Something's Gotta Give

As I stand before the congregation leading Grace Pointe through the final verse of Bringing in the Sheaves, I can't help but feel conflicted, and see the conflicted nature of pastoral ministry, church ministry and church planting today. The conflicted nature doesn't have so much to do with the members' personalities (Grace Pointe enjoys a very close unity among its members), as much as the conflicted nature has to do with who the church is, and whom the church has been called to reach.

There are two groups that make up the congregation at Grace Pointe. There are the very young, and the seniors. As for reaching the 20-somethings to 40-somethings, we have not been very successful. Let me clarify. We have seen some 20-40 year olds saved, and some baptized, but few continue to be involved in the church. This happens for a number of reasons, including hectic work/family schedules, and the desire for downtime. However, those factors can be overcome to get young families into church.

As I look across the religious landscape in Brownwood, I see three churches that are excelling in bringing in young families and getting them involved. These churches have three common-denominators. (1) They are built on relationships. The young families who go there have friends there, and they feel at home in those churches. (2) These churches are not known for being dogmatic on doctrine. They tend to focus their teaching on the basic doctrines of Christ (repentance, faith, salvation, and trusting God through the storms of life). And (3) Like it or not, they have contemporary worship services.

The building of relationships takes time, and the relationship must be built out of a genuine love and concern for the other party, otherwise it is little more than a manipulative situation. We can not go building relationships for the sole purpose of building a church. If we do that, we will become guilty of using people and abusing them the same way other religious organizations have done for years. No, we must love people and be there for them, even if they feel at home at the church across the street.

As for the doctrine issue, I have found that those in the 20-40 age range have an appetite for doctrine, but don't necessarily accept or internalize it just because the preacher says so. If a doctrine is presented they disagree with, they typically will try to brush it aside in an effort to get along. If the preacher insists they accept it, they will probably be gone. The way I handle doctrinal issues is that I present them as they come up in the scriptures. I preach through books of the Bible, and when we reach passages of doctrine, I present it. The interesting thing about this approach is that you get a feel for which doctrines are God's priority, as those doctrines are presented most often in the scriptures. Do you have any idea which doctrine is presented the most in the scriptures (and by extension, is the most important to God?) Hint: It's not the Bride. When differences of belief on certain doctrines arise, if you can get back to the fundamentals of the faith and agree there, then you still have fellowship and no one gets their feelings hurt.

Then comes the contemporary worship issue. I have publicly opposed contemporary worship, not because of what it is, but rather the attitudes some people who have propagated it. Their attitudes of contempt toward the senior members of the church, and their proclamations that they couldn't worship in a traditional style were major turn-offs for me.

When I look out among the congregation of grey hair, and in some cases, no hair, I see a generation of people who not only contributed much of their lives and personal resources so that I could stand in a pulpit and preach, but I see a generation of people who built the country into what we know today. I also see a generation of people who have been left behind by our modern, technology driven, frenzied paced lifestyles.

But yet, they stay active in life, and in church. In some cases, church is the only thing that still seems normal, that still makes sense. Then comes the young, on-fire preacher who is going to totally turn the world upside down, and he tells them to sell the piano, get rid of the organ, burn the hymnals, and sing staring at a projection screen to the accompaniment of a praise band. It totally freaks them out, and with good reason.

Contemporary music makes sense to my generation, because it is what we've grown up with. When you grew up listening to Def Leppard, Belinda Carslile, or Third Eye Blind and Green Day, the praise band seems like rather tame, worshipful music. However, if you grew up to Bob Wills, Jimmie Davis, Johnny Cash, and even Buddy Holly and the Beatles, it can be downright disturbing.

To put it another way, what if your worship leader looked like Kesha or Lady Gaga? It'd freak you out. That's what contemporary worship looks like to these seniors. So, they oppose it. However, their opposition only fuels the fire of the proponents of contemporary worship, leading to a split in the church. Sometimes, the result of this split is two different churches. Other times, churches choose to have two, or three, separate worship services. In those scenarios, you have a segmented church membership that is not necessarily working as a body.

I love our seniors at Grace Pointe, and I look up to them. I definitely don't want to leave them in the dust of progress. At the same time, I realize that if we are to see younger families join and become active in our congregation, there are some methods that are going to have to change.

The question is, how do we adjust our methods for reaching people, and bring our established members along through the changes? How do we get them on board? How do we make them feel at home through the changes? If I can find the answer to those questions, then I'll be able to invite you to the dedication of our new state of the art worship facility. Until then, we meet at 1045 West Commerce in Brownwood, Texas, at 11 a.m. on Sunday mornings.