Backwards Believers

We've got it backwards.  And it's killing the church!

Most people - probably almost all of us - view Sunday as part of the weekend.  Therefore, we view the Sunday worship gathering as the end of our week.  It is something we come to after a long week.  We come to hear the music and message; to fellowship; to check another item off our list...for whatever reason.  Then we go to lunch, go home, watch tv and wait for Monday morning for our week to start.

Sunday's worship becomes one hour at the end of our week; detached from the week before (after all, there is Friday night and all day Saturday between our busy week and Sunday morning), and not connected to the week ahead (because it starts the next morning).  Sunday just sort of stands alone.

As believers, we come to hear the great preacher!  A better preacher, and more of us will show up.  Same is true about the music - the better the production, the larger the crowd.  As for the lost, we feel they should come Sunday to hear the great preacher and amazing music, too.  It is at the Sunday gathering that the Gospel is proclaimed, the lost hear and are saved, and the saved enjoy the fellowship.

Right?  WRONG!

Let me say again: We've got it backwards.  And it's killing the church!

The Sunday morning gathering should be viewed by believers as the beginning of our week.  My week does not begin with the work day on Monday; it begins with the worship on Sunday.

Gathering on Sunday is R&R for believers... a time of Refreshing and Re-energizing.  This time with God and each other prepares us for the week ahead.  We encourage each other, strengthen each other and sharpen each other (see Hebrews 10).  Now we are ready to enter the world and share the Gospel, serve the Lord and make a difference for the Kingdom!

The lost should come to Sunday and not just hear the Gospel, but see the love we have for one another (and thereby know we are Christians).  They should sense the presence and power of God.  They should see the Refreshing and Re-energizing we receive, recognize that is missing from their lives, and desire to have what we have.

Ask yourself this question: Should I only bring people to church on Sunday to hear the preacher and respond to the Gospel?  (Backwards approach)

Or: Should I come to worship to be Refreshed and Re-energized so that I can go out and share the Gospel; thereby impacting lives and building the Kingdom daily?  (Correct approach)

Church is not the end of your week.  It is the very first part of the new week.  Let's get this in order, and make a real difference in our world.