more confessions of a converted pastor

Recently, an acquaintance of ours attended a Sunday morning church service. When time came for the sermon, the pastor spoke about the value of attending Sunday morning church services. He stressed the need for connection with other believers, his premise being that Sunday morning attendance equated with connection.

Yesterday I sat in a church service as well. As I observed the people sitting around me, I realized that I had no deep heart connection with most of them. There were people in that service with which I do have significant connection. However, that connection was not formed in the context of a Sunday morning service. Rather, it was formed around our kitchen table, it was formed riding in a car together. Our connection emerged, not around hearing a preacher preach, rather it emerged around shared struggles and joys, life lived together.

If deep connection with other believers does not happen in the context of a Sunday morning meeting, then why do church leaders continually stress the importance of attending church? From my experience as a pastor, I believe I can answer that question. Pastors, like the rest of us, deal with insecurities. Almost every pastor I have ever known feels better about himself/herself if there are more people in their services. In the posturing that occurs when pastors get together, several common themes repeatedly emerge. Large churches are perceived to more successful. When the conversations get around to talk of attendance numbers (and it always comes up sooner or later) pastors of small churches quickly point to the fact that they are growing in numbers. (Or they bemoan the fact that factors beyond their control are limiting their attendance numbers).

Quite simply - the more "successful" a church is, the more bodies it takes to maintain the appearance of success. Therefore, people must be encouraged to attend services and to participate in services. The real reason has nothing to do with heart to heart connection, it has to do with feeding the need for people to prop up a system that strokes the pastor's ego.

Lest you think I am opposed to large churches or Sunday morning services, let me assure you I am not. In fact for the past two months, there has been only one Sunday morning when I didn't preach at a church. However, to equate Sunday service attendance with connection to the body of Christ is a paradigm out of touch with reality.