While we claim that Church is worship, I think Church members often talk about Church like it is entertainment. I hear things like “I got bored”, “I didn’t like that talk,” “What they said was wrong,” etc. If you are worshiping God at Church, why do these questions matter? Is the presentation, good or bad, why you came to Church? If you are worshiping, why would you allow the inabilities of speakers or teachers keep you from that?
The simplest model of communication consists of a speaker, a listener and a message. But when we apply this to worship, is it different? Where does God fit in that model? Is he the speaker? If so, how is he communicating and what is the message?
Sometimes, we hear that God speaks through others, if so, are we listening to that? If we are disappointed because we are expecting to be entertained, are we letting that disappointment keep us from hearing God’s messages?
Given this idea, how did you react to 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 the spirit of my post on September 25th 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.
Comments
6 responses to “Your Reactions to Church Yesterday, 2/1”
Here are a few of my reactions to my Church meetings yesterday (2/1):
One member expressed how hard “enduring to the end” is when you don’t know when the end will be. I was familiar with the challenges they are/will endure and tears came to my eyes. When it’s such a lifelong challenge, you truly wonder “is there no balm in Gilead?”
The weather was hazardous again, so we just had sacrament meeting. A lot of people took the opportunity to hang around longer than usual after church and talk, which can be one of my favorite parts of Sundays. Hectically trying to find all the people you need to check with before they leave is stressful, but I enjoy the chance to talk to people without having to worry about the next meeting starting or the next ward coming in.
In a sense people attend church to obtain feelings. It could be in the form of being with people who reinforce our hope of eternal life. And there is the social angle which has been beaten to the ground by newer church policies that have eliminated or reduced pageants, dinners, plays and any activity involving the entire ward. You can’t however change the desire to be surrounded by like minded people, as well as friendships, we call just call this affinity.
I’ve always looked forward to Fast Sundays and the testimonies, I get a feeling of spiritual lift with so many of the spontaneous, off-the-cuff remarks. I leave just feeling good. As humans, most of us enjoy the feelings of belonging to something greater than ourselves, an organization that can do important humanitarian works that we as individuals cannot
We can’t ignore the feeling of being worthy, of doing the right thing even when no one is looking of cares is motivating.
I look through the ward list and see so many names I’ve never before seen and wonder what did these stone cold inactive members miss out on. They came to find good, positive, reassuring feelings maybe feelings of friendship, but failed to find what they pursued.
When I put down the list I feel profound feelings of sadness, feeling helpless to change the inactive members situation. What can the church do to relight the fire, are we becoming too strict, too limited on those activities that used to bring us together, or in a race to rid ourselves of our uniqueness and fall in line with mainline Christianity?
A few inactive friends and family members will speak to the church not being the church they grew up in during the 60-80?s, one friend told me church wasn’t fun anymore, dry as a cracker, punctuated by worn out 17th century hymns combined with the constant regurgitation of conference talks.
Is the problem with the members or is it the results of so many changes from the top?
Nice thoughts Bobby.
I love the gospel, but I feel the church no longer loves me. I am unwell and care for 2 sick people. I can do nothing for the church and unable to attend due to my caring responsibilities since my ward meetinghouse has been mothballed and the ward moved to a meetinghouse 20 miles away. Both the people that I care for are members, rarely my husband is contacted by a member. He continues to volunteer in the non church community. I see no one from church and nobody contacts me, I do contact me ministering sisters. I listen to church every Sunday and hear frequently about ministering to one another. That was my experience on Sunday.
Please remember that this is about your reactions to church and what you got out of church, NOT your opinions on how to make things better. Other posts here and elsewhere discuss the problems, so please comment there, or submit a guest post that we can post here.
For this post, if your reaction is about how YOU can change in the future, that’s great. Or if you gained a spiritual insight, despite something that seemed to go wrong, wonderful. Let’s find ways of seeing church that show what we can learn despite the problems, instead of focusing on the problems.