The purpose of the pew
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Our church congregation is trying to become more outward looking and not so much focussed on ourselves. We are adopting a metaphor of 'the front line of ministry' where we are to understand the Sunday morning services as a time of equipping us for mission on the 'front line'. The front line is defined as the place where the kingdom of God meets the kingdom of the world, i.e. our neighbours, workplaces, schools, kinder, shops, friends. In these places we are ambassadors for the kingdom of God. The place is described as the front line because it is taken to be hostile: people generally do not want to know or hear about Jesus Christ.
And so, if the front line is not the Sunday service, just as the church is not the building but the people, then what is the purpose of the Sunday service, and how is this reflected in what transpires during that time?
Historically, the Sunday service was a place where Christ is proclaimed, sinners are called to repentance, the gospel is preached, and Christians rejoice in song and commune with each other over the Lord's supper. The gospel is the most appropriate sermon and is to be drawn from or pointed to from any scripture passage that is being expounded, for this is God's call to the nations.
But if the Sunday service is not the front line, then is the gospel the most appropriate message to be shared there? While it is true that it is always edifying for a Christian to be taken back to the cross and its transformational power for their lives, in many ways if the congregation is made up of Christians behind the front line, then this message is literally preaching to the converted, and to what extent does it equip them for life beyond the cross (many Christians will wonder if there even is such a thing?).
In my understanding preaching (that is, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ) is something to be done to people who do not know Christ, and its purpose is to reveal him and his love to them, requiring a response in their part. Teaching, on the other hand, is something done to Christians and is about discipleship and development of the Christian life. If our understanding of the Sunday service is that it is about equipping the Christian for the Christian life and ministry and mission, then teaching is perhaps more appropriate at the pulpit than preaching.
Similarly, what function does our singing have, and the communion, and the congregational prayer? I believe these all do/can work into the service of equipping, but is it clear in what way this is so? And in this same line, how interactive should the Sunday service be? Should it even be called a service? We have come so far as to refrain from saying ‘we are going to church’, which can evoke unhelpful images. What does saying ‘welcome to our service’ evoke? To me it suggests that people sit (or stand) in their pews and attend a service put on by a ‘ministry team’. If the Sunday meeting is a place of equipping, is this a service at all, or is it a ‘meeting’, or ‘gathering’, or ‘assembling’ (all verbs), or perhaps it is a ‘workshop’ or a ‘school’ (to use some nouns) or could we describe it as a ‘re-centering’, ‘re-focussing’, ‘re-membering’ (putting it in terms of desired effect). As I am exploring the power of words in shaping people’s encounter with reality, I wonder how much our words at church end up leading to confusion and mixed messages.
So what should we call Sunday mornings?
Should we move more to teaching than preaching?
Are we restricted to passage exposition (and a one-way message for that matter [no pun intended])?
How interactive should the equipping be?
Are there more useful methods of equipping than singing reading and hearing?
Three qualifications: (1) I am not trying to explore a general ecclesiology here, but to reflect specifically on what our congregation is up to and how we are going about it, and (2) I am also aware that the Sunday meeting is not the only place/venue/format of equipping that our congregation employs, and (3) that to some extent, as long as the Sunday meeting is open to anyone, there will be non-Christians participating and new Christians also, in which case it is not strictly a ‘behind the lines’ meeting.
3 comments:
I think you raise some really good questions and while you're looking specifically at your congregation, I think they are valid questions for ALL churches with routine activities of any kind.
My first two thoughts (without massive long considerations) are, perhaps the service should not be reshaped but perhaps the service needs to become the front line! If so, what does that mean in itself? How can it be relevant without losing the beauty of worship to Christ?
My second thought was, I think the gospel should be preached over and again a million times to people christian and non-christian. Why? Because Paul says, "Here's an answer to yr question, but REALLY it's about Jesus, it's about the gospel... here's the answer to yr NEXT question but REALLY its about Jesus it's about the gospel..." So I kinda think that if Paul (writing to congregations) wanted to keep the focus on Christ as gospel, then perhaps we should too? That isn't to say there isn't room for other teaching and theology (you know I love theology) but ultimately, that is the main truth without question and I think it is the main thing that should be preached and that other things preached should end up being linked to this major truth which IS our hope and salvation...Christ.
(Btw I AM reading and enjoying but exhausted so just reading slowly!)
Roz xo
Thanks Roz,
I think our struggle is that the service is not the front line because that is not where the kingdom meets the rest of the world, i.e. it is rare that a non-christian will attend. So our church has adopted an approach of taking the gospel to our true front line (e.g. where we work etc), and the church being like a base to equip and recover etc. And yet, the Sunday service has not changed from the days when it was considered the front line.
As for 'beyond the gospel', I see your point and I know it, but I can't help but wonder if there is something beyond it. I find myself responding to those sermons "yes, I already do have Jesus, what now?" Do I need to be confronted with that every week as the only sustenance (not discounting mid week growth groups)? Just thoughts...
I think the front line is everywhere, hopefully wherever we are and whoever we are with! It’s the coffee shop where we get our coffees, it’s the office where we work, it’s the doctor’s office we attend, etc. I don’t mean ‘religious’ yapping‘, but I do mean letting everyone know you are a follower of christ as the occasion arises, and trying always to act like a follower of Christ should. The apostle Paul front-lined wherever he was (even in prison),- when with Christians he was always admonishing them to uphold the true meaning of the Gospel. and when with non Christians he was evangelising the gospel. I do so admire the courage of this man.
If we are Christ’s army, then we should be attending a ‘military school’ SOMEWHERE, learning continually how to be proper soldiers from our ‘generals’, and with our manual ‘The Bible’ always at hand, and our teacher the Holy Spirit always ‘online‘.
As a relatively new Christian, I view as our major objective in the years we have left of those allotted to us is spreading The Word through the continual dropping of seeds. Yet I know I have to have knowledge of what seeds to drop, how to drop them, when to drop them, and that knowledge has to come from somewhere. I need a continual feeding in everything, and without constant feeding, I know I become slack. I read one fiction book where each Sunday they also had ’school’ before the service, to equip the soldiers for the following week of battle. This was something they all attended, and I thought then what a good idea it was.
I was speaking (shock horror) to a Jehovah’s Witness today, and she said they are equipped at every meeting on how to spread the Word. They are given examples, act out possible frontline meetings, and have these lessons every week, apart from attending meetings for worshipping The Creator., who they always call Jehovah. They are out on the station sometimes at 6 a.m. spreading the Gospel of Jesus (as they believe it). HMM, is this carrying evangelising on a frontline too far? Does their being equipped to evangelise go too far? NOT.
I am proud to belong to Jesus and our Heavenly Father through the Church of Christ. I can claim such dedication to the spreading of The Gospel , though mostly I feel unequipped, inadequate, etc. etc etc., but I do try to drop seeds (as I perceive them) as much as I can. I just wish I knew how to do this better.
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