Getting Past Know!
Ok, Sean has pushed me enough that I am going to post a new blog even though I have not full wrote it out and finalized it. Over the last year, I have been paying much closer attention to the churches in North America. I listen to a few by podcasts as well as I regularly talk with people at different churches. One things seems consistent among these churches. They are all having problems within their congregation. Whether the church is pastor led, congregational led, or elder led, they all seem to be dealing with issues in there congregation. To bring this point even more to the forefront, I actually had a kid say they they did not want to come to church because there was too much drama and back stabbing in the churches. Looking at this problems in churches, I have come to the conclusion that we have a bunch of members in churches that not gotten past "knowing" about Christ. Throughout our churches, especially in the South, it is all too easy to say the right things just because you "know" what to say. It is easy for these people to hide in large churches and unfortunately they often cause problems within the congregation and the community. So this brings up a question that I would love to hear from people: How can we address the growing population of people in church that have not gotten past Know? I look forward to an interesting discussion.
posted by Heath Hudspeth at 10:29 PM
6 Comments:
that's gonna be one I have to churn on for a bit.
Well at lest one remedy in my opinion is Small Groups...
notice I did not say Sunday School. I think each member, especially those in a big church need a small group of people to challenge them and hold them accountable. Now the problem is getting people into the small group. Then of course a hole string of problems can arise from there, but that is another post all by itself. So that is what I think and I have been wrong before. What does anybody else say.
i read a book about this issue this semester called "Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches" bu White, Duesing, and Yarnell. The book basically raised the question, why are so many churches having such foundational problems? It listed these problems thoroughly. It then went on to define the main source for all of these problems... which is lack of regenerate church membership. Meaning, churches today are allowing people who aren't truly born again to join the church and have a say. Membership standard in too many churches continue to decrease, then b/c of the lack of standards, people who don't "know" Christ as you put it, become people with influence and power in the church.
What do you think?
Sean... I think you are dead on. I schedule photographers for baptisms at church and on occasion take them myself (usually once a month or so). I always ask the person(s) being baptized, "Why are you being baptized?" and "Tell me about Jesus, about when you first met Him, about your relationship with Him?" I have yet to receive an adequate answer. Normally its, because its just time, or their kids really like the church, or its not as depressing as a catholic church, or we were having marriage problems or my daughter was baptized so we thought we should. As far as Jesus goes, they know NOTHING about Him. None can give me the gospel. They don't even know what baptism actually is. They think its how you join this particular church. Nothing about Christ or our sin or His payment of it. This is extremely heartbreaking for me as I am sure the Lord is not blessed because of it. Most of all lost people are thinking they are "in" because of a church. Instead of being filled with the Holy Spirit and becoming part of the Bride of Christ. May the Lord give us wisdom.
I think some good points are made here. I agree the importance of having small groups that Justin brings up. Unfortunately I do not think the small groups are enough though. Sean's point on allowing people in the church very much hits the issue too. Since many times we do not know the individuals that are joining our churches, all they have to do is have a shallow understanding of the ideals of a church and "know" what to say. In that point is the title of this blog. Small groups definitely help get to know people better, but my concern is that I rarely see the Bible being taught in these settings which brings up Heather's point. With the new trend of thinking that Sunday School is outdating and wrong, where are we teaching people to understand the Bible. There are hundreds of mislead preachers teaching on TV, churches are focusing more on financial management, etc. I have learned most of what I know about the Bible primarily from Sunday School type classes and self study. I rarely find Sunday Morning services sufficient for teaching the true understanding of the Gospel. Most of these services are more Evangelistic in purpose and while they are awesome and serve a good purpose in attracting lost visitors, they are not filled with strong systematic theology and true understanding of Salvation and the Gospel. While I believe in change, I am very concerned with the increasing lack of understanding of Salvation that is explained in Heather's email. Whether it is Sunday School, Small Groups, or both, strong leadership is needed in this area to insure that our congregations get back on track to getting a basic understanding of Biblical principals.
I would love to hear more comments.
First of all I would like to apologize. What I posted could have and probably was taken the wrong way because of my faulty wording. When I said notice I did not say Sunday School I didn't mean that Sunday School isn't a small group. Because some Sunday School classes are just that (A Small Group). What I should have said is that each individual should be in a Small Group via Sunday School Anchor Groups or whatever your church wants to call it that meets together for true community, accountability, and the study of scripture. I think that if every member was a part of a group that had all of those qualities we as the body of believers would start getting past know. once again sorry for the misunderstanding post, I must have been on something and I am sure this one is probably full of eras too.
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