Tuesday, March 16, 2010

HOW DEEP SHOULD CHURCH BE, by Judge Wyld

Judge Wyld Radio Talk Show Host currently on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/judgewyld

Churches can be a great place to find God. To go find an atmosphere of peace and meditation. To find a calm set of people who are connecting with God. To walk in the door and find God right there waiting for you. You have no doubt that you are in a biblical church immediately upon arriving.

Some people think that a church should grow. Like a business. They need more money to build more buildings to provide more activities to get more people to get more money to build more buildings to provide more activities to get more people to get more money .....

So these churches become secular. They become as deep as a walmart and as shallow as a walmart. They become as varied as a walmart and as non-spiritual as a Walmart. Walk into a church that focuses on growing and you have an non-spiritual church. Never mind the trimmings. Never mind the religious rock band lyrics and the painted on smiles. Even a walmart has a christmas look without CHRIST anywhere in it. So does a church that is focused on growing.

I know of one church that grew without their main property getting bigger or abandoned. They built a second church in a separate neighborhood. WOW. What a concept. A neighborhood church!!! Remember the day of Grandma waking up, making breakfast, grabbing her worn bible and walking 5 blocks to church? What a great sight!!! What a great example for the children in the neighborhood. Everyone cherishes the sight of the old lady making that walk to church, hearing the church bells.

So now a church measures it's popularity (not it's spirituality) by buying acres and acres of land and building an ugly brown brick and steel secular structure. You don't see stained glass windows and true steeple as the major architectural features of the building.

Remember parking on the street? No....these mega churches have acres of parking lots as a primary feature of the property. So secular. So anti-spiritual.

When you walk into church. You want to find God right inside. Immediately. Within 20 steps in any door, you want to find God. You don't want to have to go searching for God in a mega church.

How do you find God in a mega church? One that focuses so much on growing that they lost God someone where back near the super-sized dumpster farm that they need to collect the trash from their secular activities.

Ok.... so you walk into the church. Is the Pastor there? NO. You find an administrator only. On Sunday you are greeted by a greeter who is so remote from the pastor. The administrator or greeter can not take you to God. What they do instead is try to label you. Are you blue collar or are you white collar? We have a professionals group for you. Are you single or married? We have a shallow clueless singles group for you. Are you a single mom? oh so sad, we have the aimless uneducated singles mom group for you. Are you divorced? We have the desperate, wounded, clueless adults trying to date like teenagers group. Are you a man? We have the hapless hopeless males group. You have kids? We have the empty future children programs to perpetuate that life is a playground kids groups. You have to wait until the day of the week that the group meets. You get fed NOTHING that day. The admin or greeter, gives you the name of the leader of that group. The leader of your label group has to meet with you. And they tell you how their group works so you can fall in line and do their activities instead of having your own life according to who you are and your talents are that GOD GAVE YOU. Even if you accidentally meet the Pastor. They will pass you off immediately to an associate pastor of your label. The associate pastor of your label will pass you off to the leader. No God. Passed over to someone else several times and not once was GOD in that chain of command.

So really. In mega churches. You are not an individual. You are a group category. In a small church, you walk in the door and you are a person. No labels. No groups. Just you. Who you are. Love you. Jesus Loves you. God loves you. God greets you immediately. Isn't that simple? Isn't that spiritual? In a real focused church, God helps out right away!!! It isn't as if you walked into the mall, but actually walked into a HOUSE. A HOUSE of God!!!

So let's look at the difference between a large chain convenience store versus a mega department discount store / food store.

If you are looking for a sandwich, or a slushy drink, or a camouflage hat, you walk 20 steps into the convenience store and you have it. That store gets a lot of business. If it gets too much business or wants to serve more customers, does it build a store 40 times that size? NO. It builds a store on the next corner the same size as the first one. Then it builds another one on the next corner beyond that and beyond that and beyond that. The number of customers who access their products is growing but the service stays the same. The accessibility stays the same. The neighborhoods get more service near where they live; near where it matters. They get the need met within 20 steps of the front door. And they can rely on it. They are comfortable there. The grandma's of the neighborhood can walk to the store.

Churches don't 'get' this. The mega churches pattern themselves after the mega walmarts. You want a tomato? Go look for it. We put them way over there. You want an automotive battery? Go look for it, it's way in the back. You want to talk to someone personally about your personal shopping needs? You have to go through several people who don't know anything except how the store is organized but NOTHING about the products. [Mega church: You go through several people who don't know anything spiritual except how the church is sort of organized but NOTHING about the product.]

Grow your church by building another neighborhood church. A chain of neighborhood churches is much more spiritual and serving GODs people than a mega carnival God mall in the middle of acres of parking lots.

Ok... so maybe the label thing is something you accept as your need and you love that you found the needy group that matches your label. You are happy with that. But are the activities spiritual?

The churches promise and pay for so many secular activities to try to lure and keep people next to God. I don't understand this strategy. Churches have a unique product. Sell THAT product. You don't need to become more secular or you water down your product. Stay with your strength. Are you luring in the stupid people by pretending to be a volleyball or basketball league? Are you luring them in by pretending you are a toxic, fat producing, caffeine drug dealing coffee bar? Are you luring them in by pretending you are a shallow recreation center with a toy emporium or movie house? Are you faking them out away from the quite adequate bible by being a peripheral self-help bookstore? Why do you support the shallow cultures of skiing, bowling, and NFL? Why promote secular activities? They already exist out in the community. Let them go there occasionally to enjoy. But let them come to church to find GOD. God is the product. The Pastor care is a product. Sell the comfort and reverence. If you lose the reverence and spirituality, you have nothing unique to sell in a chaotic secular world.

Church is most effective and sincere as what it is; a specialty store. By definition, God is not everything to everyone. God is God. You come to God and adapt to God. You do not adapt God to the secular world. Churches are to be focused and intimate within the outer walls. No need for a small chapel off to the side. Scripture is what it is. Don't fake up the product. Sell God honestly. And put God within 20 steps of the front door.

Sincerely and Spiritually,
Judge Wyld

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