Don’t Seek a Return on Your Sunday Morning Service
The prevailing attitude in developing countries is one of self-centered pursuits. Most people persist in fulfilling the self-serving perspective of WIIFM (What’s In It For Me).
This often applies to going to a Sunday morning service, hence WIIFM church attendance.
Most people go to church with a WIIFM perspective. They attend as consumers, expecting to get something out of their investment in time. And when a church falls short—which it inevitably will—they seek someplace else to go. This is a wrong response.
Or they stopped going altogether.
If our motives for going to church are self-centered, we may be going for the wrong goals. Here are some common reasons people go to church.
To Be Fed
A commonly cited reason to go to church is to be fed. This sounds spiritual. It seems admirable. But the Bible tells us we’re supposed to feed ourselves and not expect others to do it for us. The result is baby Christians (1 Corinthians 3:1-2 and Hebrews 5:12-14).
Baby Christians need to be fed; they can only drink milk. Mature Christians feed themselves; they can eat solid foods.
Though there’s nothing wrong with going to church to learn about God, we might wonder if that attitude simply reveals a spiritual immaturity.
The practice of a sermon being a central point in the Sunday service is a result of the Protestant Reformation, 500 years ago. The Reformers intentionally sought to increase attention on the pulpit and decrease attention on the altar.
That is, they determined to emphasize preaching and deemphasize communion.
A Sunday morning teaching, however, may have been appropriate for the time. This is because the Reformers had much to do to correct the church’s errors and restore a biblical faith perspective among the people. The Sunday service was an ideal place to provide this instruction.
Yet if we go to church to be spiritually fed today, we run the risk of committing WIIFM church attendance.
To Worship God
Another reason people cite for going to church is to worship God. This is also admirable. Yet all we do in life should be done in worship for him (Romans 12:1 and Colossians 3:17).
Yet there’s more to it. People expect good worship music that comes from talented and entertaining musicians.
To these church consumers, presenter skill matters more to them than singer sincerity. As far as they’re concerned, making a joyful noise (Psalm 100:1) doesn’t count.
Likewise they want it to be a certain type of music with specific instrumentation. This may be traditional, contemporary, or edgy; it might involve piano or organ, orchestra, or a praise band. Yet having these as our goals reflects WIIFM church attendance.
Regardless, doing this for only thirty minutes once a week isn’t enough. Worship needs to be a lifestyle and an attitude.
We worship God by what we do and where we go. We worship God by what we say and even what we think.
How we spend our money can worship God—or not. Likewise, what we do with our time can worship God—or not.
We worship God when we obey him. We worship God when we give money to causes that support him and spread his good news.
Yes, we can also worship God through song—such as at church. But this is just one way, and we shouldn’t limit it to a half an hour on Sunday mornings.
Because The Bible Says So
The Old Testament never told the people to go to the Tabernacle or Temple every Sabbath. Instead it told then to rest and not do any work.
Yes, some holidays did occur on the Sabbath and specified going to the Temple. But most of the time, the people stayed home on the Sabbath to rest from their work.
The New Testament also never commanded the people to go to church on Sunday or even the Sabbath.
Yes, the Bible tells us to not give up meeting together (Hebrews 10:24-25), which some people view as a command to go to church. But that’s not what it says.
The command is more general. It refers to any time believers gather. This can be at church, or it can be somewhere else.
God exists in community as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:2, Ephesians 4:4–6, and Matthew 28:19). He also wants to be in community with us. And he wants us to be in community with each other. This happens when we meet together.
If attending church results in genuine community, that’s great. But too many church services don’t provide any opportunity for community at all. We go, we watch, and we leave.
Often our interaction with others is minimal. This is not a community that results from meeting together.
Countering WIIFM Church Attendance
We need to move past the idea of going to church to hear a sermon or listen to worship music. We also shouldn’t go out of guilt because we think God commanded us to do so.
Instead we move beyond WIIFM church attendance by taking responsibility to feed ourselves spiritually, worshipping God in all that we do, and seeking community with other believers.
We don’t do this for what we’ll get out of it, with a WIIFM attitude.
Instead, we do it to honor God and encourage others. In this way, we exemplify the two greatest commandments: to love God and to love others as much as we love ourselves. Everything else flows from this (Matthew 22:37-40).
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith 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.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.