IS SKPIING CHURCH A GOOD THING?

From Charles Stone ...

Is Skipping Church Good for your Soul?

September 6, 2011 in body care,Pastors with 8 Comments

I’m a pastor. Pastors are supposed to go to church. So I go to church, several times each week. I’ve done that for decades. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve missed church by choice. This past weekend I added to that handful of misses. I skipped church.
My daughter had come to visit us over the Labor Day weekend and I scheduled one of our other pastors to preach at the weekend services. We took a long weekend at a lake house about 50 miles from our home.
The last time we took a long weekend we all went to church, a very boring one. This time however, I simply decided I wouldn’t go. To be frank, I felt a tinge of guilt because my wife will tell you I’m always the one pushing us to go to church while on vacation.

But for some odd reason, I didn’t push us this time.

So what did I do that Sunday morning? I sat in a swing and read my bible. I cut some dead limbs off a tree. I chatted with a neighbor. I exercised on my treadmill. I practiced the art of ‘slowing.’ And I really liked it.
Although I’m deeply committed to the local church and won’t make skipping a habit, I leaned a few valuable lessons.

1. My church truancy reminded me that pastors’ schedules keep us from normal weekends that most families experience. Sundays (and Saturdays if you hold services) are our biggest work days. But, it’s not all about me and I will gladly stay faithful to God’s calling.
2. Those not in vocational ministry will never understand this sacrificial part of our profession because when they want to skip church, they easily do with no repercussions. And when they do, most don’t even think twice about skipping.
3. An occasional ‘break from the Sunday routine’ can refresh a pastor’s soul.
4. I now understand how hard it would be for someone who has seldom attended church to give up his Sunday mornings and start attending. I truly enjoyed having Sundays free.
5. Number 3 above reminded me that we pastors must craft compelling, Spirit-led services if we are to entice the unchurched to attend and keep attending. What they experience at church must be worth the price of giving up their relaxing mornings at home, at the lake, or at the ballpark. We may only get one shot.
6. Pastors need  a sabbath too. Since Sunday’s aren’t ours, we must prioritize another day for rest. I take Monday’s off and I was reminded that I must truly rest on that day

SUBSTANCE NEGLECT

by Stephen L. Dunn

It's Thursday evening and my sermon is half done (no, I didn't say "half-baked."). Most weeks Monday is my Sermon and Study Day and I try to start gathering the notes, the exegetical discoveries, the illustrations that I have been collecting and begin to put it into a coherent and preachable form. Because of some pressing church business I did not do this until Tuesday, but having done so, Thursday night has arrived and I am fairly close to having something that is preachable.  I'll spend some more time with the message at some point Saturday.  Barring a last minute inspiration from the Spirit, Sunday morning will arrive with my "manuscript" notes complete, needing only a quick review over breakfast before stepping into the pulpit.

There is a popular misconception that good worship trumps poor preaching.  I once was asked to speak in Haiti for a conference only to have my sermon cancelled two days in a row because people had been so into the worship experience that they had run out of time for the sermon,  In the US, however, much of what passes for worship is more emotive than revelatory.  People coming away feeling uplifted is considered the most important thing in the worship event.

I am still traditional enough to think that the sermon is the critical element or pivotal act in a worship service.  For the sermon helps the worshiper focus on the message that the God people have come to worship intends the disciple to take away with them.  Remember, worship in Romans 12:1-2 is spoken of within the context of renewing our mind by discovering the mind of Christ.

But here's the rub.  Having defended the primary place of preaching in a worship service, I have to ask.  Is the message that you have prepared worthy of that place?  Is your sermon basically some popularized form of moral therapeutic deism or is it the Word of God?  Is the sermon substantive or is it so much religious fluff?  Is it grounded in a serious study of the Word, bathed in prayer, and reflective of the working of the Holy Spirit or did you just identify an opinion or personal preference that is dominating your thought these days and now intend to dignify it by declaring it to be "a word from the Lord?"  Has your relationship with the Lord and your attention to His presence and work been the source of the message? Or have you found something interesting, clever or relevant and are now asking God to baptize with His "amen."

When I stand before the people of God, I quite often utter this prayer in a public way, "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be Your Words to Your beloved that I now have the privilege to share."

(C) 2011 by Stephen L. Dunn

WHEN YOU ARE IN DEEP WATER

WHEN YOU ARE IN DEEP WATER

 Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:9

Lately I have struggled to find the passion and focus to do the job I believe God has called me to do.

My calling is to reconcile people to God, to connect them to Christ's saving grace; to experience the transformed life that comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  I carry out this calling within the context of being the Lead Pastor of the Church of God of Landisville.  That job carries the awesome responsibility of helping a church follow God's vision and to equip it for a future of faithfulness to God and fruitfulness for the kingdom.  In that role, it is essential that I take the long view of the church's mission. It requires me to work proactively for the church's long-term effectiveness and not consuming all my time and energy and simply reacting to the latest crisis or making sure everyone is happy in the moment. The reality is that you cannot make anyone happy. Happiness is a choice.  And people-pleasing is particularly warned against by God's Word. As a leader and pastor, I must make decisions that are in the best interest of the body even when individuals want to operate from a very personal place.

Much of the past several weeks has been consumed with putting out fires created by people who, either #1 don't take the long view and now are in a crisis that they want to make yours, #2 think their happiness is more important than the church's effectiveness, or #3 are generally miserable and prefer to be miserable by living on their own terms instead of finding peace and joy by living on God's terms.  And then there are people who hate for the be any problems and want me to make all of those other people's problems go away.

Pastors call this the dark side of ministry. And if you go there and dwell there long enough, your passion drains away, you simply operate by reacting to what happens next, and leave little time for what God told you was important but what men do not think is as important.

In these times, you know you are in over your head, and just start paddling just to stay afloat, let alone actually get somewhere.  Being a pastor can be a lonely place at those times--for few people understand that struggle and a whole lot of people never know anyway and therefore don't provide the help needed.  Although they are still disturbed by the people you haven't managed to fix.

It is a place of weakness for most pastors.  But it is also a place where we must keep our focus.  When you are in deep water you need to trust the One who walked on water.  And this verse becomes the reality thayt ultimately reignites a pastor's passion and renew his focus.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9.

(C) 2011 by Stephen L Dunn

This post was originally published on the devotional blog THRIVING IN CHRIST