blooming with Brooke

I guess you could say that I’m not your typical gen-z’er. I have incredibly traditional views when it comes to church and my relationship with God.

I read a social media post from an acquaintance not too long ago, and it has really stuck with me. She was expressing how much she loves her new church. It has a free coffee bar, and they have a huge concert every Sunday morning before the sermon. The lights are dimmed, and the fog machine runs to help set the mood. Almost the whole church puts their hands in the air, and tears stream down all the faces while the praise team leads this magical worship experience. The pastor is so kind. He never preaches on what you should not be doing, and he is not at all “judgey.” He only speaks love, and everyone is accepted. All are welcome. Come as you are, and please stay as you are. No change is needed here. The children’s ministries are the best around. Averaging hundreds of children at VBS in the summer, and the nursery and children’s church room could not be more packed on Sunday. There are fancy events with bouncy houses, trunk-or-treats, elaborate women’s Bible studies with little sandwiches and finger foods, and a men’s breakfast meeting every month. There is a mom’s group and a youth group. There are groups for everyone, all ages and all kinds. You won’t be left out here.

Most people read that and think, “wow! That church is booming! We should go there.” But I guess I am not most people. I was honestly repulsed by this post. I think that today’s churches are sick with the disease of “entertainment.” Churches feel this constant need to be bigger and better, to offer more classes, more events, a bigger stage, and whatever else they can do to pull people in. What has caused this epidemic of entertainment?

Well, I’ll tell you. The answer is people. People are not satisfied with Jesus. They need more. They need Jesus + an emotional experience. They need Jesus + a vanilla latte. They need Jesus + drums pounding. They need Jesus + a motivational speaker. I don’t think this is what God desires for us. Jesus is enough, always has been & always will be. Jesus paid our penalty, paid out debt, set us free. What more could we want? What more could we need?

While I don’t necessarily think it is a bad thing to have a church that does outreach events and has small group meetings, I think there is a point when it is incredibly obvious that the main focus is anywhere but the cross. When you have to add in all these things to get your attendance up, the congregation is no longer there for the right reasons anyways. Rather, they are there for the fellowship, the comradery, the doughnuts, the pre-sermon concert, the emotional high, and that is all just fluffy entertainment to turn your brain to mush and make you feel like you did God a favor by attending church. When you attend church, you should be there for one reason – to learn more about Christ.

Church is hard. I think that everyone should be aware of that. If you are attending a truly Biblical church, then it will be difficult whether it is the trendy church or the little country backroad church. Church should make you feel uncomfortable – step on your toes a little bit. The truth behind this is because we are all sinners, and we do all struggle with sin. It can be lying, stealing, worrying, jealousy, bitterness, anger, homosexuality, sex outside of marriage, overeating, smoking, drinking, etc. Everyone has at least one weak point, something that they battle. Whatever it is that you struggle with, it should be uncomfortable when the preacher addresses it. But we all need to feel uncomfortable sometimes, or else we would just keep living in repetitive sin. If the preacher doesn’t discuss sin, something is WRONG, and if you are attending a church that makes you feel good every single Sunday morning, you should seriously rethink your membership there. Listen, Christianity is a battle. Sometimes you need to be called out on your sin, and yes, sometimes your pastor should get “judgey” with you. That is part of his job description. We are not meant to live in sin. Christ came to set us free from our sin, not to allow us to stay in it. Sin should not be routine for us. Of course, sin happens. However, we should be ashamed and terrified of it. We should ask for forgiveness and repent. To repent means to do a radical 180-degree turn. I am walking one way in sin, but when I truly repent, I stop in my tracks, turn, and go the complete opposite direction. If your church doesn’t talk about sin because they don’t want to offend you and lose your attendance, that is your first red flag to GET OUT.

Regular and consistent sin should not be allowed in the church. Now, this gets a little sketchy for some people, because YES, the church doors are wide open for sinners to enter in. However, there is a difference between a church member and person who just walks in off the street. Church members have signed up to represent the church. They took a class and learned what the church and God expects of them, so when a church member falls into habitual sin, it must be dealt with promptly. This is handled through “church discipline.” The idea of church discipline is appalling to people these days, but nonetheless it is incredibly Biblical. Here is a scenario that I have seen very often as a pastor’s kid: a man and a woman that are dating or engaged start living together. Let’s say one or both of them are members of this hypothetical church. Living together outside of marriage is sin. Everyone is going to assume you are having a sexual relationship, and even if you truly aren’t, the Bible specifically instructs us to avoid the appearance of evil. This obviously gives the wrong impression and appears to be sin. A godly pastor would not allow this sin to be in his church. The man & woman either need to get married or live in separate places until the wedding ceremony. If they are unwilling to do either one of these, then church discipline should take place.

Now, with that being said, if someone that is living with a domestic partner walks into the church for a random service, obviously now is not the time to address sin. They can certainly keep attending the church, and the hope would be that as they keep attending & sit under more teaching and preaching, their heart would soften and they would accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, which would then allow the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sin, and they would turn from it. Sinners are welcome in church. The problem is when church members, people who literally chose to be representatives of said church, get swept up into a sin spiral and ultimately choose their sin over their Savior. You know how sometimes for certain jobs, you have to abide by a certain dress code, and you have to watch your language, and things like that? That is because you are representing your employer. They want you to be professional and a good spokesperson for their business. It is kind of the same thing when you join a church, you are representing that church now, and also the pastor, and most importantly, God.

Here is the crux: you can put your praise hands in the air, sing the worship song lyrics, get emotional, & have an “experience” with God every Sunday and still miss Heaven. God is not looking for a show. God is looking for a genuinely repentant heart, a person who reads and diligently studies the Bible (His love letter to humanity), a person who confides in and communes with Him regularly. A person who knows and understands that they are a sinner, and nothing but the precious blood of His son fixes that. No amount of coffee bars, praise teams, steam machines, or youth pastors can do that. Only the blood of Jesus Christ.

Let’s be honest here…Austin & I have discussed trying out other churches, the younger, more popular, trendy, more enticing churches that so many have flocked to. But we choose to stay at the church where our roots are.

We are spiritually fed by the preaching and the teaching (yes, they’re different & yes, you need both). I’ve genuinely tried different churches (yes, even the really trendy, cool ones with coffee bars!), sat under other preaching, listened to online pastors, and I leave feeling like I gained nothing. The words are empty because I already know that I need to be nice and generous. It is more akin to a motivational speaker…someone who tries to make me feel good about myself so that I keep coming back week after week and giving him my hard-earned money. I am seeking deeper, more powerful lessons. The preaching & teaching is unmatched at our church. Since that is what is the most important, that is the main reason that we stay, but I have a few others too.

There are plenty of opportunities to get involved & serve. If you’re attending a church where you can just sit back on Sunday mornings for a hour and then leave with the rest of your life being unaffected…get out. You need to be serving. My church gives me opportunities to serve in the nursery, children’s church, and most recently, cutting the grass with my husband. I love serving and being a part of the ministry of my church.

Also, I’m a fan of the “old-time religion” feel of our church. I love singing hymns, hearing the piano fill the sanctuary with it’s beautiful music, opening up an actual, tangible Bible, and hearing the “amens” roar through the church when the speaker says something powerful. I love that my church is small enough to know every single person’s name and at least one piece of their story, but big enough to host outreach activities and sponsor missions—near & far. I love that the focus is tuned to exactly what it should be…Christ.

I think so many people have forgotten what the purpose of church is…it’s not a time to drink coffee, gossip, have a concert (or a talent show, which I often feel is a better description), jump up & down on the stage, it’s not even a time to hang out with your friends. It is a time to turn ALL of your attention to the hands & feet of your Savior, Jesus Christ. A time to reflect on what He has done for you. A time to stop thinking about yourself…and start thinking about Him. When you walk into a church, you shouldn’t be thinking about how it is going serve you—no, how will you serve the church? You can’t judge the effectiveness of a church based upon their worship team (or lack of one), their coffee bar selection (or lack of one), their youth group (or lack of one), their building (or lack of one).

If you’re looking for a perfect church, you’re not going to find it. Why? Because every church is full of sinners, like me and you. Sinners who do gossip, who are mean sometimes, who treat you unkindly occasionally, who might take your saved seat, who might not want to cover your shift in the nursery, who might be too nosey, etc.

So it comes down to this…how do you pick a church? I picked a church based on my spiritual health & growth, the service opportunities, the preaching of the Word of God, and the “old-fashioned” genuine worship that I love so deeply. I choose to be a member of a church that doesn’t make me feel good. Now, how do you pick a church?