What makes the gathered church different?
Unique? What are our distinctives? From the outside, many of our modern churches don’t look too different than the nightclub down the street. What sets us apart?
It can’t be our musical quality. The world has plenty of that.
It can’t be our production. The world has plenty of that.
It can’t be how much fun we have. The world has more than enough of that.
That’s not to say quality, production, and fun is wrong or unimportant. But it’s not enough to justify church. If all we’re doing is entertaining people with amazing music, flashy production, and good times, we’re not fulfilling our mission as the church. That’s the hard truth.
The argument has been made that the church should be the most creative place on the planet. On one hand, I agree with this. We as Christians should have a massive imagination because of the God we serve. He is beyond glorious. But at the same time it’s not enough.
Is there a way to combine crazy creativity and yet still maintain who we are as the gathered church? An important question to answer.
I was recently having a conversation with someone about using secular songs in church. The church he was talking about literally used a secular song in worship. I know of plenty others that do so as an opener or means of illustrating the message. I don’t have a problem with this, per se, but think we need to be careful.
It begs for a deeper question:
Why do we do church? We don’t need a lower quality version of what the world offers. Sinners who are coming to church aren’t coming because of the cool music, production, or to hear music they hear on the radio. They were either dragged to church by a family member or they are in desperate need of change. They have a vague sense that they “need God” in their lives.
The Power of Habits
Let’s get real. Humans are shaped by habits. Aristotle told us, “We are what we repeatedly do.” Our lives aren’t defined by the big moments. They are defined by small decisionS we make every day.
If you think about it, corporate worship is a habit. It’s something we do week in and week out. It’s a routine. And routines shape how we think, what we do, who we are. If that doesn’t strike some holy fear in your worship set planning I don’t know what will. It is a huge responsibility.
As worship teams we are helping shape people’s lives. We are providing them context to see their true identity. We are helping people find their place in the story God is writing. So everything we do is intentional. I appreciate the bold, blunt way Mike Cosper puts it in his book Rhythms of Grace:
“A church that gathers each week with cold seriousness, lofty architecture, dense language, and grumpy upper-middle-class white people is making a statement about the kingdom. Those who congregate there weekly are being formed into a kind of community. Likewise, a church with smoke, lights, rock-star worship leaders, and celebrity pastors is forming a particular kind of community. How we gather shapes who we are and what we believe, both explicitly (through the actual content of the songs, prayers, and sermons) and implicitly (through the culture ethos and personas).”
We can’t just have church. We can’t just entertain God’s people. We can’t just create a safe, social alternative to the bar down the street. We need to craft services and experiences that hit the target of who we are as the people of God.
5 Distinctives of the Gathered Church
So who are we? What makes us different? Why would people want to come to your church?
1. The Gospel – The Gospel isn’t something you hear once and move on to “greater things”. The Gospel should be the center of every gathering and the centerpiece of our every day. We are prone to wander, prone to forget. We need to be reminded continually that Jesus came, Jesus died, and Jesus rose again. This is what defines us as the people of God. This is the good news that never grows old. If it ever feels like old news, it’s not the Gospel’s fault. It’s our own hearts.
2. The Holy Spirit – What happens when the people of God come together? The Holy Spirit is there. The Holy Spirit is moving, awakening, drawing hearts. He’s healing, speaking, working wonders. This is what sets our gatherings apart. We aren’t just gathering to remember but to experience a fresh outpouring of God’s love and grace through power of the Holy Spirit. Worship Leaders, this is the biggest game changer for you. Stop taking yourself so seriously and get to know the Holy Spirit more.
3. Communion – There’s something about the habit of gathering around the cross and partaking of the Lord’s Supper together as the body of Christ. It may be the most powerful habit in the life of a Christian. This is a distinctive of our gatherings – we’re remembering our true identity. We’re remembering that apart from the cross we have no hope.
4. Participation – What sets church services apart from concerts is that everyone has a responsibility. Sure, at a rock show people sing and go crazy, but it’s not their responsibility to. As the church, we are all called to bring something. It’s not simply a place to watch the professionals do their thing and be inspired.
Let’s go a little deeper. Where else in the world do people gather for the purpose of singing together? The church is a gathering of people from all walks of life who come together to sing. We gather to participate.
5. Mission – It’s not our calling to simply have great meetings or to love the message. Or to love the worship. The church gathers so that we can be reminded of our mission. We are called to be sent. We can’t just appreciate the Gospel, we need to share it. If our gatherings lose this sense of mission and “going”, we’ve missed the point.
What would you add to this list? What makes us unique and how do we hit that target each week in our services?
Let us know in the comments. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
[ois skin=”Beyond Sunday 2″]
David–you pulled back the sheets again and we have bed bugs.
The “NONES” have sent the church a strong message and they sing it too–louder and louder each year that passes. “We don’t want your phobic and judgmental religion any more. We can be spiritual without you and your “worship services”.
They are saying along with Mike Cosper,
…Take that you “lofty architecture, dense language, and grumpy upper-middle-class white people.” All you “smoke, lights, rock-star worship leaders, and celebrity pastors.”
Paul reminded us that “the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” I Cor. 1:18
No amount of cool vibe and energy and hyper creativity–feigned friendliness with the world– will change this truth.
Here is the understanding and purity to which we must return. “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to another an aroma from life to life.” II Cor 2:15-16
I am afraid that what truly makes us different is the very thing that transforms us even as we as a church are in numerical decline in this country. It is what reveals our motives. It is what is so often neglected and left out of our meetings. Over it, we seem to prefer tradition, committees, lights, camera and action. Here it is:
“And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” I Cor. 2:4-5
This is what is not only missing, but many are glad of it because the power of God will not compete with all the worldly techniques and side-show gimmickry we put in its place.
Why is the scripture so strangely absent in most of our writings and communications?
WE prefer the wisdom of man. It keeps us in the driver’s seat. It lets us “play at our worship and worship our play.”
Absent the power of God, our meetings are no different from the world. And there is no motive to honor truth in scripture–to interpret scripture and to study it. There certainly is then no Mission.
@Glenn: Amen.
@David: Great stuff as always.
Jesus said that we would know a tree by its fruit. Changed lives should set our us apart from the world. The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but power. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Are minds, hearts, bodies being healed? Are families, marriages, relationships being reconciled? Are folks seeing Him more clearly and following Him more nearly?
Rambling just a bit, but these days there does seem to be a lot of attention given to “form over function” when it comes to “doing church”. In the end, it’s about the Body staying connected to the Head and sharing that life and love with the world.
Steve I agree totally agree the problem is when it becomes all about us and we become inward looking like you mentioned all the above points are relevant..We dont have to copy what the world does we dont have to be the best musicians or singers the only requirement is to follow jesus with all our heart .Strangely enough we get better as we trust him every time i sing i need the Lord to help me i dont even like the sound of my voice really but i know that he can use it if i put my trust in him.
To me we have lost the power of God because we are trying to do things in our own strength.Where are the John g lakes sand the wigglesworths today…
When we admit that we desperately lacking and need him and we need the holy spirit to impact lives then we will see the true church immerge.I believe he going to do that as is returning for a bride that is without spot or blemish.
I remember being at a service and a guy sung a song it was dreadful every note was wrong the pitch was wrong i cringed at every note but the amazing thing was sensing the holy spirit in it it was powerful it was truly moving as he sang with his whole heart and that amazed me i was in tears and i praised God that is the way it should be.Its our heartfelt cry to God for all he has done as we worship him.
Good Comments: Answer this question. “Why is it that so many churches will not Accept nor believe Romans 12:2, Hebrews 12:14, I Peter 1:15, and Jesus’s teaching on the life of a Christian, to name just a few references”? Most will speak these words, but utterly ignore them. I say over and over again, IF the World does not see anything completely different in the church that is not visible in the World,it is vain. God has forbidden the MIXTURE of the customs and practices of the secular world, with Holy Things. The problem is one of unbelief and ignorance of the Word of God. Depart from it, change it, mix it, color it, and it comes out poison and is destructive. Legalistic, not on one’s life. God is Dead Serious on how the Church and the Body is to live Corporately and Privately. Sad to hear and/or read that the church doesn’t appear any different from the night clubs down the street. But many see and believe this to be true. Again, how many reading all of this go before God with a brokenness, asking God to revive us thoroughly and completely before His Hand falls on it all. I do and will everyday!
I would ask, “how much of the ‘stuff’ we do at church could be removed, and we would still have church?” Because framed that way, we can identify what’s necessary for the church to function, and how much is add-ons that clutter, confuse, distort, or dilute.
We are called to learn to love as God loves; we’re to build each other up; we’re to preach the gospel to every creature, and we’re to make disciples. Virtually all of this is low-budget or no-budget activity, but the American-style adds the burden of paid staff, big buildings, youth group trips to the water park, etc. etc.
A good dose of persecution would certainly weed out the garden, and we would quickly discover that most of the stuff we thought made “church” effective and worthwhile was actually excess baggage.