How to Make Church Useless By Jack Klumpenhower

How to Make Church Useless
Jack Klumpenhower
4/14/2013
God’s people have been attending religious services for thousands of years, going back at least to when Moses gathered the Israelites at Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Yet today, more and more people tell me they believe in Jesus but not in church. Church, they say, has outlived its usefulness.

Okay. Certainly some churches fail to preach the Good News of Jesus, which does make them ineffectual. But in many cases, I wonder if the approach these believers take to church in the first place is what makes church of little value to them. Could it be that what we do—not the church itself—is what makes going to church pointless?

I propose three ways in which you too can make attending church useless.

Get in and out quickly. Think of church as an opportunity to get your spiritual “fix” for the week, and judge it by how efficiently it delivers that. The more you see yourself as an audience member or customer—so that the value of churchgoing is tied to how inspired it makes you feel or to what you learn—the quicker it’ll become replaceable if something you like better comes along. So attend, critique, and get out.

Don’t let the church become like a family where you hang around, enjoy spending time together, and share things—like the church the Bible describes: “They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity” (Acts 2:46, NLT). If the church becomes like a family to you, you’ll laugh and work together, help each other out of jams, and even confront and discipline each other when necessary. Watch out! That might make the church useful.

Don’t talk about spiritual things. If you must speak to others at church, let it be about the weather, sports, or that new outfit you’re wearing. The Bible tells about the hope we have in Jesus and then says, “So encourage each other with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18, NLT). It says, “Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25, NLT). Our time together could be full of encouragement about Jesus, but if you keep spiritual topics off the table and consider talk about Jesus to be uncomfortable, you can easily keep church from having much value.

Whatever you do, don’t follow the advice of James, who says to “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other” (James 5:16, NLT). That’s way too personal, and it might make your fellow churchgoers valuable for your spiritual growth.

Forget right away. If somehow, despite your best efforts, you still happen to hear God’s Word at church, don’t dwell on it after you leave. Don’t discuss the sermon with others. Don’t take notes or meditate on the Bible passage afterwards. Don’t even hum the songs on your way home.

Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts” (NLT). That’s okay for when you’re at church. But if any of it truly fills your life the rest of the week, you’ll find what you did at church being useful all the time.

Kidding aside, my point is that God has made church services to be events when we grow in faith by his Word with the help of fellow believers. If we put some effort into church, we can expect much usefulness out of it. Psalm 92 says it well: “The godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God” (Psalm 92:12-13, NLT).

Jack Klumpenhower is a writer and children’s ministry worker living in Colorado.