“You can do more with 12 disciples than with 1,200 religious consumers.” Alan Hirsch
I used to be in a church with someone who was never happy with how things were run. People tried hard to include her but nothing was ever good enough.
Once, in a discussion about how we could serve the local community better, she said:
“The thing about me is, that not only do I like to take, I also like to receive.”
Of course, she had meant to say ‘I also like to give‘ but actually her mis-spoken words were pretty accurate. She could not appreciate why everyone was laughing.
But lets face it, this is real danger among many churchgoers. It is easy to take and receive and it can be a real challenge to encourage people to step up and serve.
A curse of our age
Consumerism is one of the curses of our age. And the church is not immune to it.
People can easily go along to church for years and just be stuck in receive mode. They can judge the quality of the music, assess how engaging the sermon was, or how much their kids enjoyed the children’s groups.
And when their experience does not match their expectations, they can up and leave and go to another church. And in Christian circles, there are plenty of ways this can be dressed up as a spiritual decision: ‘We believe God is calling us elsewhere for the coming season.’ That kind of thing will generally get nods of spiritual affirmation.
And now of course, there is no shortage of Christian resources available to consume by yourself without leaving the house: the best sermons, the most brilliant worship music and the deepest contemplative prayer are all available on the internet. And you don’t even need to negotiate the annoying people at your church!
Except you do. Those ‘annoying people’ are more important to your soul than any of the most brilliant sermons you can listen to by yourself.
You need others
Following Jesus cannot be done in isolation: Christianity is not an individual spiritual self-help programme. And you do not grow just by consuming certain religious experiences.
The Christian faith is about following the Way of Jesus. Discipleship is about learning to do this in community.
Jesus does not call us to be religious consumers but calls us to community.
The organisation I work for, Hope into Action, works closely with churches to house and support people who have been homeless. We believe passionately in what the local church can do to offer friendship and community.
We are hosting a special evening on Tuesday 29th September which is open to anyone who wants to explore these themes. We have two brilliant speakers who are on the frontline of local church leadership:
Jon Swales MBE, leader of the Lighthouse Community in Leeds and runs the Mission, Theology & Ministry for the Margins course, and also Alan Carson, associate pastor of Belfast City Vineyard, CEO of Storehouse and Hope into Action Belfast.
We will consider together the pressures facing the modern-day church and pray together for the church across the UK to see growth, breakthrough and authenticity. Come be encouraged, inspired and invigorated to help your home church be less ‘passive observers’ and more ‘essential contributors’ to the outworking of our faith.
Please see here for all information: 29th September – Prayer and Fasting Day | Hope into Action UK
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