Sunday morning brings very different feelings to different people. Over the years, I have spent a lot of time (1) corresponding with preachers and (2) talking to Christians. Sunday morning is the measure of how greatly they differ.
Preachers not only look forward to Sunday morning, they also think everyone else should look forward to "church," also. You even hear sermons telling us how much we "ought to" look forward to church. (As for me, I have never found sermons about how I "ought to" feel to be very effective. Feelings are just feelings and telling me to change my feelings is like telling me to change my height.)
Preachers not only look forward to Sunday morning, they also think everyone else should look forward to "church," also. You even hear sermons telling us how much we "ought to" look forward to church. (As for me, I have never found sermons about how I "ought to" feel to be very effective. Feelings are just feelings and telling me to change my feelings is like telling me to change my height.)
The arguments in favor of "looking forward to church" are all the same. We will be with God's people. We will sing worship songs. We will hear the word preached. We will spend time with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It should be perfect! All of us should love the experience of going to church!
On one level, I fully agree with this. There is no question that "going to church" could be a great part of our lives. We could, in fact, joyfully anticipate church all week and wake up Sunday morning excited.
But most of us don't. Oddly, it does not help to have someone tell us to feel guilty about what we feel, either.
The reality is that church for preachers is not the same as church for the rest of us. The preacher looks forward to church all week. He prepares all week. It is his moment in his career when he gets to proclaim God's word to God's people. But, for us, it is very different. We are not the center of Sunday morning, as preachers are. We are on the periphery. We are just observers who have a small role to play.
There lies the problem, doesn't it? Preachers are not observers, they participate. They also call us to participate and not just be observers, but these are useless comments, normally. How can I participate? Seriously? By joining with 1000 other people in singing a song? By waiting in line to drop off my child for nursery? By trudging around the church's hallways?
I do not know the answer to this problem. But I know the problem. When I am not teaching or preaching, I often do not look forward to church, either. The churches I visit are filled with people talking about football and hunting (two things that do not excite me at all). The conversations tend to be cliche-ridden and impersonal. The presenters say the same words over and over, week after week. And I visit different churches!
What happened to us? Why did we create churches that we do not want to visit? I am tired of being made to feel guilty over my feelings in this regard. Instead, i want to understand them.
I love Christ. I love Christians. I love worshipping Christ. But I do not enjoy church.
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