"The missional-incarnational church...sees itself as part of an ongoing process, not an end itself"Frost & Hirsch
As subtle as it may appear, many Sunday services function as an endpoint for many churches and believers. If not implemented correctly and in the right time, the Sunday service with its standard format of musical worship, preaching and announcements can act as a counter-productive mechanism in the goal of reproduci
ng disciples. While many churches are able to produce knowledgeable and committed members they often fail to produce disciples who can make another disciple. The mechanics of an average service working as the sole provider of scriptural substance cannot help but create a body of consumers. An example that reveals this distinction is a comparison between a restaurant to a cooking class. In a restaurant, the food is prepared in a kitchen that cannot be seen and is then delivered by well-dressed waiters that present the professionally made food with a smile and polite service. The food is consumed with satisfaction or disgust followed with either compliments or bad revie
ws to friends and family. A cooking class, however, brings the student into the cooking process. The chef is present and the students watch as the meat is fried and the vegetables are cut. Although the class might be long and within a hotter, messier and less convenient atmosphere, the interactions are stimulating the mind in a different way than in the restaurant. Although the cooking student will finally eat a subpar self-made dish over a tall counter filled with debris and oil, he/she cannot help but think about all the dinners he or she will host with this newfound recipe. While the restaurant satisfies the immediate hunger with speed and culinary excellence, it fails to offer the tools, ingredients, and skills to be able to make that same dish again. The problem that occurs when Sunday services are not coupled with spaces in which the words are discovered in community, is that the student will have no way of knowing how to create that sermon themselves. If the sermon becomes the sole provider of spiritual nourishment, the church member will never know how to cook and will simply become a specialized eater. Although sermons are biblical, sermons that stand alone produces knowledgeable Christians that will only know how to talk about food and compare restaurants.
ng disciples. While many churches are able to produce knowledgeable and committed members they often fail to produce disciples who can make another disciple. The mechanics of an average service working as the sole provider of scriptural substance cannot help but create a body of consumers. An example that reveals this distinction is a comparison between a restaurant to a cooking class. In a restaurant, the food is prepared in a kitchen that cannot be seen and is then delivered by well-dressed waiters that present the professionally made food with a smile and polite service. The food is consumed with satisfaction or disgust followed with either compliments or bad reviews to friends and family. A cooking class, however, brings the student into the cooking process. The chef is present and the students watch as the meat is fried and the vegetables are cut. Although the class might be long and within a hotter, messier and less convenient atmosphere, the interactions are stimulating the mind in a different way than in the restaurant. Although the cooking student will finally eat a subpar self-made dish over a tall counter filled with debris and oil, he/she cannot help but think about all the dinners he or she will host with this newfound recipe. While the restaurant satisfies the immediate hunger with speed and culinary excellence, it fails to offer the tools, ingredients, and skills to be able to make that same dish again. The problem that occurs when Sunday services are not coupled with spaces in which the words are discovered in community, is that the student will have no way of knowing how to create that sermon themselves. If the sermon becomes the sole provider of spiritual nourishment, the church member will never know how to cook and will simply become a specialized eater. Although sermons are biblical, sermons that stand alone produces knowledgeable Christians that will only know how to talk about food and compare restaurants. (insert from a recent essay I wrote)
Recommended books on the topic:
The McDonaldization of the Church (John Drane)
The Shaping of things to Come (Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch)
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