience.
Jesus repeats this instruction in his Sermon on the Mount. Then he adds a wise addendum, telling the crowd that the better solution is to not make a promise in God’s name (Matthew 5:33-34).
This last part is wise advice for us to follow. Don’t make a rash vow to God. Instead, live a life where we don’t feel we have to.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
We Demonstrate That We Follow Jesus through the Things That We Do
I’ve written that we should treat love like a verb. I also suggested that we’ll do well to view Christian as a verb and not so much a noun (and certainly not an adjective). We should do the same thing with faith. Yes, faith is a noun, but we will do well to consider it as a verb, to behave as though faith is an action.
If we move forward and treat faith as a verb, we put our faith into action, actions that speak louder than words. If our faith fails to produce an outward expression that impacts others, what good is it? James writes that faith apart from action is dead (James 2:17).
Faith is Not an Intellectual Assent
Some people claim that faith is a personal thing, something they keep to themselves. And other people act that way.
Yet what good is a faith that we don’t share with others? Jesus says that if we acknowledge him to other people, he’ll acknowledge us to Father God in heaven (Matthew 10:32). The implication is that if we deny him, he might deny us. That’s an eternally monumental risk to take.
Belief is not enough. James confirms that even the demons believe God exists (James 2:19).
Faith Is About What We Do
James continues discussing the subject in his letter when he challenges people to figure out a way to demonstrate their faith without any action. They can’t. For his part, James shows his faith through his deeds, by virtuous actions (James 2:18).
He gives an example to drive home his point. Imagine meeting someone lacking food or clothes, and we give them a blessing and send them on their way. If we don’t attend to their physical needs, what good is that? What does our faith accomplish (James 2:15-16).
Faith Without Works Is Dead
James wraps up his teaching on the subject by saying that just as a body without its spirit is dead, so too is faith without any deeds (James 2:26).
If we aren’t willing to tell others about our faith and demonstrate it through our deeds, it accomplishes nothing. It is dead.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
The newer building doesn’t look like a typical church. The sanctuary is open and inviting, with a comfortable feel. But what we will soon learn is that people make the difference.
Consider these four discussion questions about Church #41:
1. “Hi, are you the DeHaans?” The usher’s question surprises me. Either he looked up Candy’s picture online or he assumed the new people matched the name in her email.
Though this might be off-putting to some, the extra effort impresses me.
How can you honor a visitor (without going too far)?
2. The area is in a flu epidemic. The minister gives us permission to avoid hugs and handshakes. He suggests an “elbow bump,” which I’m happy to do, but most people don’t follow his suggestion.
How easy is it to adjust your normal practices when there’s a good reason to do so?
3. Bits of liturgy occur throughout the service. The words, printed in their oversized bulletins, also appear overhead. I so appreciate this.
How can you help people better participate in your service?
4. Afterward we enjoy an engaging conversation with a lady as we share our faith journeys. Only later do we learn she’s visiting too.
What does it say about you and your church when it’s visitors who connect with other visitors? What must change?
Our key memory from this church is that the people make the difference in our experience.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
God Doesn’t Want Us to Study Him; He Wants Us to Know Him
When people first learn that I have a PhD and where I did my postgrad work, they assume I’m into theology. Imagine their disappointment to find out I don’t care about the concept or want to pursue a right theology, that I can’t engage in a meaningful discussion about the topic—at least not as they perceive it.
At its most basic level, theology is the study of God. I like that. But as nuances of finding a right theology layer on top of this basic understanding, the subject gets murky.
The result is too many long, multi-syllable words that few people can pronounce and even fewer can comprehend. Turning God into an academic pursuit of the right theology pushes him away and keeps us from truly knowing him.
Relationship Is Key
For many people, their spouse is their most important relationship.
Imagine if I went to my wife and said, “I’m going to devote the rest of my life to studying you.
“I’ll watch you and make notes. I’ll catalog who you are and categorize what you do. Next, I’ll read books to help me better understand you. I’ll also talk with others to gain their insights about who you are. Then I’ll tell others what I’ve learned.”
How would she react? Not well. My singular commitment to focus on her would not win me her appreciation. Instead it would stir up her ire. She would rightfully complain, “Why can’t we hang out instead? I just want you to spend time with me.”
So it is with God. He doesn’t want us to study him. He wants a relationship (Hosea 6:6). Theology keeps God at a distance when what he really wants is for us to know him.
Knowledge Puffs Up
As people pursue theology, they amass a great deal of information. Much of this forms a theoretical construct, turning God into an abstract spiritual entity.
In doing so they gather much knowledge but risk pushing God further away. This knowledge of who God is generates pride. It puffs up. Instead of knowledge, we should pursue love, which builds up (1 Corinthians 8:1).
Education Distracts
The pursuit of higher learning is a noble task, but it’s not the goal. Chasing after a theology of God isn’t the end. It’s the means to the end: to know who God is in an intimate, personal way.
Jesus routinely criticized the Pharisees and Sadducees—who we could equate to ancient theologians. Instead he embraced a simple message when he said “follow me” (John 10:27).
Pursing a Right Theology
Though pursuing a right theology and even having a Bible study aren’t necessarily bad, they can distract us from what’s most important: to follow Jesus and be in relationship with him.
Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Understanding the Background behind the Death of Uzzah
The book of Numbers contains details that are easy to gloss over or dismiss as irrelevant, even boring. Yet they’re in the Bible for a reason, and we can learn something from each one of these verses, no matter how trivial they may seem.
Such is the case with Numbers 7:9. It includes one of God’s instructions that they shouldn’t have dismissed.
The Ark of the Covenant
This passage details what Moses does after he sets up the tabernacle, according to God’s instructions. Since the people are nomadic at this time, everything must be portable.
Easy transportation is key. To accommodate this Moses accepts gifts of carts and oxen from the tribes so that the Levites can move the items they’re responsible for.
The Levites have three clans: the Gershonites, the Merarites, and the Kohathites, each with specific duties. Moses gives two carts with four oxen to the Gershonites and four carts with eight oxen to the Merarites.
But the Kohathites receive none. This doesn’t seem fair. Why not give each clan two carts and four oxen? This would keep everything even.
But Moses has a good reason. The Kohathites are supposed to carry the holy things they’re responsible for on their shoulders. This means no carts drawn by oxen.
One of the holy things they’re responsible for transporting is the ark of the covenant (the ark of God).
God had already specified the ark of the covenant was to be carried by two poles (Exodus 25:14). This means no carts and no oxen. God’s instructions are clear.
The Death of Uzzah
Fast-forward about four centuries. The people have settled in the promised land, and David is their king. He wants to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.
With great fanfare they put the ark on a cart. As the processional makes its way to Jerusalem, one of the oxen stumbles. One man, Uzzah, reaches out to steady the ark.
I’d have had the same reaction. I’m quite sure he did this without thinking, desiring to keep God’s ark safe.
God sees things differently. Uzzah shouldn’t have touched the ark, and God strikes him dead. Uzzah dies on the spot (2 Samuel 6:6).
David’s angry at God. Frankly, I’m a bit dismayed as well.
Yet the ark shouldn’t have been on a cart. Levites should have carried it using poles, just as God had instructed. And Uzzah shouldn’t have been nearby.
Uzzah’s death was unnecessary and could have been avoided had David and his people followed God’s instructions.
This is a solemn reminder for us to never dismiss what God says.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
Consider Your Attitude toward Church and Your Motivation for Going
When I listen to people talk about church, I often hear what draws them in and what drives them away. They enthuse about programs for them and the youth group for their kids. They gush about the skill of the minister delivering inspiring sermons, the excellence of the worship team, and the size of the church. They never mention opportunities to serve others.
In short, these folks desire for their church to serve them. That’s why they selected it, why they became members, and why they attend. And when the church falters in meeting their expectations, it’s also why they leave, often in a huff and complaining to anyone who will listen.
They expect something in return for their presence and for the money they give. They have a transactional perspective: “I show up and give you money so that you will give me something of greater value in return.” Seldom do they seek opportunities to serve others.
To Serve Others
Only once have I heard someone complain that their church provided no service opportunities for them. My friend quietly found a new church that provided options to serve others. The family quickly got involved and plugged in by serving others.
Not only is this an admirable attitude, but it’s also something Jesus modeled. Jesus didn’t expect others to serve him (though some chose to do so); he looked for ways to serve them. He taught them, healed them, and pointed them to the kingdom of God, all without expecting anything in return (Mark 10:45).
In the end, he died for them—and for us—covering our many failures (sins) to make us right with Father God and reconcile us to him. He gave his life for us, so that we could live with him forever (Matthew 20:26-28).
Jesus freely gave to serve others, and we should follow his example.
Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Our destination is a church we’ve heard of often but know little about. Our favorable impression suggests a thriving, dynamic congregation. After the service they invite us back.
I want to say yes, but our schedule won’t permit it.
Consider these four discussion questions about Church #40:
1. As we walk inside, a young man introduces us to his wife, and they invite us to sit with them. We gladly accept his visitor-friendly outreach.
What can you do to help visitors feel more welcomed and comfortable?
2. Avoiding the often-awkward greeting time, they pass a friendship pad for everyone to sign. It contains a visitor card, which Candy completes, but she doesn’t know what to do with it. They solved one problem but created another.
How can you make your expectations clearer?
3. Foremost in their church vision is prayer. “There is power in prayer,” states the preacher. “Prayer should be our default inclination.”
How can you make prayer a more significant part of your church service and your faith?
4. After the service, our seatmates give us a tour of the facility, which left us with a favorable impression. What an inclusive gesture. I feel honored.
How can you better include, accept, and honor guests?
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
A Church and Its Congregation Shouldn’t Let a Corporate Mentality Infiltrate It’s Thinking
In “Why Business Practices Hurt the Church” we discussed how business thinking has improperly affected the big-picture perspectives of church. Yet the business mindset goes deeper than that, negatively influencing church practices and attendee attitudes.
Spiritual Outcomes Are Not Quantifiable
The business world measures everything, but when churches try to do that, they end up with a focus on finances and attendance. This is a business mindset, not a spiritual one.
Churches shouldn’t measure their success numerically. And when they do, they shift the focus from what matters to God to what matters to humans.
We can’t measure changed lives, but that’s precisely what matters most to God.
Measure What Matters
I once attended a church’s annual meeting. They spent much time talking about the 103 baptisms they did that year and the 103 people who joined their church. It was a grand celebration of their success and the marvelous manner of God at work.
However, as an addendum to the end of their meeting, they shared their beginning and ending membership numbers. The difference was not 103 but one! In a busy year with 103 baptisms and 103 new members, they had only grown by one person. That meant 102 people quit their church.
Don’t measure what makes you feel good, but count what matters.
Churn
The business world calls this loss of customers churn. If a business churns customers so fast that all their effort is spent trying to stay even, then something is wrong, seriously wrong. But this church wasn’t smart enough to realize that—or at least to admit it.
Some churches call this the back door. They grow when people come in the front door and shrink when these folks slip out the back door. Another apt term is leaking. Some churches leak people—a lot of people.
Churn is bad for both businesses and churches. It must be fixed, yet the approach to do so differs. The business mindset addresses churn by looking at customer service and product offerings. Churches should not.
Their problem goes much deeper than service and product, but until they realize this, they’ll never fix it.
The Consumer Mentality
When people feel free to leave a church, often over the smallest of slights, they view themselves as a customer shopping for the church that offers the most value. This is a consumer mindset, not a godly perspective.
We shouldn’t shop for a church that provides the services we want. Instead we should look for a faith community we can help.
Consumerism Turns the Church into a Service Provider
When people go church shopping, the church becomes a service provider. Which church offers the best services? Then the focus shifts to programs, service styles, and preaching power.
Instead of asking, “What can the church do for me?” the better question becomes “What can I do for the church?” Don’t seek to be served but to serve.
Customer Complaints
The business that wants to improve, grow, and remain viable listens to its customers. While we all like to hear good news from happy people, the real value comes from the frustrated people who still care enough to share their opinion. So the wise business leader listens.
Yet when most people apply this attitude of a business mindset to their church and share their “concerns” with their pastor or church leaders, they do so with the wrong motives. In reality they want to turn the church into their vision of an ideal congregation that fits them perfectly.
Their so-called concerns are little more than a selfish attempt to change the church into what they want for themselves.
Church is Not about the Customer Experience
Businesses talk much about the customer experience. They strive to make the experience of each customer the best they can in order to retain patrons who will continue to buy from them.
When church leaders apply this to their congregation, they begin pandering to the demands of members in order to maintain their attendance and receive their offerings each week. Yet each move in this direction is a step away from God.
Members Are Not Customers
Applying business practices to church implies that members are customers. This carries with it all sorts of negative connotations, such as a consumerism mindset and the need to maximize the lifetime value of members, that is their donations.
The best response is for churches to do away with membership. After all, it’s not biblical.
While modern business practices do much to advance the cause of capitalism and commerce, these same thoughts hurt the church. We must keep this from happening.
Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
