What are we building in Church, and why?
This past week, in one of the Maxwell Institute’s new podcast series “Faith in Every Footnote”, an idea jumped out at me. Observing that in the humanities, students are often given the tools to be critical—to look carefully at a text or an event, and take it apart, examining elements and motivations, and finding what is wrong. The podcast episode then suggested that we all need to be reminded about WHY we are being critical. The purpose of these tools and approaches are to make things better! We’re supposed to be creating something, not simply tearing it down. The point isn’t to find out what’s wrong, but to find out what can be done instead.
Of course, this is part of the world we are in today. It’s very easy to notice what’s wrong. It seems like we have all sorts of news sources, blogs, posts, forums and so on, all pointing out what is wrong. But only a portion of these resources actually tell us what to do better — how to fix things, or how to make the world better. And even then, many of them are simply not right [have you run across any conspiracy theories or crackpot ideas?]
Do we do this in Church? Are we quick to see problems, and reticent to think about ways that we can contribute to making things better? Are we blaming others? Or finding out how to build better experiences for ourselves and for others?
In these posts I am trying to suggest that each of us can have better experiences at Church if we are more constructive. We need to take responsibility for our experience in Church, thinking about what happens and why, and then choose to contribute something better.
A lot of our thought depends on how we look at it. It is not different from what many artists figure out—they understand that how you see the world before you is more important than what you see. You might call it ‘active listening’ or shifting perspective. It just means that you see differently. And seeing differently reveals a different world, and a world that we can contribute to making better.
In my case, I tend to focus narrowly, thinking about groups of words or sentences, sometimes taking them out of context and thinking about what they say, even if the speaker didn’t intend what I heard. It’s not at all like what we’re taught in school, where the focus is on understanding accurately and completely what the speaker or text says. Its about pulling out useful or inspiring thoughts in spite of what was said.
So, if you aren’t thinking this way, maybe try it next Sunday, or the next time you are in a class or meeting. If you have already thoughts inspired by what happened at church, what are they? How did you react to what happened in Church yesterday? What did you notice? Did you end up thinking differently? Do you think your reactions were what they should be? Were they looking for what God had to tell you? Did your reactions make things better?
This is the latest invitation for reactions to local meetings, continuing a series of weekly posts that started with my post on September 25th, 2025 about how we receive what happens in Church meetings—sermons, lessons and anything else—and enter a conversation with them, magnifying what was said or adding what we think. In these posts I’m asking us all to think about how we listen and receive what happens at Church. If we only listen for mistakes, or things that bother us, what does that say about us? Is it most important to criticize others? Or to try to change ourselves?
The point here is that no matter how poorly prepared the speaker or teacher is, or no matter how what happens triggers us, or is objectively or doctrinally wrong, we can still find elements in what is said and what happens that inspires and edifies us. Even if church meetings aren’t conducted in a way that reaches us, we can take responsibility and find a way to feel the spirit.
So please, write down reactions and thoughts to what happened in Church. You might keep your own ‘spiritual journal’, or, if you like, you can post your reactions below. I’m adding my own reactions and thoughts as a comment to this post — instead of as a part of this post, because my reactions aren’t any better than anyone else’s.
Let me emphasize that this is NOT a place to criticize what is wrong with church or your fellow congregants. The point is to post what you learned because of what happened at Church or how that led you to think. It’s about the good things we can get out of Church, not the negative things that disturbed or upset us. It doesn’t have to be orthodox, traditional or even on topic.
If you like, make your response in the format, “They said or did this, and I said or thought that.” Even the things you dislike the most can be turned into lessons for what the gospel teaches we should do.
My hope is that these reactions serve as an example of a better way to treat what happens at Church instead of the perennial complaints about speaker or teacher preparation or ability, or complaints that the Church should do things differently.
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