What is the Church Up To and Why?

This article is neither an outright endorsement or criticism for any of the ways that “Church” is done in this era. It is an attempt to catch a glimpse of “church” in the past during times of plenty and times of famine and what it looks like much of the time today.  My hope is that it will show some of those things that church is about today, and encourage us all (me included) to keep before us – Christ – as the only reason for church.    Perhaps it will cause us all to pause now and then and think about what truly would please God in the gathering of His people, as they have done for thousands of years – and open dialog with one another and church leaders about what honors God vs man when and if we seem to be heading off track.

If we each keep in mind what John Calvin said 500+ years ago: “But it must be admitted that our heart is never seriously inclined to wish for and to meditate on the future life unless it has first thoroughly learned to forsake the vanities of the present world.”, perhaps it will open dialog and let Jesus lead us to unified thinking/action that best serves the Kingdom and the glory of the Lord.

We’ll talk about

• Silence in the Church

• Prayer in the Church

• Communion

• Worship and Music in the Church

• Worship Center vs Sanctuary

• Scripture reading in the Church

• Discipleship

• Small Groups vs Home Fellowship

• Church Planting/Growth

• Spiritual Transformation

Along the way you probably will pick up that I have a bias that is difficult for me to keep silent about, but my bias is not hard and set in fast-curing cement – they are just my preferences that have needed to (or still do need to) adapt to what is offered or to be an influence for ongoing and continuing consideration and discussion of the questions – “why and how church?”.

Change is inevitable, and it can be good, it can be bad, or some of both.  I believe we must glean from God’s Word those things that bring us truly closer to Him and give God the glory, honor, and praise, and be careful not to put up roadblocks to our experiential communication with the Godhead.  That happens best when we don’t just accept change willy-nilly without consideration and good purpose. And, if we are honest with ourselves, proposed changes need to involve not just a few individuals, but the entire body, while mindful of what Calvin intoned for us some 500 years ago and understand that in all likelihood not everyone will be satisfied what ever change is made.

Silence in the Church

We know from 1 Kings 19 that God speaks not in the wind, earthquake or fire, but in a whisper; that still small voice that we must train ourselves to hear — and most often His speaking to us takes place in silence and in solitude – yes, even solitude in a group setting.   Please understand that I’m not saying God cannot or does not speak to us in the middle of anything, including war, family squabbles, and even bar-room fights, along with wind, earthquake and fire, but it is not what I’d call – typical.  Most often God speaks to us in our silent times and in solitude.

During church services in an era gone by, there were moments when not a sound was to be heard so that congregants could quietly talk to and hear from God.  Even when those churches had times of audible congregational prayer, they were bathed in quiet contemplation.

If we haven’t already, are we in danger of losing that intimacy with God that comes in silence and solitude in both our too busy lives, and in the Worship Center?   When silence is missing, the opportunity is lost for reflection, confession, repentance, and personal praise before partaking communion as well.  It’s a discussion worth having at every level of staff and members in our churches.

Henry Nowen said it so well: “Silence is a destination, a space where we can hear God speak to us.”

Prayer in the Church

Sunday worship of the past was primarily about the Scriptures, experiential Prayer and individual and corporate worship.  Today, other than prayer by the pastor before and after he speaks, there is little time in a busy service for experiential prayer by the believers.

Do you remember mid-week evening Prayer services?   They were weekly-scheduled times of prayer – often just prayer, and perhaps a hymn of prayer, that might last far into the night.   I fondly recall those with perhaps a sporadic quiet piano hymn in the distant background, but I do not remember having a worship team at those beautiful times.   I recall going every Wednesday evening in the early ‘70s and over time seeing the attendance fall until they were finally canceled.  Did we become too busy, and have no time for mid-week jaunts to church just to meet a few staunch followers and Jesus?

In light of a society that seems to be moving more and more rapidly into chaos, entitlement and anger – perhaps we would consider how to stir ourselves to make precious time to gather again just for prayer.   Perhaps we could look at the 1^st-Century church as revealed in Acts 2:45: “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God . . .“  Do I hear regular potluck, prayer and the reading of Scriptures?

I’m guessing that most churches now only schedule congregational prayer on occasion and with sparse attendance. The attendance exception would be to reflect back on the days after the attack on the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001.   For a brief moment, America felt alive again in our foundational faith, but it faded so quickly.  After 9/11, I know of one church that began quarterly prayer evenings — but the prayer time was centered around music, and the music was deafening.   After a couple quarters the prayer night was dropped for failing attendance.   Perhaps prayer and contemporary music do not coexist well.

I personally know quite a few folks who prefer the silence and quiet reflective focus to be completely without music, and once most of us have an experiential time of just quiet  extended prayer, that alone is something that the Holy Spirit uses to increase our desire for more.

Communion

When communion was taken not many years ago, most congregants were instructed to take some time, quietly one to one with God – sometimes even extended time to search themselves as David did in Psalm 139, asking God to examine him, then to individually confess and repent of the things He showed us in those moments – before partaking of the Lord’s Supper.  Whether the elements were passed, or you went forward, it was done in total silence so hearts could be more easily inclined toward God, with minimal distractions.

Communion is both a private and corporate sacrament.  Corporate, as instituted by Jesus, for the full gathering as a remembrance of His sacrifice for us, and private and personal as the opportunity to “clear the deck” as it were, baring our soul to God about our life, actions and thoughts and repenting of those things that are not in character with Jesus life and teaching (okay, the sin in our lives).

Today it’s different – so different.  Leading into Communion, the worship team gets back on stage and sings for, and to the church while the elements are handed out, and it is nigh unto impossible to talk to God, much less hear from Him over the din.  Contemporary singers continue until the elements are handed out, then communion commences, or everyone has participated in front, and the possibility of communing with God ceases.   It too easily becomes a ritual observed, losing the opportunity to commune openly, honestly, vulnerably, and worship our Savior.

Worship & Music

And the Worship time itself?    ​ Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us that there is a time for dancing, and the definitive Scripture Psalm 150 gives instructions that we are indeed to praise God in the Sanctuary/Worship Center.

Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!

It appears that Choirs today are mostly gone or used only occasionally.  Not too long ago they and the organ/piano were most often hidden, not to be seen; reflecting an aura perhaps of the music of the heavens.   The choir was the first to move from an alcove to the stage, then the piano, while the organ often just disappeared.  Today the musicians and singers are front and center, to be seen, even watched, and a video screen documents all the instruments and actors — much as they did in the spectacular musical movies of the ‘30s and ‘40s and the concerts of today.

Instead of a choir, churches today have a variable-sized worship team on stage that displays all manner of sound and bodily rhythmic techniques, although most have substituted drums and high decibel auditorium-filling sound for strings, pipe and the ancient cymbals and many have added smoke machines.  I know they sell amplified cymbals and tambourines so I’m on lookout for electric hand-bells.   They ramp up emotional engagement and because most are sincere in their worship, they frequently engage the congregation to do the same, so dancing in place on the platform, and swaying become a visible emotional outflow.  In my opinion, however, it can easily reflect an atmosphere among many there, where God is frequently missed and missing.

Hymnbooks and four-part music are something of the past.  Most likely they did not appear before the printing press, but became the mainstay of the worship experience by the 1500’s.  Hymnals have slowly disappeared from the pew racks today.    Sadly, the music that has replaced those books , that is somewhere between 85 and 95 decibels, muffles or covers the singer’s words so the lyrics must be put on overhead screens.   That level of sound makes it far beyond possible to hear others in the building raising their voices in Praise, Adoration, and Thankfulness to the One they have come this day to WORSHIP in community.

 A few years ago, my wife and I visited the church I attended as a child.  The Scripture readings were absent, the hymnbooks were at that point still in the pews and used, the choir still sang out of sight, but the sermon that day focused on raising up activism for the community that “soon would become a slum” because the city would not do anything to improve the road from downtown into their suburban location.  Fast forward and their hymnals are gone, the choir sings irregularly (still out of sight though), and attendance is slightly up since they moved to a contemporary band and show the words on a screen.

If corporate worship is to be – okay, corporate – musician Keith Getty reminds us that hearing one another sing is very powerful, and when the musicians cover even the person standing next to you, worship – true soul-reaching, experiential worship is lost.  Getty would like to see four-part music and the hymns of the past centuries returned to our worship services.  In their concerts, Keith & Kristyn Getty print the music score in the booklets they hand to each visitor in all four parts as written in those hymnals, and have Scripture readings from well-known pastors.   Plus, they sing all the verses of the hymns that were written.

Many of the new worship songs words are powerfully written for our connection to God – some as powerful as those from previous centuries – but I’d say the repetition of simple phrases 7 to 15 times offers nothing to God or others – but raw emotion.   Is adrenaline forged emotion what is needed in a worship service?  And does the volume of the music have to drown out the words so that the heart and soul of those there may not be drawn to the Triune God while being drawn into the emotion of the moment?

Taken a step further, several pastors I know have asked, “Has it become entertainment?   Is it to draw in a millennial crowd that will stimulate church growth and finances?   After all, we’re only 500 funerals from closing our doors, unless we grow.”    Alas, some mega-churches look and sound more like a Las Vegas stage show and believe they must do that to attract generations that have lost trust in “the church” along with the rest of society’s offerings. Could the alternative be to worry less about the numbers and dollars and more about a focus on Jesus and the quality of discipleship in the church – and should we be talking about what is BEST instead of expedient?

For me, one of the hardest lessons is to see one generation ignore the wonder and gifts of the other generations.   Many in older generations can’t, don’t pay attention, or are bothered by 90-decibel music and miss some of the powerful contemporary lyrics, and the younger generations sadly miss out on both the messages in century-old hymns and the awesome worship in the comparative quiet of long ago.  And we wonder why the generations don’t trust one another.  Many who were teens in the late ‘50s,  ‘60’s & ‘70s already have hearing issues, and with 85-90+  decibel music, those in church today who crave loud music will have perhaps a worse problem than those of us who ruined our hearing in the then-new age of transistor radios and amplified music of yesterday.

Worship Center vs Sanctuary

And the Sanctuary; it’s now called the Worship Center, seems to have lost the awe, reverence and sacredness, of the Sanctuary of not too many years gone by. Perhaps it is political-correctness that has replaced the pulpit with the “platform”, and brought the pastor/minister to the stage with the band. Some tell me the change is to draw those in who would “never be caught dead in a church”.   How sad it is that we feel it’s imperative to market and sell God to the masses.  I see the smoke machine working, and wonder to myself if it’s not Satan alive and well in our churches?  Perhaps It’s true that the cathedrals of previous millennia were often as much about pretense as they may have been about creating a house for God and a place to experience God in worship — but as you stand there in those now mostly empty spaces the reverence and closeness to God still gives the overwhelming presence of our Almighty God.  One that is missed in the large, designed for light and sound boxes called church today.

Scriptures in the Church

In churches of old — and in that not too distant past, you would hear and participate in, often two readings of the Bible – an Old Testament reading and a New Testament reading, then hear a sermon about the Scriptures.   Today, reading the Scriptures is more frequently reserved for holidays.  Thankfully there still are churches with expository preaching, but they may be getting harder to find.

The Jewish tradition was and still remains:   “And as was his custom, he [Jesus] went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written…”  Luke 4:16-17

Recalling and reflecting on the words of passed godly men like pastor Malcolm Cronk have faded away — “If simply the Words of God and Jesus are taught, with discipleship the focus and outcome of the church — it will grow”.

“Serving God is not about impressing the crowd, crafting a brand, or building an empire. [Billy] Graham was a gifted speaker; I’ve watched recordings from throughout his career. But he trusted that the Word of God is enough. It does not need apology, ornamentation, or assistance. Spoken clearly and with conviction, God’s Word bears its fruit in season. The work of God is not about the fireworks of human talent. It’s about faithfulness to a divine call. It’s not about showmanship but showing up, every day, determined to follow Jesus.”  Timothy Dalrymple, CEO Christianity Today, August 2019 – Bold-Italics mine

Discipleship in the Church

What is discipleship, other than believers’ development?

Francis Chan says that Chinese Christians “actually believed they could make disciples and start these (church) gatherings because Jesus was enough.”

It’s noteworthy that Dalrymple quoted above says “bears fruit in season”, as often times we think that things ought to come when we think they should, but God’s timing is still perfect.   If a church is to bear fruit and sticks to the plan established by God – it WILL in season, on God’s timetable, not ours.

The 18^th-Century revivals in Europe and America came not from changing up the worship service, but from the reading and study of the Scriptures, combined with personal and corporate sincere prayer for the revival that God then brought.   Toss in the beauty of those hymns, a little organ, piano or even a guitar (unamplified), and the reverence in that place would be awe inspiring — spiritually inspiring to experience adoration to our King Jesus.

During the week in many churches today, it’s business as usual, and a growing number have added a café and a multitude of activities and programs to draw people together during the week.  People gather, and some talk about the Bible, but often the discussions are sports, the newest stores, what’s on sale at Costco, and where they can go this weekend.   As I write, Reformation Day (October 31) just passed us by, and I noticed that many churches celebrated “Trunk and Treat” in lieu of Halloween with no mention of reformation.  Does political correctness and bowing to a pagan celebration give God the glory even though they may hand out tracts with the treats?  I wonder, do those churches still even have a library for their congregation’s edification?

Small Groups/Life Groups vs Home Fellowship

From what I read and hear, many churches are moving to become a “church OF small groups” rather than “a church that may have some home fellowship groups”.  They recruit facilitator/leaders and encourage even apply some holy-pressure for their entire congregation to find a group and join – some churches will assign them to a group.  There are churches that are going to mandatory annual membership or small group participation for members only.  Then they join the groups together on Sunday (or Saturday) to sing, watch performers and hear a stirring message from the senior pastor.

And what of those groups?   Who is leading them, how spiritually mature are they, how trained to grapple with all the issues found in our modern American culture, how equipped are they to teach, lead and shepherd their group?   Yes, the disciples were themselves simple-folk like most of us, but they were trained over time before being turned loose to lead.    We are created for community, and it is only in community that the authentic discipleship occurs, so perhaps it would help if  the leaders, facilitators, are of specific character, knowledge, and training to see that those in the community are growing in their walk with Christ, and becoming more Christlike in their words, actions, and yes their thought-life.  See the Spiritual Transformation section below for an alternative and unhurried approach to choosing and training future leaders.    I wonder if the same qualities found in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 for deacons/overseers might be profitable (for the Kingdom and church) if applied to the small group leaders/facilitators?

“It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.   An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,  not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.   Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued,  or addicted to much wine  or fond of sordid gain,  but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.  These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.  Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.  Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and  good managers of their children and their own households. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. “  (NASB)

Church Planting/Growth

Through the years, church planting has most often been accomplished by the Holy Spirit leading a group, pastor, or layperson to be moved by the Spirit and seeing a need – then beginning a small church in a home, or a denomination has decided with input from local residents that one is needed in such-and-such town.    When God, the Scriptures, messages, and care have been the focus, they grow – and soon find the need to relocate, add staff and ministries to support it.  Ultimately it often requires a dedicated building.   That approach is still somewhat there, but there are several additional models that have risen in popularity in the last decade or two.  We might identify:

1. Old-fashioned Church Plant, where a Mission group, pastor or small lay group feel led to launch a church in a home that then outgrows the home.

2. A denomination decides with input to plant a church in a researched and planned location.

3. “Seeker Sensitive” Church Growth.  There appear to be three types as identified by “The American Society of Church Growth” now the “Great Commission Research Network” which has grown from The Church Growth Movement.

• The Attractive Church Model”, which is highly program and contemporary music driven

• The Missional Church Model”, which used mission activities to add people to the church

• The Preach God to Friends and Neighbors Model”, instructs congregants on sharing the Gospel

4. Church Growth by Satellite/Multisite has blossomed in recent years, with ever-changing permutations:

• Merging with a struggling church

• Finding a building and sending a hundred or so to begin the new campus

• New site goes with complimentary staff and necessary accoutrements

• May or may not have teaching campus pastor – otherwise using video from main campus

• Another church planting organization, The Association of Related Churches (ARC) goes the other direction. Churches they plant are launched with a full complement of congregants — 293 average in those planted in 2019.   One church launch hosted 627 their opening day.  They offer the kind of support other church planters offer but do it on a much larger scale.

5. Church Planting ala Francis Chan. Francis, who started a church with 30 people and saw it grow in a few short years to become a megachurch of 5000 – was standing on the platform one Sunday, and was struck by the thought:

“I’m going wait a second. According to the Bible, every single one of these people has a supernatural gift that’s meant to be used for the body. And I’m like 5,000 people show up every week to hear my gift, see my gift. That’s a lot of waste.   “So I’m wasting the human resource of these people that according to Scripture have a miraculous gift that they could contribute to the body but they’re just sitting there quietly. … [T]hey just sit there and listen to me.”

 Francis resigned from the church he had founded and has been on a journey find a way to get those folks out there, doing what God has called them to, using their gifts as He intended.  He encourages Jesus Followers to get out there and serve.

2019 has found Francis and Lisa exploring the planting of smaller churches that meet in homes.  Each church has two pastors, and the weekly services are without a sermon but are focused on what the church as a community is reading, and what everyone has caught in their study that week.    The churches in the community meet monthly or quarterly in a park for fellowship and praise since there are no buildings and the pastors serve without pay.   Each “church” is limited to no more than 16 to 20, and when more come, the church divides, sending 5 or 6 out to plant the next one.

6. Church Growth by church Children, Transfer Growth or Conversion Growth?

One group, Church planters, WeAreChurch.com, was structured on the principle that “we are resolved to not offer anything other than Jesus and His people.  Jesus will build His church.”   That thinking has been replaced in many churches by worldly “corporate” thinking, focused on the numbers, including the worrisome financial bottom line.

By example of the older, the Chinese churches beset by outright persecution are thriving, in large part because they are built on 5 solid foundations

• They are devoted to the Scriptures

• They deeply embrace corporate and individual prayer

• They embrace suffering for the glory of Christ

• They expect everyone in the church to regularly share the Gospel

• They have an expectation of miracles

Spiritual Transformation

In the first Century, spiritual workers were apprenticed to current leaders and the fledgling church used the method that Jesus used.  The apprenticed (apostles) observed Jesus actions and words, studied under Him, questioned Him, and under His tutelage tried and succeeded/failed at things under his care.   Then after an appropriate season determined by their attained level of maturity, they were sent out in pairs or groups to serve.  Finally, the Master left them to do ministry on their own.  Their lives were transformed and the end result through Christ is the church of today.

Spiritual transformation was often the topic of church leader-writers from the first Century forward.  Our Bible is the result of those early leaders, and subsequent ages have given us such a rich library of transforming truths.  Much of that emphasis was lost in the 20^th Century – perhaps earlier, but for a few individuals who continued to call us to live the With-God-Life-Now.   In the information rich era of today, we have many of those early writers available to the masses, and some wonderful pastor/teacher/writers who are opening the doors for us all to seek the deeper things of God that He has desired for each of us since before the foundation of the world.

Some churches fear this deepness, but some, praise God are shouting it anywhere people gather who have a heart for that experiential relationship with our Creator that is available to us all.

Final Observations and Comments

So, all silence is gone, choirs are slowly disappearing, ear-splitting sounds are in, Prayer and Scripture focus are things mostly of the past, communion is simple, quick, and with music, the Sanctuary/Worship center is disguised to not look like a church, Discipleship is to take place in small groups of quasi-trained leaders,  Church planting and growth have become big business,  and reaching God is more an emotional thing rather than a heart cry and quiet personal and congregational worship to the One who gave His all for us.

And yet, God calls us to be united and unified, so I wonder how that can be, when either way, traditional or modern style does tend to ignore the other.  The Church is in a pickle, but only because we are so rigid in what we like, and avoid, like the plague mixing the styles, tempo, and volume.

It would seem that the local church can have nearly the same number of options, as there are local churches, with a new planting idea being explored almost as soon as the last one has been formulated.  To God be the glory if it’s Him that we want to glorify – the third verse of the 23^rd Psalm reminds us that it is ALL about God and that He alone restores us and gives us the right paths.