One of the great bug-a-boos of life is our propensity for getting into a rut. As individuals we fall into comfortable habits and become attached to familiar rituals. It may be the routine of eating the same breakfast every day or preferring a particular style of clothing. Our ruts can also have a more sinister side, supporting our prejudices, restricting our generosity, stifling our creativity, derailing our spiritual experience, and instilling within us a reluctance to implement needed changes. Those recovering from dangerous dependencies, such as drug addiction, know how high these walls of routine can be. If we were wise, we would choose our ruts more carefully, for we travel in them a long time.
Congregations, too, fall into ruts. Traditions can become so familiar and comfortable that small changes to the weekly ritual feel like mortal sin. Churches can become parochial, serving the needs of an ever-diminishing segment of the surrounding community. As they move deeper into their ruts, they become hidden, unnoticed edifices within their neighborhoods. Their programs and worship services lack relevance, creativity, and vitality. The emotional side of the congregation’s spiritual experience—that is, its passion—fades. Churches can treat the personal experience of God as an unnecessary interruption to the more important business of the church. The church prays, but lacks any expectation of being acted upon by God. The church praises holy and awesome God but sings ho-hum hymns. Worse yet, a church can travel so far within its own little groove that it can no longer look over its walls to see how much its neighbors long to know God. When congregations cease being excited about bringing the good news of Jesus to others, they cease to be exciting.
A Passionate Congregation: Prays with Expectation, finds Scripture to be Relevant, Witnesses with Joy, and is Inspired by their Worship
Which area is weakest in your church?
What are you going to do to lift it up?
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Thanks,
Bill