Why We Gather, Part Two: For The Believers

As a precursor to introducing the Calvin Grant and goals of @V21Church over the grant year, we’ll examine why the church gathers on Sundays. Asking this question of congregants across denominations would likely produce a plethora of answers, and it’s our hope at @V21Church to learn why we gather as a church and, ultimately, why we exist. In this series at worship.vintage21.com we will examine several reasons the church gathers, and the unhealthy results when one aspect is given  greater significance than Scripture calls us to.

Yesterday’s post examined the unhealthy result of designing the church service with only the non-believer in mind. While the outward-focused mission of God should be a part of our DNA as Christ followers, if we neglect the followers of Jesus who are a part of the church, we’re not actually making disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Most churches land on the other side of the pendulum, where they are concerned with the congregants over the thousands or even millions of lost people around them. They would consider the Sunday worship service to be the primary means of evangelism, yet there is a language and culture unknown to those outside church walls and only a small percentage of congregants actually invite people to the service. Any examination of liturgy or culture is met with stubborn resistance, often due to unhealthy attachments to tradition or fear of the unknown.

The church overly concerned with their own “needs” will over time begin to develop an unhealthy picture of their relationship to God. They could become modern-day Israelites, who missed their role as messengers of the salvation of God to the world but instead grew concerned with the privileges of being God’s people and the promises they felt they deserved. This entitlement can be found in the modern-day church, and leads people to a place of consumerism on Sundays. They believe the music, aesthetics, preaching and overall experience needs to edify them, or the church is not doing its job. The problem with this view is that each individual will have a different opinion about what serves them. Over time a majority voice will rise up within the congregation, those outside of their shared opinion find no room for their needs to be met and they will leave. As years go by this powerful majority opinion will force newcomers to fit into the culture or go elsewhere. As the ruling majority grows older and resists growth, repentance and change in general, the congregation begins to shrink until it’s down to 30 people meeting in a 700-person venue.

I’m not advocating for constant change or an openness to the voice of every person that enters a church. It’s impossible to serve everyone’s needs, whether they are saved or not. Besides, the role of the church is not to serve people’s needs but to bring glory to Jesus. However, part of glorifying Jesus is by serving others in love; the key is to not let this take precedence over the glory of God. This quote from Bryan Chappell describes how these two are tied together:

“Worship choices should never be segregated into meeting the needs of either those inside or those outside the present church community. Worship priorities cannot ignore the needs of those already gathered in the body of Christ, because the primary purpose of any church is to enable the people of God rightly to honor God. At the same time, leaders must recognize that God’s people cannot rightly honor him if they are unconcerned for the progress of his kingdom and the proclamation of his name.” - Bryan Chappell, Christ-Centered Worship, page 131-132

How do we strike the balance between a gathering that enables the people of God to rightly honor Him and that welcomes those Jesus has not yet brought into his Kingdom? Tomorrow we’ll attempt to find the answer. Have you been to a church that is welcoming and accessible to non-believers but that has not sacrificed preaching of the Gospel and healthy, active response to God? What characteristics stood out to you about this place?