Church Isn’t Boring: You Are Boring

An article by Rev. Jim Rudd from the 8/18/16 Weekly Update

I like vacation, but I don’t like missing church. Specifically, I don’t like missing services at my home church. It’s not because I feel guilty not being there. It’s because these are the people that I have chosen to live in covenant with. These are some of my best friends. As a pastor I have allowed myself to blur (and even eliminate) the professional line between friend and “church member.” I don’t like missing church because I genuinely enjoy church.

It’s kind of like when you miss an episode of your favorite TV show. You don’t feel guilty because you missed it. You feel like you missed out on what happened and how the story-line has developed. I say this because a lot of people think that church is boring. I usually cannot relate to this because I usually come away from a church gathering either exhilarated or exhausted, but never bored.

But every year I take one (and only one) Sunday away for vacation. On these Sunday’s I don’t preach elsewhere or travel for ministry. But I still attend church because my soul is in such a rhythm that I would be out of whack for days if I didn’t. I love God’s people and I love when we gather.

Today was my one Sunday of the year that I simply attended church. I was in another state at a church I had never been to before. No one knew me. I wasn’t preaching or leading anything. I was a guest.

During the service I came to a soul-searching realization: “This service is not boring, yet, I am bored.”

The music was lively and engaging. The sermon was authentic and personal. I still remember the passage and the points that the pastor spoke on. The church itself was great. I was the boring one. Other people in the room were fully engaged. It was me who was boring. I’ve been on the other side of this dynamic. I’ve preached my heart out, plead with people, raised my voice, cried, told jokes…and yet some people (always the same people) can’t help but yawn their way through the service, waiting for dismissal.

To those people, I want to share with you the lesson that I learned today; Church isn’t boring. You are boring. Having just gone through this experience this morning, I’ve been thinking about what could have helped me be more engaged in the service. I’ve come up with a few reasons why so many people are bored in church:

They aren’t informed:
A lot of people have a hard time tracking with the stories, context and language of the Bible. This is a Biblical literacy problem. While the pastor has a huge responsibility to make the teaching comprehendible to the entire congregation, we also have a responsibility to educate ourselves. This isn’t the middle ages anymore. The Bible is more easily accessible than it has ever been. You could literally have the entire Bible downloaded on your phone within 60 seconds. When you know what the pastor is talking about, it’s more interesting.

They aren’t involved:
Whether it comes to serving and volunteering, or simply being fully engaged in the service, too many people are bored because they aren’t involved. I sometimes break it down into several roles:

The Players – These are the people that show up hours before the game (service) in order to prepare. They take their role seriously and know that they play an important part in the success of the team (church).

The Spectators – These folks show up generally on time, just in time for the game (service) to start. Largely they are there to consume and be entertained. They might dream of being on the playing field, but aren’t willing to put in the work necessary to get there.

The Tailgaters – These folks intentionally show up late because they think they have something better to do. I have known many who intentionally show up after the worship. Folks in this role are not present in order to serve people or even praise God. They are present to get their religious fix for the week.

They aren’t incorporated:
As a first time guest at church this morning, I had no idea who anyone was. And none of them knew who I was. I didn’t know anything about the guy playing drums, or the pastor, or the family that gave a testimony. Because I didn’t have any sort of relationship with the people who spoke, I wasn’t as interested. If you attend a church but aren’t engaged in authentic relationships with the people that comprise the church you will find it very boring. You will not see the life transformation that the Gospel provides.

Finally, there was one more thing that I noticed this weekend that says more about me and my emotional dysfunction and spiritual immaturity than anything else.

Most Sunday’s I preach. Therefore most Saturday nights and Sunday mornings I am in a focused state preparing to deliver God’s Word. I spend a considerable amount of time on Saturday night and Sunday morning praying and worshiping in the hours leading up to the service.

This week I didn’t. I slept in and went out for breakfast. I didn’t pray, read a verse or even sing a song before I showed up at church this morning. Because of that it took a very long time for me to fully engage in the service. Essentially, what I am saying is that it takes time to ramp up and this week I didn’t take that time.

I’m not against sleeping in and I’m not against going out for breakfast. But I am against coming into church cold and unprepared. It takes so many people such a long time to finally get their souls to a place where they can encounter the Presence of God in a church service. Whatever your pre-church routine includes, make sure that it’s building up to worship God so that when you arrive you’re ready to worship.