Wrong Lesson

Last Sunday, I noticed a Sunday sermon being broadcast on television. At the beginning of his message, the pastor commented that surveys show that 70% of church members are not involved in service in the church.

Unfortunately, he did not understand the point he was trying to make. If you train people to sit on their seats for an hour on Sunday morning, you should not be surprised if they are inactive during the week. If you train people to worship in a special building with a worship band and worship leader, you can’t expect them to worship at other times.

Jesus worked the other way round. He took the people he was training with him, when he preached the gospel, healed the sick and cast out demons. They learnt by serving with him while he was doing stuff.

Within a short time, the first twelve he had trained could go out on their own and do what Jesus had taught them to do (Luke 9:1-6). Then a short time later, seventy more had learned from working with Jesus and could be sent out on their own in pairs (Luke 10:1).

Taking people out on the job is the best way for them to learn. Sitting on a chair listening to a pastor preaching teaches them that church functions best when they do nothing.