Church isn’t supposed to be fun.
Yep. That’s what I said to my youngest when he dug in his heels about going to our new church because he wasn’t having very much fun there. Just saying it made me want to pull my pants up over my belly button and comb the hair growing out of my ears. My curmudgeon card should arrive by mail any day now.
I know its fashionable for parents to pick a church based on the preferences of their children–at least that’s what the billboards tell me–but I don’t trust my kids to know what’s best for them spiritually. So we’re not going to pick a church because they let the kids play X-Box after the lesson while they’re waiting for their parents to pick them.
I went on to tell him that church is supposed to be about life–real life–and real life isn’t always fun. I don’t want him getting the impression that since he always has fun at church he should always be having fun in life too or something is wrong. Life is hard and life is beautiful. Life is full of pain, struggle, and disappointment intermingled with laughter, joy, and fun. I don’t trust a church that emphasizes one over the other.
We’ve visited several churches in the past few months before settling on our current one. We attended one for several weeks that made everything easy. The music was easy on the ears, the sermon went down like warm chocolate, and the announcements were short and funny. Each week I walked to the car feeling like I had just worked out for an hour but hadn’t put enough weight on the bar to exert myself. I got credit for showing up, but I didn’t get any stronger. Easy didn’t feel so good.
I had a much different feeling after visiting a church that went out of its way to make nothing easy. The songs were hard to sing. The prayers were mini-sermon long. The transitions were awkward. I had to work to stay focused and positive. Walking back to the car I felt a strange sense of accomplishment. Attending that church had required something of me. It was like eating a plate of raw broccoli. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but I felt better having done it. I left there feeling more energized than I had after attending the easy church. We didn’t, however, go back. Raw broccoli makes me gassy.
I don’t want to be a part of a church that makes things too easy; I don’t want to be a part of one that turns worship into mind-numbing drudgery either. Somewhere in the middle is fine for our family.
One thing I will not tolerate is having my boys grow up thinking that church is always supposed to be fun. That way they won’t be so disappointed when it comes time to take up their cross and follow Jesus.
Now excuse me while I go look for an early bird buffet.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
Preach it brother!
So is this sermon called Goldie Lox Goes To Church? 🙂
Nice one Jeff. And you beat Jeremy to it. Good job.
I’ve struggled with those exact issues recently, as Austin can’t stand having to be good through 90 minutes of worship service (loves Bible class though!) and I’ve wondered if he will ever become engaged in it as he gets older…. nice to hear your timely perspective on this one, you old fart. 🙂
Someone beat me to the goldielox comment. Crud!!
thanks wade. as one who is now raising a daughter and as one that has done youth ministry this hits home.
BTW, i want to encourage you in your writing endeavors – it has blessed me and i am sure others.
Thanks Casey. I really appreciate it.
So what church are you attending?
Westover Hills in Austin
My favorite line – “Raw broccoli makes me gassy.”
Well done, my friend. Hope to see you there one Sunday.
So, this church that is hard to attend… who is it reaching?
Sorry, my post got cut in two…
Who is it reaching? Which are they focused more on, fishing, or keeping an aquarium?
It’s a church with a good heart that is trying to reach out to others, but is limited by circumstance and tradition. But like I said, we didn’t go back.
Gotcha.
God has no grandchildren. And I echo what Casey said, “You’re words have always made me take notice.”
I so needed to read this! I suddenly find myself standing in front of kids teaching them about the Word and trying to grab their elusive attention. One little boy asked me yesterday, “When are we gonna go play?” Since kids only get 2 hours TOPS of Bible teaching, do we want to waste that time playing Red Light/Green Light? I get it that kids need to get the wiggles out, but can’t they do that before or after church? God’s not calling us to raise church-tolerable kids, He’s called us to raise an Army. Last time I checked, bootcamp wasn’t for wimps. I really wish more parents were like you, because I can assure you that it would be MUCH, MUCH easier to toss in a video and press play than to attempt to stretch their perseverance by actually teaching them Biblical truths and foundations on which they will build their faith. I tell you, it’s some hard ground out there! Thanks for the blog!