I think we may be going through the longest series in the history of church. We are going through the book of Luke verse by verse and then going on to Acts. Last Sunday our pastor informed us that it will take six years to go through the entire thing. Wow.

What’s the most memorable sermon/series that you’ve ever heard in church?

This past Sunday, there was a special speaker at Vintage City Church who spoke on human trafficking. His heart and passion motivated me to the point where I felt like I had to give something. But, instead of taking up an offering at that moment, he said to wait three weeks before making any decisions. He said he didn’t want us to make an emotional decision, but an informed decision. Think about it. Pray about it. Talk about it. I really appreciated that.

All this has me thinking… Some people think you should give to the storehouse which means your home church. I get that. I really do.
But, what if you feel led to give something or even everything to a certain ministry that doesn’t happen to be your home church? What if you think giving money to save a life through human trafficking is the most important thing you can give to at that moment?

This would definitely eliminate the “look at me because I’m giving” long walk to the offering box. …

Anyways, where should/do you give your money to? Is the answer always the local church?

There’s the people that go to church because they feel that they have to.

There’s the people that go for the community.

There’s the people that go because they hold a “big position” in the church.

Whatever it may be…

Why do you go to church?

Well, today is Easter Sunday. I actually went to church last night, but that doesn’t really matter.
This year’s service was a little different, but in a good way.
That’s because I appreciate tradition. I really do.
Yes, young people like tradition, too.

I like the communion.
I like the Easter plays.
I like singing hymns.
I bet I’d even like Catholic Mass. I need to try that out sometime.

I think there’s always time for those things.
I always hear people wanting to change everything just for the sake of change and keeping up with the times.
I guess I can see that side, too.
Gotta keep it fresh.

Anyways…

What do you think of traditions?

Drugs. Alcohol. Fornication. Divorce.

The list goes on and on.

There’s tons of topics out there that people in church have tried to avoid forever.

Hopefully the day is coming soon, if it hasn’t already, where people in the church realize that they are actually real people and that real life stuff will happen to them.

Because let me tell you, life does not automatically become perfect once you start a personal relationship with Jesus, or however you want to put that.

Church should be that place where you can be honest about what’s going on in your life and where judging others for their life circumstances just doesn’t happen.

So, how do you feel your church is in discussing those topics that just aren’t easy to discuss?

I write on church quite a bit, but usually it’s on the positive side of church.

There are realities you have to face at sometime, though. If you don’t face these, you will never be able to fix things that can actually be avoided.

A problem that needs to be looked at is the declining percentage of men that regularly attend church.

So, why don’t men attend church?

Maybe it’s that a lot of things that happen in a Sunday church service have been the same since I started to attend church.

I’m sure if all ushers were women that wore hooters girls uniforms and headsets were handed out that had play-by-play for the big game church attendance might increase, but maybe not.

If we get to the heart of it, I think that church just includes a lot of stuff that men (or maybe women as well) just don’t enjoy or things that are just plain weird if you don’t get what’s going on.

Here are some of those things:

1. Wake Up & Drive
Every man wants to sleep in, especially on the weekends. This gives maximum awareness for avoiding honey-do lists and football viewing.

2. Meet & Greet
This is probably the scariest part to someone who is new. First, it’s the door greeter. There’s that awkward, “do you want a bulletin even though I just gave your wife a bulletin?” thing. Then, there’s that part at the beginning of the service where the pastor asks you to find 49 people who you’ve never met before and ask them over for dinner. I’m probably not the only man who likes to just share personal stuff with his circle of friends, but when a person you just met ten minutes ago is already asking you about your relationship with God and how much time you spent last month weeping with Jehovah Jireh and reading hebrew last month, you might be a little reluctant with being comfortable and honest. I get it. That seems a little “girly” to most men, even though it shouldn’t. Men that aren’t used to church don’t usually like going straight to the heart. They like pork rinds, beer and football. Probably don’t want to open up with, ” Do you like speaking in tongues?”

3. Praise & Worship
Men like cheering and dancing for their favorite team, except for Team Jesus. The idea of doing this for something they can’t touch is scary. We also need entertainment. When you don’t come to church with the expectation of giving something to God and instead ask “What can I get from God?”, if people aren’t keeping you entertained, it’s time to go. That’s where the folded arms come in. Maybe even a sit down and a nap. This says I’m tired, but I’m still a Christian since I came.

4. The Sermon
Give me some sports examples. Don’t give me cake recipes and show me the recipe that finds God, please. Also, men ask for sermons to be no more than 30 minutes long. After that men think that the speaker likes to hear themselves talk, they start to get restless, very hungry and need a tv. Bring a snickers bar and a fat tire to church and you might be able to extend it to 45 minutes.

5. Tithe & Offering
What man wants to give away his hard-earned money without first understanding where everything comes from. I don’t know too many. So, the idea of people looking at them ’til they empty their wallets and the pastor talking about money until you feel forced to give something may not sound like a good way to spend their Sunday.

6. The Altar Call
Going down front or even raising a hand to say “I am guilty” is a bit embarrassing. I can think of 849 other things I would rather do on a Sunday morning. That will be another post.

7. Baptismals
The thought of telling everyone in the room about your past and then having someone else dunking you under water is a little scary, whether you know what’s going on or not. Then you have to the trouble of changing clothes after having soaked jeans is a big hassle.

8. Communion
This is probably the best thing to someone not used to attending church. It’s sort of an intermission where you get to eat a cracker and drink some wine. The whole idea of eating Jesus’ body and drinking His blood doesn’t sound too appealing, but it depends on how hungry you are.

9. The Event Signup
This requires commitment on another level. This actually makes you travel back to the church on a different date. A retreat, movie night, midweek small group, or whatever else it might be cuts into your regular plans. Doesn’t sound fun to me either.

10. The Bathroom
You just don’t speak at the urinal anywhere. That is everywhere else, but church. Somehow at church the guy next to you wants to make eye contact and talk about something. Anything. How big your Bible is. How nice it smells. The weather. Where to eat after service. Yeah, it’s a little weird. But, we’re supposed to be social, right?

So, is there any part of church that makes you uncomfortable?

Money is one of those subjects that make me uncomfortable, especially when it’s talked about in church. I guess I’ve seen too many television evangelists saying that if you give money you will own a jet someday. But, the Bible talks about tithing and giving, so I believe it’s definitely important.

What do you think about tithing? How important is it or do you believe it is important at all? What have you seen happen as a result of giving?

I’ve heard them all.
I’ve made excuses for myself along the way on why I didn’t feel like attending church.

It might be that i don’t see me fitting in just right.
Or the teaching isn’t my style.
Or the music isn’t my style.
Or the people aren’t friendly.
Or it’s too far away.
Or I’m too busy.
Or I’m too tired.
Or I just don’t feel like going.

Writing that stuff out makes it seem even worse.

So…

If you got to church, why do you attend?
If you don’t attend church, why not?

Don’t do something halfway.

Most people seem to get that. But, when looking at the online world, some folks obviously disregard that great advice. Even though there are different organizations that fall in the “bad website” category, I want look at what the church looks like online.

Before I get started I just want to say I’m not wanting to pick on anyone here. Look at this as more of a favor…

Ok. I will say that some churches get it. There are definitely some great church websites out there. But, there are also some terrible looking ones. I really can’t say it any other way. I mean, you can obviously see what I’m talking about here. Click on that link and view those sites. It ain’t pretty.

I have some notions on why this happens.

Churches first decide that they want a hip website to stay relevant so they can let all those hipsters know what’s up. After this decision is made, they lack one or some of these necessary components…

Someone who actually knows how to put together a site.
Time.
Focus.
Resources.
Maybe you can add something else to the list

Your website shows who you are a lot more than you think. If your website looks like junk, then people automatically assume that your church looks like… well, junk. Last week we talked about how a church building can sometimes change a person’s perspective on the church, even before setting foot in the church building itself. And I don’t think that a website is any different.

If you think that you, your church or your business may need to go in a different online direction, I would challenge you to take a close look at your site. It is sometimes hard to look at things through a reader’s eyes when we become so accustomed to the way things look. You may even find that you need to change the theme, take some unnecessary items off of your site, find a professional that may know more about building sites or maybe even take the site down while you and your team reevaluate where you stand. It can only help, right?

Where do you think a website fits in on the representation of a church/company/organization? How much does it matter?
Also, what are some church websites that are doing it right? Why do you like those websites so much?

Two weeks ago I had a discussion with a local pastor. We got on the topic of whether or not a church’s appearance actually matters. His thoughts were that the church shouldn’t have to be up to date because people should want to come worship Jesus without the “bells and whistles”. I get where he was coming from, but I think that it’s pretty hard to get folks that don’t like church or sort of like it to actually come into the church building without at least some “stuff”.

I mean, when I drove up to the building I knew what kind of church it was going to be without even going in.
You know the kind.
Terrible sound system. Old orange cloth pews and ugly light fixtures. Funny smell and an organ.
I was spot on.
It was like I was back in the early 90′s again. I was looking for the choir robes but couldn’t find them.

Even though the people were really friendly, I just couldn’t get past what my eyes were seeing. Maybe that’s my shallowness. Maybe I’ve been in church so long that I don’t know what churches really need.

There’s only so much a “ok” sermon and decent music can do for folks. Or maybe this is just me…Or maybe this is just the American church.
Church is sometimes more about “What can it do for me?” than God and community.
People in other countries don’t need “stuff” to do church. Somehow we Americans keep needing junk and church staff keeps trying to feed the masses’ appetites.

So, here we are. In the land of churchplants, to “just got off the ground” churches to growing churches to mega churches.

Do you care what the building looks like that you do worship in or does it not matter?