Re: [Worship] do-it-yourself.

["Mark Coward" <mcoward@midsouth.rr.com>]

> Anyway,  a question about a trend I am seeing.  I know a number of
families
> quite well who have told me that they do not attend church but that they
do
> worship on Sundays at home.  These are not backslidden people, in my
> opinion, or even people who got terribly hurt or offended in some church,
> but genuine born-again Christians who live and share their faith and are
> raising godly children.  It seems like such a contradiction to me, because
> I've always been taught so strongly not to "forsake the assembling of
> yourselves together."  At least some of these people are Methodists who
> generally came from little country churches and have just not felt at home
> in the big city churches.  Many of them are home school families - perhaps
> it's all part of their do-it-yourself mentality (By the way - that's not a
> criticism - I'm a homeschooler).  For some I know the issues may have been
> social - things like abortion, sexual preference, women as pastors, etc. -
> but so many people today are not loyal to a specific denomination, so I
> would think that they would just seek out a church that shares their
> convictions.  There are plenty to choose from.  Perhaps the issue even
> surrounds the "worship wars."  Has anybody else observed this trend, and
> what do you think is the underlying cause?

I have seen this type of thing, and have had some good friends choose this
route. Most do fellowship with others, and occasionally attend Christian
events. I find it hard to argue with their reasons for doing this - mainly
that "church" in general is mostly form and tradition, with little real
impact or opportunity for their christian walk. I think most people today
are looking for something real and meaningful, with no pretense. I believe
the modern movements of "intimate" worship and small group ministry are
helping to involve people, meet their needs, and encourage them in a
lifestyle of worship and Christian servanthood. But I think that as a whole,
we have a long way to go. Especially in America, where we are "fat and
lazy." I have talked to missionaries who have been to Romania and other
communist countries, where the people appreciated their new freedom to meet
in churches. They said people were packing the churches during midweek
meetings, in buildings with no air conditioning and crowds who couldn't get
inside stood outside the open windows listening. There were young and old
worshipping, singing traditional hymns with tears of joy running down their
faces. They described the palpable presence of God, the awe and reverence
the people had just walking into the building.

>
Is there a way to reach these
> people and draw them back in to fellowship, or is what they are doing
right
> for them?
>
> Melanie

I believe that for many of the "do-it-yourself'rs," it is going take the
presence
and power of God to draw them back to the church - no formula or program
is going to do this. I once heard Jack Deere say something like this:

"We've all tried to build our churches by "targeting" groups of people. Like
implementing programs designed to attract baby boomers, yuppies, etc. I
have an idea - let's target a group of 3 people: The Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. If we can get these 3 in our services......"

Mark



*******************************************************************
Looking for praise and worship music?  Visit our list sponsor at:
                   http://www.worshipmusic.com

Need help with your subscription? Contact worship-help@praise.net
*******************************************************************