Episode 32 - Shepherds, Not Clowns: Why Church Should Transform, Not Just Entertain

We explore the difference between churches that entertain versus those that challenge believers to grow spiritually. The Spurgeon quote about "clowns entertaining goats instead of shepherds feeding sheep" frames our discussion about authentic Christianity.

• Church isn't meant to be merely a motivational experience but a place for genuine transformation
• Many Christians "church shop" seeking places that make them feel good rather than places that challenge them
• Shifting from "I'm doing this for God" to recognizing God working through us
• Being pliable and open to God's direction even when it conflicts with our plans
• Acknowledging that all Christians are works in progress with flaws and struggles
• The importance of honest self-evaluation in our spiritual journey

Join us at Connect Church in Rockdale! We meet Sundays with coffee and fellowship at 10:00 AM and worship at 10:30 AM. Everyone is welcome!

Transcript

Welcome to Let's Connect

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Welcome to Let's Connect, the official podcast of Connect Church in Rockdale, Texas, where we want to help you to live a life that matters. One that is both on mission and has a purpose to follow Jesus and make disciples. So let's get started.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

All right, welcome into Let's Connect, the official podcast of Connect Church here in Rockdale, Texas. I'm your host, Bill Whitmeyer. I'm here as always with our pastor, Ken Ansel. Ken, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_00 0:43

I'm doing great, Bill. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 0:44

You always kind of laugh at me when I get too much. No, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

I'm always ready to just I'm hanging out with you and you love Jesus and I love Jesus, so man, what could be better?

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Nothing. Well. Your wife had some coconut pie or coconut cake here a while back. That's pretty good, too. That was good.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

That'd be another addition to it. People took slices to go. And another lady came back later to get a pick. Really?

SPEAKER_02 1:11

That was good. If I didn't live so far out in the country, I might have come back. Might have found my way over here too. Yeah, that was good. Oh, it's a uh it's a really nice time of the year here in Texas. If you're ever in Texas in the uh fall, it's starting to get it's still a little warm in the day, but it's pretty nice during the rest of the day.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Um and the sun's out, and it's football season. So it's big. That's always a positive, too.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

So Tigers.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

For me.

Fall in Texas and Church's Focus

Entertainment vs. Challenge in Churches

SPEAKER_02 1:39

For you. Yeah. Uh okay, so we've been talking the last few weeks about um as we always do, about, you know, making everybody to to help everybody to know Christ and then to be able to share Christ. This year's uh year three in our church, and so we we we started out, you know, this one is to uh this year we're kind of focusing and we got wristbands to say be one, make one, meaning be a Christian, make a Christian. And uh Monday night in Bible study we were talking about we've been uh we've been in Acts and we were talking about uh Paul and and uh everybody going around and all the difficulties and how they would go into places, get beat up and still be singing praises to God, um, getting stoned, still singing praises to God. And then we look at our times and and how folks don't always seem to pick up on that kind of I guess excitement in Christ, you know, in in in walking with Christ. Charles Spurgeon one time said, a time will come instead of shepherds feeding sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats. And that kind of goes along with a lot of what we talk about on this show, on this podcast, is that in our in our Sundays, are we focusing on the right things? A lot of churches now have uh big shows, lights, uh designs, a band, a full band on stage, and and sing impressive songs that everybody's you know clapping and singing, and they're the popular songs of the day, and then they have a preacher that gets up there and fills them with glad tidings, basically, is the best way to put it. So that when they leave church, you'll hear people say, Well, when I left, I was motivated. Well, what were you motivated to do? Were you just motivated because hey, you had a great time at church and it made you feel good, or did you get something out of the message? And so, you know, to a lot of folks, they they continue to do that church hunting, they'll go to a church that challenges them. And church, you know you should when you're when you're singing, when you're doing that quote unquote worship part, you should be singing, but you should be sing singing to God, singing those praises to God. You shouldn't have anything to do with it. It should be about you praising God, and then you get that message, and yes, that message should motivate you, it should also challenge you, and a lot of times we have issues with that. And and for me, I think that's where folks do that church shopping. They're looking for that church of me, not that church of thee with two E's, meaning that church of Jesus. And it's difficult for the like we said a few weeks ago, everybody wants that easy Christianity.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Yeah, I can't imagine somebody church shopping and leaving, going, Man, that pastor stepped on my toes, I'm coming back next week. Yeah, they're probably like, Man, that guy was, you know, I don't know, funny, encouraged me, right? And we do need encouraging, like we can't be a hammer, a hammer sees nothing but nails, right? We might be a hammer, but yeah, you're talking about maybe we I mean, man, we're people, so we like our felt needs addressed, but uh you know, I think a lot of people struggle and their goal is just to get through the day. And um there's way more than that, you know. Like I know it can be a struggle to just to get through your day. I mean, sometimes it's just shower to shower, and I get that. But then I think one of the things I think you uh uh shared that hit me was like implementation or application, right? Like how do we implement what we just heard, what we experienced at at church? Yeah, and like why don't we have passion? You said passion walking with Christ, like following Jesus is this crazy good adventure, right? We wake up and I know we gotta go hit the clock and do the nine to five, but man, what's gonna happen? What Jesus, you know, Jesus is gonna intersect us, right? So what are we gonna do with that? And why don't we go beyond what you just shared? That quote.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

I heard somebody say the other day, I I mean, it um we were talking and he and he said, you know, I've given up so much for God. You have. I mean, it's the greatest thing that could happen in your life is are you were you really giving it up or were you walking away from something you don't need in your life? Yeah. You know, think I told him, think of that that way. And he's like, Well, that's a he was like, I'm gonna it's gonna take me a little while to digest that, you know. But but uh and and I'll be honest with you, that didn't come from me. It's not something I came up with. It's just what you know, it's one of those things God puts in your head and say this. Yeah. And uh and and and that's how I I because honestly, after I said it, that's when I thought when I would when I was driving home, I was like, man, the Holy Spirit is in me. That's how I have to think about it. I mean, I I had never said that to myself, I'd never said that to anybody else when I said it. I was like, you know, I was like, man, that was really good. I mean, I'll have to remember that because I was I was dead on right. It wasn't anything I came up with. I mean, I I felt like God put that in my head to say at that moment, but but I as I reflected on it, I think a lot of people feel that way. I gave up this or I did this, I did this, I did this for God. You did, or did God do that through you? Because that's how it should be, you know. And I mean, I I I guess people could do something for God, but then was that about God or was that about you? And when we go to church and we're sitting in church and we're listening to a sermon, if it's truly coming from God, it's gonna challenge you. It's gonna motivate you too. I mean, because you're gonna see something in yourself, and if you see it in somebody else or you think a pastor's talking about somebody else, stop and put look in the mirror for a second. Cause I I don't think there's a Sunday that I leave church that I don't feel like, man, yeah, uh that's me.

Implementing Faith Beyond Sunday

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Yeah, God beats me up all week as I prepare to share. You've you you've done that too, I'm sure. You feel that. I mean, I'm I'm like, wow, thank y'all for showing up because I've been stepping on my toes all week long, right? Or the spirit has, and yeah, and I need a little bit of a break. So yeah, let's let's let God step on your toes. Yeah, I don't know why we don't like that. Like, you know, you I know we talk a lot about our church, but uh it could, you know, other churches, like you get up and and you welcome us and open us in prayer and give us a call to worship, and and uh I know we were just talking about that, and uh, you know, you say some challenging things. And um I was a little late coming in Sunday, but typically I'm I'm there because I want to hear. I want to hear what you have to say. And I pray, I pray for you, and and Ron wraps this up every week, and I pray for both of y'all all week long, and like I want to hear what you have to say because it's not gonna be you, it's it's God speaking through you to me, and I need to hear that. And the same for the wrap-up with Ron. And yeah, you you feel like this, you know, Jesus is good to punch you in the nose, man. Yeah, it's love, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:24

I mean, you know who else would you want to punch in your nose? Punch you in the nose with something like that.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Yeah, yeah. Hebrews says God disciplines those that he loves. It's like like I wasn't always sure my dad was loving on me. We talked about getting the belt on Monday at the men's Bible study, but you know, I'm pretty sure when Jesus gets the belt out or the switch off the peach tree that you talked about, yeah. Uh that I'm I'm 100% sure that Jesus is whooping on me for a good reason and that it's love.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

It is. Yeah. And it's and and you know what, our our worldly human side, we as a people are uh overall as people nowadays, everybody is so offended by so much so quickly.

SPEAKER_03 10:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

And you know, when you when you're when you're in church, you're gonna hear the things. That's where you are. You're you're amongst other Christians. You're there to be sharp sharpened, not just to be patted on the back and said, Hey, you're doing a great job. You know, you made it to church, good job. Right. You're there, you know, it it's a worship session, it's a training session, it's a learning session, and it's a motivation session, all wrapped up into one.

SPEAKER_03 10:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

And and we have to feel that. And I we we miss that so many times. And that's that worldly part of us, that human part of us. And if you come into church and you don't feel challenged and you don't feel motivated to fix whatever it is, or to work on whatever it is, or to read more about whatever it is, then you need to find a new church.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Yeah, what are you doing there? So toughen up like Christians need to toughen up.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Well, you you need to you need to not so much toughen up, just don't take it like it's just a personal attack on you. You know, it it it it's it's this is what we need to do. Are you there? You asked the question at Bible study on Monday night, and you and you said, Um, you know, have you shared God with anyone this week? Yeah. And it was like, it was pretty quiet in there, man. I mean, I didn't have anything to say. I was like, oh boy. And then you asked, Well, well, well, if you can't answer that, then when was the last time you shared God with someone? Yeah. And and it was it was still pretty quiet in there.

unknown 11:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

But those are the things, you know, that you put out you being the collective you, because God puts that in your heart to ask those questions.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Because people need to hear those questions. And if you and if you think on it on yourself, you don't have to answer that question out loud. And but here's the thing when you think it, God hears it.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

You know, and so as you thank it, and God knows the answer anyway.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Yeah.

Taking Criticism as Growth, Not Attack

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Yeah. You know, and so we're not hiding anything. Yeah. So when you hear that stuff in church, you hear that stuff from another Christian, no matter how flawed that Christian can be or or has issues with, there's a lot of times when that's God talking to you and saying, hey, buddy, you know, yeah, you you you don't need to do that, or you need to take a look at what you're doing there. And a lot of times nowadays we just pop right back on, well, look at you. What about you? Yeah. You know, you know what? They aren't perfect. We aren't perfect, they aren't perfect, none of us are perfect, but God works through all of us to help all of us. Sure. And if you're in church and you hear a pastor, whether whether you're in our church or you're in any church you're in, if you hear that pastor and and you're not challenged at all while you're sitting there, or you think he's talking to somebody else, if he's if you're not challenged at all by what he's saying, you probably need to find another church because that's not a challenging that but then that's not a sermon that challenges you somewhat. But if they don't challenge you and you think he's talking to the other person, you need to get up and run to the bathroom real quick and look in that mirror. Because I think you'll be able to find an issue in yourself. I know there's rarely a week that goes by that that I don't um get something like that at least once in that sermon. Yeah. And sometimes, you know, the last few weeks it's it's been more than once.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Yeah. And uh yeah. That's just part of it. Yeah, this sermon series will close Sunday. I'm I'm ready. Ron said he had two black eyes on Sunday, and we need to start having an ambulance outside the service like at a football game. You know, yeah, you said not toughen up, maybe not take things so personal or not be so sensitive. You know, the the church is, you know, described in scripture as the body of Christ. And so, you know, every part of the body needs to be healthy. And we need to be working on that as individuals, but but then together, right, we want to be this healthy, thriving, viable, sustainable thing that God has put together. And we can't be that if we're taking uh things too personal that God has said, you know, we're talking about from the word of God, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Or or maybe what even someone uh uh uh shared with us, you know, what we might call inadvertently, like just when we're hanging out, somebody says something and we're like, oh, that didn't that stung a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

But maybe like you just said, when you were talking to somebody, like that's God speaking through you to somebody, and somebody yeah, you know, that language is man, we you know, we we've moved some. I've pastored man, I don't know, three or four or five churches, and and every time we move, I was talking to a guy earlier today. It's God's calling, God's telling us we need to go. I never felt like I did anything for God. I thought God was doing something for me, like He's moving me, you know, for whatever reason, and I want to go. It's not yeah, that language is a little messed up to me.

Being Pliable to God's Direction

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Yeah, it's it's uh it's we we'll say that, you know, I did this for God or or or uh I'm gonna do this for God. And the thing is, is God should just be working through you. Yeah, you should be the vessel that God is working through. When you're sitting in there and we were talking about that, and what popped to mind was um it's not so much the you know that you have to toughen up as much as it is. I think a lot of people take what they hear in a sermon as an accusation rather than being something that you can use as a helpful hint as to where you need to go and what you need to work on. Because the thing to remember is every one of us is a work in progress. There's not a single one of us that calls themselves a Christian that's there. No one. Uh you're you're we're all a work in progress and we have to keep striving to get better. And you know what? Every one of us is gonna falter every now and then. Every one of us is gonna have a time when when we feel weaker than other times, then maybe we don't feel like we're you know, I I I hate to use faith as a scale because faith is an on-off switch, it's not a rheostat. But there are times when you can feel weak, you feel like your faith is weak or that you're struggling with your faith, and that's when you need those friends. As flawed as they may be, that's when you need those Christian friends. That's when you need those folks to stand by you and and help you get back on that road. But so often, so many people will hear those things and they don't take them like that. You know, I'm not doing that. It's like the the rich man, and he asked, you know, Christ what he needed to do, and Christ told him in in, you know, and and and he says, he says, this you have to do this, so you can do this, so you can do this, so you can do this, and this is what you gotta be. And he said, I'm already there. Yeah, you know, no, he wasn't. But no, too many of us will sit in church and feel like I've I've been baptized, I've accepted Christ, I've I've given my life to Christ, and I'm here at church every Sunday. Yeah. So Ken's talking to everybody else here, not me. Or or or you have that one friend you know who has an issue, and you just keep thinking, Well, why is Ken always picking on that person? Yeah. When I sit down, I and this might be selfish of me, but when I sit down to listen to a sermon, it I you know, have you ever seen that movie? Uh it's a it's a Kevin Costner movie, and he's a pitcher, and he'll say, you know, he gets up to pitch the ball and he says, Clear the mechanism, and everything everything disappears except him and the batter. And so I think about that from time to time. So when I'm in a sermon, I'm in a zone. I mean, I am I am tunnel visioned pretty much stuck on who's delivering that sermon. Because to me, that's God talking to me, and I'll take notes and I'll get things going, but but that's where I am, and I also listen because I know God's talking directly to me, not about other people. Well, except for when you tell stories about your kids, that's different. But but but the the sermon part, the the the take-home part is aimed at me, not aimed at anybody else, it's aimed at me. Yeah and I don't think there's ever been a time that I've been in a good Bible-believing church where I've had a pastor that I didn't feel that way about, where I didn't feel like they're talking straight at me. This is about me and what I need to do and how I am and God and no one else. And and and I'll and I'll go back last week, you know, we talked, and I and like I said, I'd I was saved when I was 10 years old, but I really I was baptized when I was 10 years old. I really didn't feel reborn until about seven or eight years ago. And before then, I could sit through that sermon and listen to it and pick out things, and I there wasn't that total concentration like there is now. But now it's just like I'm you know, right here, and that's it. No one else. We're gonna get we're we're gonna spend the next 30 or 35 minutes or whatever letting God talk to me. Yeah, just me. This is about me and God. And then you'll get done and then I'll open it back up to the rest of the world again. And so that's me being a Christian. You know, it would be easy to fall back into that worldly side and let it go and then look at everybody else around me. You know, but now when you make when you when you bring somebody up, you know, I I will look at them, you know. But yeah. That's a whole different thing.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Yeah, you know, you I remember when we were in Hereford, God had released us from there, and and uh I contacted a guy with the Baptist convention and he told me about an opportunity in Waxahatchie, and and uh he was really in a position to influence who got that opportunity, and uh it took months for it to develop and he would constantly tell me, can stay pliable, and I hated it when he would say that because I wanted to go. I'd already made up my mind, like, God, this is where you want me.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Uh, even though you know I wasn't really for sure, but in, you know, in my flesh, me being selfish, and he would say, Stay pliable, and I thought, dude, shut up, you know. I mean, I want to go to what make this happen. You can make this happen. And he could, and he did, and we ended up there, but I thought, and I did, I thought, what if we don't go to Wax Edging? That's where I want to be. And I hated that word pliable, but it's so good, right? We have to remain pliable. I remember, man, a million years ago before God called me to the ministry, and and uh I was in the litigation support business, and we had gone to St. Louis, me and two other guys and our families, everybody, no one was from St. Louis, just a business opportunity there. We were in Denver, loved Denver, but we went there to start this uh a new company, and it was just a few months. Business was great. Uh company's making money, but the partnership was falling apart. And one day I just had it, and I took a little office trash can, you know, the kind you have in your office, and just emptied it out, had some paper in there, emptied it out, and I put pictures of my wife and family, every, you know, whatever I had personal in the office, I put them in there and told those guys, I'm out of here. And I just walked out, and those guys ended up getting filthy rich, but that's another story. But you know, I was I was just so being me, me focused, not pliable, uh, not thinking about God and his plan and how we thought we were there. Um, you know, that like that was part of God's plan for our life in that season. And yeah, I mean, it it turned out it was a very hard season for us. It got harder, not better, after I walked out that day and and uh Jennifer met me downstairs and I got in the car with that trash can, stole the trash can log of the company, and you know, just put my few personal things and and uh I mean I mean God uses sometimes even what you know what we do wrong. We ended up in San Francisco and you know Romans 8 28. But I just think about how we're selfish, we're not pliable, we're not open to where the spirit, like you're talking about, clearing the mechanisms, being in the zone, listening clearly, and uh and being God focused.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

And you know what, you can you can you can be all those things and you can still have issues.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Oh yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

I think a lot of people feel like the folks that are in that church all the time, the folks that seem to be the biggest Christians or that that we all believe that we're we're perfect, we're good. We're we're you know, we're in there with God. And we are in there with God. Yeah. But we're not perfect. We're not we're not infallible, we make mistakes, we do things that are not what God necessarily wants us to do. The biggest thing is is you know w we notice it when you notice it and you're repentant about it, meaning you you you you you want that forgiveness, and not only that, but you want to do what you need to do to correct that problem.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Oh, yeah.

Honest Christianity and Episode Closing

SPEAKER_02 24:15

And not have that issue again. And and here's the other side of that is you can be a first timer, you can do something wrong for the first time, you know, and then you realize, oh, what was I thinking? You know, and so um we all do it, we all have issues, we all have hangups, you know. You you always say, you know, it hurts habits and hang ups, and that's a true deal. Everybody of us, every one of us has everybody of us. That's great English, every one of us has that. And so I guess the big takeaway from today is don't let those things clog up your mind. Don't let those things stop you from having that relationship with God, from walking with Christ, from being that Christ-centered Christian. You're still gonna make mistakes, we're still gonna have flaws, but know where you are as a Christian and be honest with yourself. Don't, you know, you have to ask yourself, is it more important to be a Christian and be a true walking with God Christian, or to be that Christian that just goes to church on Sunday and makes sure everybody knows they go to church?

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Yikes.

SPEAKER_02 25:23

Yeah. Well, that's the question. That's the worst question.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

That's a tough question, but thanks. Thanks for sharing that.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

Yeah, no problem.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Who's up? You are okay. Let's do it. Holy Father, we thank you for this time and to think about you, to talk about you, to share you. And Father, we pray that all of us will uh listen to your Holy Spirit and just allow you to wreck us where we need to be wrecked and uh knowing that it's best for us. Uh help us be more than just uh someone that checks the box and let us just follow you wherever it takes us, Lord, even though it could be dangerous, could be hard, could be that we make great sacrifices, but what a joy in your son's holy name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Amen. All right, that was episode 32. 32 in the books. We're glad everybody was able to listen, share it with your friends, family. If you're in Rockdale on a Sunday, come by. We start uh donuts, coffee, and fellowship at 10. Our worship service starts at 10:30. And everybody is welcome. If you're not in town, catch us about this time next week with a new podcast, and we'll talk to everybody next week. God bless everybody!