Now my wife and I are looking for a church home
(church shopping). So far, the results have been disappointing. I guess we
could be called consumer Christians, too. But I’m pretty sure our “Shopping
List” is unique. At least I haven’t heard of anyone else using one like it.
Before I share my list, allow me to share some background information that may
help make the list more understandable.
I grew up in the church. It was a nice church filled
with nice people. I made many friends, but none of them was named Jesus. After
seventeen years of attending worship services, Sunday school, youth group, and
youth retreats, I went off to college without God. I wasn’t rebelling against
my upbringing, I was just clueless about God. Who God is and what He is like
was a mystery to me. It never occurred to me to read the Bible or pray before
I made a decision. God was just not on my radar.
While in college my older brother shared with me a
different look at Christianity, one I had never heard before. I believed there
was a God, but I was sure He was pretty ticked. The only way I could please Him
was to follow His rules, and that wasn’t happening. I envisioned God as a
celestial killjoy, waiting to catch me having fun and telling me to stop it.
All He had in mind for me was to make sure I had no fun.
Much like angry parents, God was to be avoided.
Brother Bob explained to me that God, in fact, loves me. My sin had created a
barrier between me and God which God wiped away through the death and
resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ, And now I can have a relationship with
Jesus. Thus, Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God. That
changed everything for me. It was the beginning of my journey to know God and
to allow God to know me better.
The next experience that impacted what I am looking
for in a church, happened while I was attending seminary. In the spring semester
of 1970, a revival broke out. When I say Revival I mean, instead of being a
special series of sermons preached to motivate church members, this was a spontaneous
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It was amazing and life-changing. I saw and
experienced first hand the presence and power of the Spirit of God. I saw
peoples’ hearts changed, others physically healed, and others emotionally healed.
These were people I knew and thus knew their changes and healings were real. As
Tommy Boy would say, “That’s
going to leave a mark.” (Click for video) And it did. I could not deny what I had seen
and experienced. (Worth watching.)
It was during my time serving Beargrass Christian
Church as Youth Minister in the early 70s that God showed up again. I started
that ministry with 12 high schoolers that had just returned from Expo 72, and
they were on fire for God. We prayed together, we worshipped together, we
studied the Word together, we hung out together, and we believed together. And
God powerfully invaded our space. It was awesome and life-changing, and some of
those young people, who contacted me later in life, told me it ruined them for
church. I knew just what they meant. When the group grew to 150, other youth
leaders in the Louisville area asked me my secret. I had no secret or plan. Just
go after God with all you have and hide in the bushes and watch. All I knew was
that God showed.
The last time I saw God show up in power, love and answered
prayer was the last church I pastored. By
then I had finally discovered “the secret” of leading a church into the presence
and power of the Holy Spirit. Don’t think I’m smart because it is so simple. The
secret is: pray for the church; preach from the Bible so the people fall in
love with their Father God; give people opportunities to grow and encourage them
to take advantage of those opportunities; only allow spiritually growing people
in leadership positions and them get out of God’s way. It is scary, but fun. One
never knows what God may do, but it will be good.
So, we are church shopping and I am doing it
encumbered with all of my amazing experiences. It sure makes looking for a church
difficult. We’re not looking for “the average church”, where one must muscle one’s way in. Where worship is made up of three
lifelessly sung hymns or praise songs, a short non-challenging sermon or a
message on politics (Like, I don’t hear enough about that all week and the
government is going to save us – remember one of the world’s greatest lies, I’m
from the government and I’m here to help.), confined within an order of service
that God is not invited to interrupt. Where the “Plan for Discipleship” is made
up of a couple of poorly attended Sunday school classes and a mid-week Bible
Study led by the pastor. Where missions consist of giving money so someone else
can go do mission work for us.
So, here is my shopping list:
- Vibrant worship centered on glorifying God: God Is GLORIFIED; Christ is EXALTED; The Holy Spirit HAS THE FREEDOM TO MINISTER; The Believer IS ENCOURAGED IN HEART AND MIND; The Unbeliever is DRAWN TO CHRIST).
- Ministries led and supported by the church’s laity.
- A clearly understandable system of discipleship that leads to individual spiritual growth.
- High expectations of member’s participation in a healthy small group.
- A loving and welcoming atmosphere for ALL who attend, with as many barriers as possible to newcomers removed.
If you know of such a church, save me some time and
tell me where it is.
Copyright © 2019, William T. McConnell, All Rights
Reserved
Bill McConnell is an Interim Minister, a Church
Transformation consultant and a Christian Leadership Coach. He is a frequent
speaker at Church Transformation events. His latest book on church
transformation is DEVELOPING A SIGNIFICANT CHURCH and is available at Westbow
Press. He can be contacted @ bill45053@gmail.com.
Connect with him on Facebook @ William
T. McConnell or on Twitter @billmc45053 or visit his Amazon Author Page @ Amazon
author page
No comments:
Post a Comment