Disappointed

I am not a 24 fan…yet…BUT I have heard that the season finale was very disappointing. (Don’t tell me anything about it…I am going to try to catch up this summer.)

I did manage to squeeze in the last 10 minutes of American Idol last night…just to see who won, I have three thoughts on this…

#1 - I didn’t realize Prince was that short.

#2 - The people who had the idea for the two finalists to sing the Dirty Dancing song should be fired and never allowed to work again.

#3 - I was disappointed! After all of that searching—that dude was the best? I am sure he is an awesome guy…I just didn’t dig his voice.

And Lost…now I am a Lost junkie…but there is no way anyone who is a Lost fan can say that last nights episode was awesome! It was WAY disappointing…the only REALLY good part was where Hurley thought the bird was calling his name!

We all deal with disappointment in life—it’s a fact; however, I believe that dealing with disappointment over a consistent period of time is not a good thing because, when it comes to church in particular, I have discovered the following formula…

Men and women are dropping out of church in record numbers; in fact, I read some research the other day that said up to six churches per day are closing their doors.

“But Perry, what about all of these new churches I hear about that are being planted?” Once again—not good news—research shows that between 85-90% of them close their doors within five years.

Why is it that people are dropping out of church? Why is it that people would rather work in the yard that attend a worship service? I think the answer is simple—disappointment…and I think the disappointment is on two levels.

#1 - They Receive Nothing Of Value When They Come To Church.

In many churches across our nation Jesus has been put on a shelf and instead of talking about the fact that we suck and need a relationship with Christ, pastors have been preaching about self esteem, the evils of the lottery, why you should vote for a particular party, and why the King James Bible is the only version that should be read.

And then those some people wonder why in the world no one comes to church!!!

I remember as a five year old going to a small Independent Baptist church and listening to the preacher go off on Elvis Presley about once every two or three weeks. Seriously—this dude hated Elvis! I remember thinking, “Why’s he so mad at Elvis—has he even met him?”

So—people are dying and going to hell…and he was talking about Elvis—no wonder we thought 20 people was setting an attendance record.

When people come to church they need practical help with their lives…and that guidance NEEDS to come from Scripture—period! The Bible speaks, in one way or another, to every issue we deal with in life. AND…if churches would stop teaching certain political agendas and legalistic ideology then maybe the kingdom of God could advance!

And one more thing here—God help the church that does not lift up the name of Jesus! I have heard people argue, “But church should be a place where people should feel good about themselves!” Uh—nope—church should be a place where truth is preached—and many times the truth does not make us feel good! AND…if someone is on their way to hell—the last thing you want is for them to feel good about the trip!!!

At NewSpring we have always tried our best to present Christ and Scripture in a way that is relevant to their everyday lives. As the great theologian, Mark Batterson says, “Irrelevance is Irreverence.” AMEN dude! We want to lift up Christ in a creative environment…and we want people to walk away knowing who Jesus is and what Scripture says!!! That is where the value is!

#2 - They Are Not Offered Opportunities To Participate

So many churches in America have adopted the consumer mentality…the pastor and staff does all the work and the people come, sit, give, and then go home. PROBLEM—this is not modeled in Scripture at any time!!!

We deal with this from time to time at NewSpring. I had a guy tell me once, “I can’t come to a church where I can’t have a personal relationship with the pastor.” A few problems here…

One—the church is NOT about the pastor…and if your desire is to get closer to the pastor than Jesus then you need to repent of your idol worship and begin to refocus your theology.

Two—the pastor’s job is not to have a personal relationship with everyone in the church, nor is it to be there anytime someone stubs their toe or has to put their cat to sleep. A quick study of Acts chapter six will clearly indicate that needs will arise in the church…but the leaders must stay devoted to prayer and teaching the word—and the needs will be met by the people within the church!! That’s the biblical model.

This has been a passion of mine since the beginning. I only do three things well—lead, cast vision, and speak. And so I delegate the other things out. I have been told, “But dude, you need to work on the areas you are weak in!” That is by far one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard—it would be equal to telling Tiger Woods, “Hey man, you are a great golfer…but you really need to develop your tennis skills if you want to be a well rounded athlete!”

So what about the needs in the church? Are they important? Yep! Well then who needs to meet them? The people in the church. I have taught for years that a church is not effective when the pastor ministers to the people—but rather when the body ministers to the body.

Work with me here…you’ve seen it…a church hires a young buck and gets him to do everything from unlocking the church to visiting the hospitals to preaching to going to every meeting…and they do it all in the name of Jesus…and should he complain they simply remind him of how much they pay him.

So he lasts about 22 months (the average stay for a pastor) and then either quits, goes to another church, or jumps into a pool of piranha. And what happens when he leaves? The church falls apart—people leave—chaos…because they depended on this one man to meet their needs instead of relying on one another…as the Bible teaches.

Here at NewSpring we have tried to combat that by teaching that everyone matters in this church, that if you are a Christian then you have at least one spiritual gift…and maturity is actually doing something and not just memorizing a bunch of theological points that some dead white guys held dearly.

People sometimes walk into our church and think, “It’s so big—I could never do anything here that matters or makes a difference!” WRONG!!! Our volunteers rock—we could not do church without you guys! AND—when people volunteer—they are less likely to get disappointed, then discouraged….and then drop out!

You have my promise at NewSpring that we are always going to…

#1 - Teach about Jesus! (It’s His church!)

#2 - Teach Scripture (You will never attend our church & not hear someone teach from the Bible!)

#3 - Work our hardest to make sure the presentation is creative, relevant, and excellent.

#4 - Challenge you to get involved!

#5 - Provide opportunities for you to move from area to area until you find your sweet spot.

#6 - Partner with you in reaching your lost friends for Christ.

#7 - GROW!

That’s about it for the day—EXCEPT for this announcement…we are going to be switching my blog over to…well…I don’t actually know what we are doing…it was all nerd talk. Anyway, what I do know is this…

www.perrynoble.com will not be in commission next Monday through sometime on Wednesday; however, you will be able to go to www.perrynoble.blogspot.com and see this blog. Hope this is clear…I was told it would be.

Thanks!