Christian Living

From Spectator to Participant

by paul hoffmaster
08/25/23
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At least one day a week Believers leave their homes and journey to a predetermined location to participate in a “church” experience.  To many, it becomes a spectator event.  The seating arrangement is basically all in one direction.  On the platform is an array of musical instruments that back up a plethora of energetic singers.  Following a period of praise and worship housekeeping duties are shared in which information is given to help motivate the assembled to avail themselves of upcoming activities.  The pastor then proceeds to present what the Holy Spirit has led him to preach and teach.  It is more like a lecture with no student participation.  This is what has become of so many of our Saturday/Sunday engagements.

As one studies the Scripture he is hard-pressed to find a scenario where the people just sing and listen.  The early church was an interaction of all Believers.  Questions and answers filled the airwaves.  Music was not limited to time and space.  Praise and worship were expressed freely.  There was sharing, encouraging, and praying for one another.  Needs brought, needs filled.  Elders/Deacons mingled with the people.  It was a living church.  The chance of leaving a gathering the same way you came in was hard to imagine.  (When a church gets too big, it is not a time to build but to spread out to start new venues.)

Leaders in local churches tend to use Scriptures to promote both financial and numerical growth.  Using the Law to support Tithing is a practice that will not cease to be taught for generations to come.  Pastor/Teachers proclaim as a gentle warning to the people that they are not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some…” (Hebrews 10:25)  This is not a call to sit and hear a synchronized regiment of worship, rather a call to exhort other Believers to hold “fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)  It is not a call to come to worship, but a call for people to come together to share and encourage each other. (Some believe that interaction is to be done in a man-made program called Sunday School.  That hardly works when less than 8% of the adults attend.)

I wonder how many hurting and wounded people slip into our church building only to exit with the same needs.  The preached and taught Word can set people free, but it carries much more power when the hearers become sharers of that Truth with each other.

Attending church every Saturday/Sunday as a spectator does not bring about change.  Instead of fixating our attention on the “stage” let our peripheral vision catch those who need to be encouraged.  Let us make it easy for the hurting to receive the help they need.  If we need help, let us not hesitate to swallow our pride and reach out.  Let us turn the chairs and rearrange the pews so we can see one another as a unified body of Believers.  Church is not just Saturday/Sunday but every day of the week.

Moses stood before Pharaoh 10 times and cried out, “Let my people go.”  May we stand in our churches and proclaim with the same commitment to those in leadership position, to let us function as God intended us to function.

Thank God for Godly Pastor/Teachers who have faithfully followed traditional worship experiences, but it is time to see how the early church did it!