This post may contain Affiliate links. Click here to view our full disclosure.
When my husband and I were searching for a new Church home that would soon become our family’s permanent home we were in for such a huge disappointment. It seemed that almost everywhere we went had some sort of flaw that we just could not look past. They weren’t polite….They had no active children programs….They were too old fashioned…..They were too commentary…Yep they all seemed to have problems. None of which my husband and I for some reason could not get over. As my husband and I were discussing the problems we were having, we made a discovery…We were the problem.
We hadn’t always been the problem. In fact. before our home Church had decided to spit up we were very active. We were worked in the Children ministries, the choir, the planning committee and well anything else the Church needed. Somehow after that sad split we decided that we no longer wanted to do anything to help build a Church anymore. In fact we simply wanted to go to a Church that already had workers and would require nothing of us. We were simply broken. So much so that we didn’t want to extend ourselves to another Church family because none would be like the one we had lost and nor did we want them to be. We had started not to care.
He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Luke 10:2
The number one reason the Church body is broken is because it’s members no longer care. They no longer feel the need to reach out to those who are a bit different. They no longer want to participate in the day to take tasks that it takes to run a Church. In fact they would much prefer to let someone else handle it. The Church is broken because no longer to we want to hear about ways to improve ourselves, we only want to hear those ear tickling messages that say that we are all good as long as we put money in the collection plate and simply show up when the mood hits us.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are certainly members who do care. Sadly though they get so burned out from trying to do so much that they are no longer as effective as they once could have been. Instead they are juggling about a million roles at ones and something ultimately fall through the cracks with this practice. Instead of focusing on just using their talents they are trying to feel the shoes of many. This leaves those workers burnt out and ultimately in the end they join the masses of those just no longer have the desire to get their hands dirty.
Another problem is the lack of preachers who are willing or able to speak Biblical truths. When a preacher starts out they are on fire for the Lord. They will step on the toes of their congregation and they are so absorbed in God’s Word that they know exactly what they are suppose to say when they approach the pulpit on Sunday morning. After a while they become tired and beaten because of the constant grips of their congregation about having their toes stepped on that they then start sticking to feel good messages. I have actually started not listening to many preachers who have started only speaking these messages because those words are great but we also need to hear things that sometimes make us a bit uncomfortable. The congregation make the preachers uncomfortable. They tie the preacher’s hands. The congregation decide that they should be the leader of the Church and not the other way around.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17
So how can we begin to repair the Church?
Before we can ever repair the Church we must first work on ourselves. We must open our minds and our hearts to humbly seek out God’s will. Often times we miss a chance to serve because we are so busy wrapped up in our own personal business that we miss out on some pretty amazing opportunities.
We need to remember that no one in the Church is perfect. There will be moments when we can not or will not see eye to eye with other members. After all we are all sinners saved by grace. However, we are all trying to serve for a common goal. Attempt not to allow those moments of disagreement to not hinder you from doing what it is God is calling you to do.
Be accessible to others in and out of Church. Reaching out to those in our communities is a must. Being a Christian is a lot more than simply attending Sunday morning services and dropping money in the collection plate. It is about loving Christ enough that we want to share Him with others.
Allow the Preacher of your Church to do his job. I can not even begin to imagine the stress that our preachers are under. Encourage them even when they step on your toes. I for one respect our preacher because he is willing to step on my toes. Trust that the man that is standing in the pulpit is in fact the man that God has chosen for your Church. (Please note that this applies to those who in fact carry themselves in a Godly manner. I am not going to go into that right now but maybe in a future post.)
Instead of running away from volunteering chances run to them. Dare to try something new. You never know what you may enjoy doing until you try it. For myself that is how I ended up in Children’s Ministry. I was asked and decided to give it a shot. Later I found out that I was much more useful there then in the rest is history. Once you try out these different options don’t be afraid to admit that they are not an area that you feel comfortable in. Not everyone can work with children but they can do something else.
Until we ourselves make a change we will never be effective tools to help mend the broken Church.
Until Next Time Just Keep Soaring 4 Him,
I would like to invite you to my Facebook group Christian Homemakers in Training where we dive into homemaking, motherhood, marriage and group devotions. After all, we all need a safe place to grow together, right?