I can remember only a few years ago sitting on my couch with my remote in hand. I was flipping through the channels aimlessly, when I landed on a television evangelist show. I cannot remember which show I was watching, but I remember being thoroughly disgusted. In retrospect, most of my disgust was unfounded, but not all of it.
At that point in my life, I considered myself a believer in God and a believer in Jesus, though I barely read the Bible. I thought religion should be a private matter between God and the individual. I did not want the “Christian” label, and the thought of going to church repulsed me. I needed a closer relationship with God. I also needed a church to help me grow in that capacity. However, despite churches on every street corner and the myriad of late-night television evangelists, the church was simply not reaching me.
I take quite a bit of the blame because I was stubborn and close-minded. However, the church also failed for several reasons. Most of the reasons revolved around 1) money, 2) hypocrisy, and 3) scandals. Money has always been a tricky issue for churches. There are very legitimate reasons why churches need money: utilities, upkeep, etc. There is a need and a Biblical precedent for giving money to the church. However, to a non-believer or a seeker, the way that many churches (not all) fundraise is very offensive. For example, the big, silver, offering tray that gets passed around in many churches is offensive. Everybody in the church knows when someone gives or does not give. Additionally, everybody can generally see how much someone gives as well. It is simply not very inviting to a new attendee.
Another thing that is not inviting to non-believers and seekers is the way churches are always collecting money for something. Often, that something is new church building. If a church cannot currently fill all of its seats, it does not need to spend thousands of dollars building a new one. When I was seeking, one of my gripes about churches was their lack of outward focus. Hungry, jobless, homeless people surround churches. Yet, instead of helping them, churches prefer to use their money to build bigger churches.
The bigger church, in itself can also be offensive to seeker and non-believers. I often drove by “mega-churches” and asked, “Do they really need that large and that extravagant of a building?”. It looked wasteful to me. Again, I saw homelessness, disease, and despair. It just seemed like the money could have used to help people, not to construct a humongous building.
Another thing that turned me off the church was preachers who stood up during the offering and said, “Give to the Lord”. I understand now the offering is form of worship. However, I also understand that the Lord is the Creator of the Universe. He has no need for money. The church has a need for money, and that is what church leaders should say, “Give to the Church”. Yet another thing that turned me off the church was preachers who stood up, saw a new face, and then asked that new face to give an autobiography in front of the entire congregation. Now, I firmly believe that we should rejoice when a new person comes to church. However, I do not believe that preachers realize that many people have a fear of public speaking. New faces are often seekers and non-believers who are simply checking the place out. They want to remain anonymous. Asking them to introduce themselves will make them feel very uneasy, and it will make them less likely to return.
Besides the money issue, hypocrisy and scandals gave me a negative image of the church. I define hypocrisy as “talking the talk, without walking the walk”. I readily admit, then and now, I am guilty of hypocrisy at some level. However, when I was seeking, and especially when I was seeking, I expected church leaders and church goers to practice what they were preaching. I realize now that my expectations were too high. No religion will make someone perfect. However, I still believe that church leaders and church goers should hold themselves to higher standard. For instance, ask any waiter or waitress, what happens around 12:30 PM on Sundays in most restaurants. To say it nicely, his/her job gets harder. Many waiters/waitresses describe the church crowd in very unpleasant terms: rude, obnoxious, cheap tippers. How can churches expect to expand, when they simply do not set good examples?
While not setting a good example is definitely a form of hypocrisy, scandals may be hypocrisy in its purest form. Can anyone NOT recall at least one church scandal? Whether it is at the national level with a TV evangelist or at the local level with a pastor running off with someone’s wife, church scandals are everywhere. It is hard to get people to come to church, when the church’s image is being blasted with scandals. Again, no religion will make someone perfect, but church leaders and church goers should hold themselves to higher standard.
What do you think? Questions and comments are always welcomed and appreciated.