Church - Keeping it Simple

I think we’ve been full circle with church. We started with a small country church in Indiana and we’ve done it all. 

• We have worshipped by singing hymns and we have worshipped with contemporary praise songs.

• We have used hymnals and we’ve used words on one or more projections screens. 

• We have been led in worship by large choirs, small choirs, some dressed in robes, others dressed casual; we’ve also been led in worship by what is called a praise team. 

• We have been led in worship by an orchestra and we have been led in worship by bands with drums and as many as five guitars.

• We have been involved in Sunday school classes and life groups (small groups as a way to connect).

• We have attended Sunday morning service and Saturday evening services (in place of Sunday morning).

• We have sat in church pews, chairs, and even stadium seating in an auditorium.

• We have been to Sunday evening services, Wednesday evening services, Bible study groups, and prayer meetings. 

• We have been in churches with less than 100 people and churches with more than two-thousand people.  

• We have carried our Bibles to church and we have read scripture from iPads and cell phones.

• I’ve also been to church in a foreign country, in a small building without air conditioning and with an interpreter. 

Even before I knew Jesus, I knew church was important. I didn’t have it growing up and when I became a Christian, going to church was never optional. The kids never had to ask if we were going to church because they knew. Not only did they go to church, but they had to sit with us on Sunday morning and I treasured our family time together. We wore “Sunday clothes” and I even remember teaching our oldest son that he had to take his cap off in the church sanctuary. Every week, and every time the doors were open, we were there. We made a lot of parenting mistakes but I believe taking our kids to church was one of the few things we did right. 

I became a Christian more than 30 years ago. Mike and I joined a small southern Baptist church in Seymour, Indiana and never once thought about leaving that church until we moved away from Indiana to Hazleton, Pennsylvania. It wasn’t easy when we moved to Pennsylvania, but we found a Baptist church in a predominantly catholic area. When we decided Hazleton was not where we wanted to raise our kids, we then moved to Clinton, Mississippi where we found a somewhat larger (Southern Baptist) church home. We lived there for 10 years and we were very involved in the church with our kids and never thought about going anywhere else until we moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. 

When we moved to Knoxville, we immediately joined a fairly large church where our two boys attended the church affiliated private school and where I found a job two weeks after we moved here. After the boys graduated, I left my position at the school and we started attending a very small nondenominational church.  Then like most churches, the church grew, moved to a larger building, hired more pastors/staff, went to two services, and the smallness of the church was lost. 

Several months ago we visited our hometown church where Mike and I both got saved as a young married couple with a small child. The building was a little larger, but several people remembered us and welcomed us with hugs. The church was a little different but still very much the same. Our old friend Ray was still leading music and his wife was still playing the piano. There were no guitars, no drums, no praise team, just a few familiar faces seated in chairs and playing musical instruments. It felt comfortable, very traditional, and it felt right. 

We live in a time where most churches are anything but traditional — always looking for new music, planning events, and looking for ways to draw people in. I’ve been just a guilty as anyone else about having a consumerism attitude about church. What can the church do for me? What does the church have to offer? Do the service times work with my schedule? Do I like the music? As I write this, I confess that I struggle with this and God has been working on me in this area for a very long time.

Recently I was at an event where the worship leader led in a melody from different worship songs. In my mind, it was all running together and I couldn’t get my focus where it needed to be. Then it all stopped and the worship leader sang, “It is Well with my Soul.” I said to the person next to me, now that was worship! You could have heard a pin drop. More than the speaker, more than the music, that is what I remember from that night. 

For the past few weeks, Mike and I have been attending a small church gathering here in Knoxville where the pastor preaches expository verse by verse from the Bible. We sing a few hymns led by one guy with one instrument, either a guitar or a piano. Who remembers “When the Roll is Called up Yonder?” Both times we’ve gone, we’ve left the service challenged to go home and read scripture on own own and to memorize it. 

I don’t know much but I know God wants me to grow in the study of His word. I need motivation (and accountability) from my church to stay in the Word. I need to know it and I need to memorize it. I also need fellowship with other believers. With all the changes we’ve seen over the years in churches, I know for certain things that God’s word never changes.

We’ve come full circle with church and I’m ready for it be simple again. All we really need are a few people, a Bible, and hymnal to have church. 

“We might find that the things we added to improve our churches are the very things that crowd God out.” ~Francis Chan, “Letters to the Church”

“Test everything, hold fast to what is good.” ~1 Thessalonians 5:21

Recommended Reading —

What is a “Seeker-Friendly” Church?

Question: What is a Seeker Friendly Church?

The Seeker-Friendly Way of Doing Church

Why I Abandoned Seeker Church