I appreciated the section on "Command vs. Expectation." I think that it's important to separate our expectations of the church from Jesus' expectations of us. Especially with the virus hitting, it's challenging to re-think what is actually commanded, instead of relying on "What we've always done. The rethinking of the commands, like "equip & exhort one another" and "don't forsake assembling together" are a lot different in a world where face to face interaction is limited to groups of less than 10. The expectations have drastically changed, but the commands remain.
The section on "Doing what works" is a thing that almost every pastor has wrestled with. There is a tension between felt needs (what people want) and what we all actually need. There has to be some recognition, and dealing with the first, even if it's just to convince people that they're wrong. We've all heard the stories of Jonathan Edwards being soooooo boring, and monotone, and still moving people to tears. But that doesn't actually happen.
Devoting ourselves to the apostles teaching is definitely an issue. I think preaching often does become a preacher's version of what the apostles, or prophet, said. Good preaching is always clarifying the text, not muddying it. It should contain "Aha" moments about the truths that God communicates, because, like Chan says, there isn't magic in the words.
When we think about the Church as a party, it does clarify some of the how and why. It's easier to get people to come to a crazy birthday party than a funeral. Not that church needs to be somber and serious, but people at a funeral are there because they chose to. Nobody crashes funerals. That being said, if we're boring and depressing, it's really hard to help people to grow. If everyone falls asleep because we have a "no excitement" rule, than nobody is growing. There's a balance we have to find between being interesting, and helpful, and just making it fun for the sake of fun.
The section on "Doing what works" is a thing that almost every pastor has wrestled with. There is a tension between felt needs (what people want) and what we all actually need. There has to be some recognition, and dealing with the first, even if it's just to convince people that they're wrong. We've all heard the stories of Jonathan Edwards being soooooo boring, and monotone, and still moving people to tears. But that doesn't actually happen.
Devoting ourselves to the apostles teaching is definitely an issue. I think preaching often does become a preacher's version of what the apostles, or prophet, said. Good preaching is always clarifying the text, not muddying it. It should contain "Aha" moments about the truths that God communicates, because, like Chan says, there isn't magic in the words.
When we think about the Church as a party, it does clarify some of the how and why. It's easier to get people to come to a crazy birthday party than a funeral. Not that church needs to be somber and serious, but people at a funeral are there because they chose to. Nobody crashes funerals. That being said, if we're boring and depressing, it's really hard to help people to grow. If everyone falls asleep because we have a "no excitement" rule, than nobody is growing. There's a balance we have to find between being interesting, and helpful, and just making it fun for the sake of fun.
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