Thoughts Of Some Guy In Ohio
Thoughts Of Some Guy In Ohio
Let's Talk About Church Membership Part 5
The conversation delves into the idea of active church participation and its profound effect on families and communities. By examining Thom Rainer's book, "I Am a Church Member," we explore what it truly means to invest in and love our local churches, transcending mere attendance to become integral community members.
We discuss the critical importance of teaching our children about faith, community, and the purpose of being part of a church. By modeling involvement and service, we can instill a love for the church that will carry through generations. In this podcast, we tackle the alarming trend of declining church attendance among younger generations and offer insights into how families can forge stronger connections with their churches.
Throughout the episode, we reflect on the historical context of church communities, highlighting their function as vital support networks and the transformations they have undergone over time. The episode serves as a rallying cry for parents and families to embrace and actively participate in their local churches, fostering a love for this cornerstone of faith and community. We invite our audience to engage, reflect, and consider their role in nurturing church involvement, believing that loving one's local church is not just a personal journey, but a collective mission with eternal consequences. Join the conversation and explore how we can better love and serve our churches together.
Hey, hope everyone's doing good. So week five of I Am a Church Member, right. So this week we're going to be looking at once again. We've been reading through as a church, we've been reading through Tom Rainer's book. I Am a Church Member and I think it's offered some really good insight into what does it actually mean to be part of a church and to be plugged in, and I think that that's a really important thing. I was reading the other day that one of the things that helps with.
Speaker 1:So when you talk about churches, one of the conversations you hear sometimes in the context of churches you know, close the back door and the reason that statement comes around is it kind of talks about how churches can sometimes be this revolving door. You have people come in and people leave, sometimes at the same time. Sometimes the same people come in and they leave in a couple weeks. There's always that question of retention. How do you maintain that retention of people who are coming in and first-time guests? These have been church conversations forever. One of the things that they found out, at least in the last couple of years, is teaching having a strong membership class Like what does it mean to be a church member? It can actually be a really healthy way to help kind of retain people. And there's a couple of reasons for that, one being you kind of lay out the expectations of what the church believes and their doctrine and their teaching, and then the other part of that is helping people to kind of get engaged and figure out how they can serve, because you tend to have people who leave not always but most of the time it's because they're not sure how to get plugged in or they're kind of struggling with you know how can I be of service? Because they want to be involved. And sometimes, when you're in a smaller church, that can be a little bit of a challenge because you know the roles aren't as many and you know, I think even sometimes in a big church that can be a challenge because you know you might not feel able or capable of doing that right, capable of doing that right.
Speaker 1:So week five so part of the reason why we're doing this class is we're trying to help people to understand what does it look like to be a healthy church member, because a healthy church member makes a healthy church. And so week five actually teaches on the importance of teaching your family, and that's the title of Chapter 5, is I will teach my family members to be healthy church members, and that's such an important concept. And let me just kind of lay this out. So I have three boys Everett, griffin and Miles right, and their expectation of the church is probably a little different than most people, most kids, partly because I work for the church, so on Sunday mornings it's a little different for them, you know timing-wise, and you know we kind of joke about this, but you know they spend a lot of time at the church during the week, more than most kids do, because you know Danny and I are down here working on something and so our kids kind of have free reign of the place. Well, there's nothing wrong with that, but sometimes it can be a little much because we go to other churches and they assume they can do a lot of the same stuff they can do at our church. Right, and that's just. That's not how it works.
Speaker 1:But the reason why we have our kids so active and so involved in what we're doing is because I want them to understand that church is important the being a part of the church, serving in the church, participating in the events of the church, surrounding yourself with church members. So on Thursday nights at our house we have a community group that meets and we invite people from the church and their families to come, and so we're kind of setting the groundwork for our kids that being part of the community of believers is something that you're actively doing all the time, right? So my kids understand that church is more than just something we do on Sunday morning, it's something we do during the week, it's something we do when we're out and we're having conversations with people or we're at basketball games or we're at Cub Scouts. You know like the church goes with us and churches when we meet in our home on Thursday nights and we have groups and we have a meal together, and so there's just this kind of for me and my wife. We're trying to instill in them that church is important. We oftentimes build our life around the functions of the church.
Speaker 1:And listen, that's not just because I worked there, even when I wasn't working in churches, you know, I had a couple years there between churches where I had warehouse jobs. We built our life around serving in the church and being part of the church and being a part of groups, and it was important for us to see and for our kids to see that church was something that we do, not something we go to necessarily, but something that we do as a whole. We model for our kids the importance of church and the importance of that community. And listen, it looks different for everybody. I realize the landscape is changing, you know. Home churches are popping up all over the place, which is an incredible movement, by the way, you know. But you still have your more traditional churches that meet regularly on Sundays, and some churches have Saturday night services.
Speaker 1:But the goal is to help our kids understand how important church is and how important it is to be a part of a community of believers who are working together with the focus of Jesus in mind. Right, and that's something that you teach not only by telling your kids but by demonstrating for them that this matters. This is important to us, like this is how we develop our relationship with God, and so Time Rainer talks about this in chapter five of this book is you know, I'm going to raise my family to love the church, to love the church that I'm in, to be excited about what the church is doing, to be engaged with the activities of the church, to build relationships within the community of the church, to have that reliance on the church. And going back to chapter four, praying for your leadership he talks about this kind of briefly in chapter five, like praying for your church, praying for the future of the church, praying for everything that's happening and that's such an important thing that I feel like, culturally, we've shifted away from. You know, I think it's funny if you go back not to beat a dead horse, because I know I've had this conversation before, but you go back 40, 50 years the center of most people's lives was built around the church.
Speaker 1:Communities were, you know, churches were in communities and so much was happening at the local church. You know there were so many events and many events and people met in the halls. There was this understanding that church was just a part of your life, that it's something that you did, it's something that was significant, and then somewhere along the way we've shifted from that. We lost sight of that and I think there's a couple of reasons for that. I think part of it is because we had a generation that was trying to seek truth and they had some doubts and they had some questions and they weren't well-received. They were kind of turned off by that. I think you saw a little bit of people walk away because it felt like it was more forced. So there was a lot of hey, you know you have to do this, and people were struggling with that a little bit.
Speaker 1:And then, I think, you get ahead a couple decades and you kind of see the church movement and it kind of explodes and all of a sudden it becomes this churches become more this business type focus and you know, you have your mega churches and well, I'm not saying mega churches are bad, but I think they created this culture of it became about the money and it became about all the things they could do and the bigger building and the nicer seats and all this stuff. And somewhere along the line I think we lost the importance of the community that creates money, the church itself. We lost sight of that communal effort because we were focused on the building, or we were focused on the money, or we were focused on the numbers, or we didn't let people wrestle with their faith and we kind of beat it in their head that they had to think this way or that way and there was really no way around it. And then you know, then the world happens right. And then you know the world becomes complicated and sin kind of rears its ugly head and you know we start attacking people and not addressing the sin that we struggle with. And so we just there's all of this conflict that happened and at some point we have forgotten that the church was meant to be this family, surrounded and focused on the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Speaker 1:Right, that was the purpose was to come together to worship God, to remind ourselves that we've all been saved through Christ, and to create this family dynamic and to build each other up and to love each other and to support each other and to pray for each other. And instead we created like this country club mentality and Tom Rainer talks about that in this book a lot. We created this country club and so all of a sudden the church became what can I get out of it? What can it do for me? And if I don't like it, then I'm going to go to the church down the street. And if I don't like that church then there's another church down the street. I guess I'm going to go to that one.
Speaker 1:And so somewhere along the line the focus of the church became self-serving and we became selfish. But if you look, you go all the way back to the book of Acts. Especially Acts chapter 2 is a huge part of that. The early church was about selflessness. It was about providing for each other. It was about providing for each other. It was about praying for each other. It was about coming together with the apostles' teachings and sharing of meals together, and the focus was to create this community. And so somewhere along the line we got away from that.
Speaker 1:But what's interesting is there's this shift that's coming back around, because people are realizing that they want that type of community and they're finding it back in the local church, and so church is starting to look different, and I think that's one of the reasons why the house church movement currently in this country is exploding. It's because people are getting together in their homes and they're worshiping God together and they're sharing meals together and they're creating this life together. Right, and so all of that's important, because we have to teach our families is that being part of a church matters, and not just showing up on Sunday mornings, but actively participating in the work of the kingdom which is being done by the church, actively being involved in community outreach, actively participating in the events and sharing the gospel with those around us, actively taking our faith and going into school and going to work and telling people about Jesus, actively choosing to invite people in to join our own community Like that's what it means to love. The church is in spite of itself, sometimes in spite of the human side of it, which is flawed, and people aren't perfect and people make mistakes. I'm going to love the local church. I'm going to love my local church and I'm going to invest my time and my energy into it, because the local church I'm part of is a bigger part of the universal church, right? So that's the work of God. So my local church is a very small part in the bigger picture of the kingdom work and if my church is further in the kingdom of God, then I'm going to love that church and I'm going to participate in that church and I'm going to be part of that church and I'm actually going be part of that church and I'm actually going to show up and I'm actually going to do things and that's such an important concept that we've lost.
Speaker 1:Go back a couple years when COVID happened. It really really shifted us outward and we talk about this in our own church and I'm glad that we offer an online service and people can watch, and we have a couple from Canada which I think is cool that they're related to a couple that goes here. But the fact that they even watch us online is great. But at the same time, sitting in your home watching an online service is not truly being engaged in what God has called us to do. You know, there's this idea that's prevalent in our culture that you that I don't need church to follow God and listen. I would argue you do. I don't need church to follow God and listen, I would argue you do. I would argue.
Speaker 1:Throughout all of Scripture, there is no indication anywhere that people ever just went off on their own and did this by themselves and somehow managed to figure it out. Church was always built around the community. It was always built around people coming together for the sole purpose of worshiping the God who created them and then going out into their communities, going out to their jobs, going out to where they live locally and spreading the message of the gospel and then repeating that effort. So being part of the local church is an essential part of being a member. That's one of the requirements. But as a member I am then challenged and I should understand and I should see that as an opportunity to love my church, to love the people of my church, to be someone who's seeking the kingdom and seeking God and all that I'm doing, but using that as an opportunity to further the kingdom through the local church that I'm connected to and then modeling that for my kids and letting them see and understand that church matters to us because the church matters to God. That, in a nutshell, I think, sums up one of the biggest struggles we find with church members today. We have to get back to this realization that the church that I'm part of, god is calling me to love that church, to pray for that church, to participate and be part of the work of that church, because the work of that church is the work of the kingdom. And in this little town of Follinsby, west Virginia, our church is called to go out into the community and to love people and to build people up and be the light to the world. And you and I are called to do that collectively, together and so raising my kids to understand that that, whatever church I'm part of, that hey, this matters.
Speaker 1:Being part of the church oftentimes takes priority over everything else, and it should, and the reason I believe that is because the work of the church is the only thing that's eternal. We're talking about life and death. We're talking about heaven and hell. We're talking about salvation. We have this incredible journey that we're part of, that you and I get to participate in. We get to go into the world and talk about the saving work of Jesus everywhere we go. We get to help people understand what it is to follow him, to make the decision to accept him and to watch lives be transformed, and that's something that we have to teach our families is important, and it's more important than anything else, because it's the only thing at the end of the world that's going to last.
Speaker 1:But when I die, the only thing that I can take with me are the people that I've shared the gospel message with. The only chance that I have to see my kids in the world to come is to teach them now and raise them to understand why it's so important to accept Jesus. The only thing that I can take with me upon my death and the only hope that I have, is the men and women and the family members and the co-workers that I've brought to the knowledge of Jesus. That's it. Nothing else goes with me. No amount of money, no amount of property, none of that. All of that will rust away and fade away. But the people that I love, the ones that I share the message of Christ with, the ones that I spend my time trying to disciple and help them grow in their maturity, and all of that, all of those people and all of the people in my church, my family, my church family, those are the things that I can take with me. That's why, as hard as it can be sometimes being part of a church, that's also the reason why I believe we should love the local church. Whatever church you're part of, you should love that church. You should serve that church to the best of your ability. You should give to that church to the best of your ability, because you're giving to the eternal work of the kingdom that matters. That is the only thing at the end of this life that matters, and if we're not raising our families to be healthy members of the church, we're setting them up for failure.
Speaker 1:I came across this kind of an idea. I don't know if it's a quote, necessarily, but it was on a podcast and I'm sure you guys have seen it floating around, but it talks about parents raising their kids to go to church. And what it says is and I'm going to paraphrase this, of course, because I don't have it in front of me but when one generation, what's optional for one generation, becomes unnecessary for the next, and so it's talking about church attendance and it's talking about church involvement, and it's saying that if parents are making church optional or they're not establishing the importance of being involved in the local church, then there's a strong chance that the kids who follow them will consider it unnecessary altogether. And listen, that might not happen right away, but I think that if you pay attention enough, you see that that if churches is something you casually participate in, as your kids get older, they tend to go less than you did. And then it kind of goes down the line generation, generation, and all of a sudden you have an entire generation that doesn't go to church at all, and and I think we're seeing that culturally.
Speaker 1:You know, we, we had an entire generation who, you know, felt the church was important and then it kind of shifted. It was kind of important and then it was like well, it's not really that important. And then it's like, well, now it's not important at all, and now no one goes right, and so we've kind of seen this work, so, so it's not really that important. And then it's like, well, now it's not important at all, and now no one goes Right, and so we've kind of seen this work. So it's our responsibility as parents to raise our kids to go to church, to love the church, to be part of the church, to see the church through the lens of Jesus and all of its brokenness and all of the craziness and all of the hurt that sometimes comes with it. And listen, I'm not, please understand, I'm not undermining church hurt at all, because that's a whole other conversation for another day. But still we have to learn to embrace and love the church in the way that Jesus has called us to love the church, because Jesus loves the church, in the way that Jesus has called us to love the church, because Jesus loves the church.
Speaker 1:Paul talks about this in Ephesians, chapter 6, and he's using husband and wife analogy, right. He talks about how a wife should submit to her husband, and then he says that the husband should love his wife in the same way that Christ loves the church Because Jesus loves the church. Jesus loves the local. Jesus loves the local church. He established it. He says this to Peter you know you're a rock and on this rock I'm going to build my church. Jesus understands and he loves the local church so much so that he was willing to die for it. Now understand when we're talking about church, I'm talking about the people, the people that come together, not the building, not a location and I know we have those. But the local church is the local community of people who are believers and followers of Christ. Jesus loved them enough to die for them. He loved the local church. He loved the local church. He loved the universal church, all of the work and all of the nations that were going to come to know him someday, but he loves the church.
Speaker 1:So that's, if we're healthy in our view of church, we should love the church. We should be engaged with the church and listen. You spend time with those you love. You build up those you love. You take care of those you love, you pray for those you love. So, whatever your situation is maybe you're part of a congregation that meets regularly on a Sunday morning, maybe you're part of a house church. Listen, maybe you're just part of a Bible study that gets together once a week. But whatever your context of church is, wherever that collective group of people come together to worship the God who created them, I just want to encourage you to love that group, love your local church, get involved, serve, give. All of these things matter Because the local church, that's the plan, that was always the plan.
Speaker 1:When Jesus tells them at the end of Matthew to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all that, I command you. He's telling them to go into the world and create these communities, just like I've done for you, and take that knowledge and go into the world and replicate that again and again. And so the early church. You saw a lot of house churches that sprung up out of that. You saw them meeting in the synagogue on a regular basis and it's kind of, you know, multiplied into what it is today. But that's all because those people love the church, they love the mission of the church so much that they actively participated in taking the message of the gospel to the ends of the earth. Can you imagine if Paul or Peter just decided to stay where they were and never went any farther. Can you imagine if they didn't really love the mission of the church that much and they just stopped sharing the gospel? You and I would have none of this.
Speaker 1:And so church is not something to belong to, it's not a membership, it's not a club mentality. Church is something that we do. The local church needs people who love it, need people who serve in it, need people who give to it and listen. That means everybody. If you are part of a church service giving, spreading the message of the gospel, discipling, spending time with other believers those are non-optional things. That is what we are supposed to do. That is what will change the churches in your neighborhood.
Speaker 1:By the way, that kind of church is what's going to change your community. A church that not only understands that it needs each other but it teaches those around them that they need Jesus too. Like a church that loves itself but also loves its community, that can transform an entire city. I can prove that Biblically. That happened a lot. Entire cultures shifted because of the local church, and those who were members and those who were involved in the spreading of the gospel Love your church. Love the church that you're part of, whatever that looks like for you. Love it and then teach your family to do the same. That that's what's going to change the current culture. That is what's going to change the current churches in this country. Jesus loved the church, so should we. All right, you guys have a good day.