TEXT: James 1:21

SUBJECT: Stop Dating the Church #7

This afternoon, with God’s blessing, we will finish our study of Joshua Harris’s little book, Stop Dating the Church and Fall in Love with the Family of God.

Some Christians are ‘womanizers’ you might say when it comes to church. They want to try out as many as possible, take what they can get, and move on. Their attitude is immature (at least) and likely something worse. Others are ‘the marrying sort of man’. They find a church, commit to it, and stay. This is what the book wants us to be: faithful to the Lord and to His Church.

One reason people won’t settle down in a church is ‘they’re not getting anything out of it’. The pastor may be a nice guy, but his preaching does not edify. Sunday services are more-or-less Biblical, but there’s no jolt in them; they don’t rejuvenate; they don’t correct; they don’t do nothing!

I feel for these people. Not every pastor teaches well or inspires the people to know and serve the Lord. The pastors may be good men and sincere. But they’re not suited to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Their sermons are always flat, and sometimes impossible to understand or profit from. In this situation, I counsel patience and prayer. But, if there’s little or no edification for years, I recommend going where there is. You need to feed on the Word of God, and the Preached Word is a vital part of the believer’s diet.

Today’s topic, however, is not ‘Bad preaching and what to do about it’. Harris takes the problem of ‘no blessing on Sundays’ seriously, and says, before you leave the church or hand the pastor a book on preaching, you ought to look at yourself.

Before grumbling, ‘I got nothing out of the sermon’, a man needs to ask himself, ‘What did I put into it?’ This is what the chapter is about: becoming good listeners and participants in the church service. The title is—

The format is the same as before. I will summarize the chapter in 15 minutes or so, and open it up for discussion, which everyone is welcome to join. Including the young people.

They say, ‘confession is good for the soul’. Harris makes one for himself, and not only for himself—

I feel just the way he does, though I’ve got him beat by about a thousand Sundays. And on some of those rushed and groggy and distracted days, I’ve been the preacher!

To what Christian are these feelings foreign? We’ve all had them, and they very much affect what we get out of church, and how much we enjoy the Lord’s Day (or not).

Before quitting the church because ‘there’s nothing there for me’, ask yourself, ‘Am I there for the church?’

Getting something out of church requires effort on your part. Some of it is spent before the meeting, some during the meeting, and some after the meeting. We start with before.

What can I do on Saturday to make Sunday better? For one thing, I can go to bed at a reasonable hour. For me, ‘being sleepy’ and ‘paying attention’ are less than ideal bedfellows. For another thing I can be sure my clothes are ready so I won’t have to tear around in the morning yelling, ‘Where’s my belt? Where’s my belt?’ I can be sure my car is gassed up, that I have something for breakfast, and something for lunch. These purely physical things make a big spiritual difference.

On the mental and emotional side, I have to wonder if watching stupid TV or surfing the Net mindlessly is a good way to sharpen my focus mind for the Lord’s worship. This is not legalism; I’m not saying the TV cannot be on on Saturday night, but does it help you or hurt you?

Then there’s prayer, confessing known sins to the Lord, and apologizing to people you need to make up with. Reading the Bible on Saturday night is good for you, too, or before leaving for church. Just a Psalm or a line can be most helpful.

If you were appearing before a judge Monday morning, you’d probably lay your best clothes out tonight, shower first thing in the morning, and practice your plea, Not guilty, your honor. Should we care more for a human judge than the One who will judge—

If you want to get more out of church get ready to get more out of church. And that doesn’t start with the first hymn!

Making Sunday better also takes work on Sunday. How do profit from the church service?

In the first place, we remember where we are. The Church—Paul says—is the House of God. This means He lives here! Not in the building, but in the gathering of His people in Christ’s Name. This creates the reverence necessary for worship and hearing the Word.

In the second place, we remember what we’ve come for. We have not come to be entertained or even interested! We have come to worship the Lord and to hear what He has to tell us. The voice of the Lord is like the sound of many waters, the Bible says. But, most of the time, He speaks to us through human mouths, which are far less impressive. Yet, the dull preacher who preaches the Word of God should be listened to with the same focus and joy as the silver-tongued orator, preaching the same Word.

In the third place, we remember the responsibility of hearing the Word. Our text tells us to receive the Word, and this to welcome into our hearts. For the most part, we do this by believing the Word and meaning to obey it. We will always fall short, but this is not about ‘perfection’. It’s about sincerity. We honor the Lord and get something out of our services when we mean business with God, when we intend to do what He tells us to do in the reading and preaching of His Word.

Sundays can also be improved by what we do after the service. The best thing to do after the doxology is to become a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. For example, if the sermon is about brotherly love or reaching out to the lost, why not love your brother or reach out to the sinner before going home? Every church service has both saints and sinners. Why not be doubly kind or encouraging to them?

There is no set way to do these things. You can sit with someone you don’t usually sit with at lunch. Or you can bring extra and invite somebody to join you. Or you can ask how they’re doing or if there’s something you can pray about for them.

I know this can be phony and mechanical, but I also know it doesn’t have to be. It can also be natural and spontaneous. If it’s not natural to you to be kind and loving, pretend to be kind and loving until it is natural to you!

Another thing you can do after the service is to remember the sermon and the hymns and the prayers. Think about them during the week and act on them.

At the end of the chapter, Harris tells us to use our imaginations for a moment. No church is what it ought to be, and no Sunday is as blessed as it might be.

But what if there were no church? And, what if, Sundays were abolished in favor of more work and school? God would sustain His People (as He did in the Soviet Union, for example), but a loss this would be! For Sunday morning to be no different than Tuesday afternoon. And to have nowhere to go to church.

For a variety of reasons, good people have suffered these losses. And I mean ‘suffered’ them. If they could get them back, they would, and with a loud voice they’d bless God for the privileges of an imperfect and a less than ideal Sunday.

We have these things. We ought to be deeply grateful for them. And to remember, they’re ours by grace, not by right.