Church: An Opportunity to Serve or a 30-Minute Nap? || Allyson Million

Thought for the day: one thing we can always contribute to our church is our attention.

The Pastor’s Point of View:

When a pastor spends countless hours studying and preparing a sermon to give to the congregation, wondering how many will show up to hear it, how many people will really understand the point he is trying to get across, and how people will respond, the least we can do for him is to give him our full undivided attention.

After seeking God’s face and crafting a sermon based on what the Lord has given to him, the pastor arrives early to church and greets everyone with a bright smile.

We as a congregation get to show up and complain about how tired we are, yet he smiles and pities us even though he probably didn’t get a full night of sleep the night before. We groan about how long the week has seemed, yet he smiles despite what he may have faced during the week that no one else knows about. We half-heartedly sing the songs he has chosen to go along with his message, and he sings them with such glory and honor to the Lord. We plop down on the pews, sit back, and relax, not giving much thought to the words he says because after all, we hear him every Sunday right?

We don’t see things from his point of view when he looks across those sitting on the pews and some are asleep, some are daydreaming about what needs to be done tomorrow, some are scrolling through their phones, and some are whispering to the person next to them. Our preachers put in so much more effort than we realize, so it is pitiful when we can’t even show up and give them our full attention.

Somewhere along the way we have lost our reverence towards church. Instead, we attend the service to be entertained, to have a few hours where nothing else is expected of us like it is at work or at home, or to sneak in that thirty minute nap we’ve really been needing.

“Why is it so important that we give our full attention?“

Think about how much you miss in those five minutes you space out during the sermon. Think about how much praise you choose not to give to God when you don’t give your all into those songs? Think about that pastor who has put his entire heart into that sermon, and how he must feel when he is so excited to deliver those encouraging words and no one is reacting or even listening. And most of all, think about Jesus, who endured all that He did and even died on the cross for us, and we still can’t even pay attention during church. Think about God on His throne who is so worthy of our attention and praise.

“What’s the big deal? I’m going to Heaven anyways!”

We are at church to come together with others and glorify God. When we get to Heaven, we will also be there to glorify God. In Heaven, there will be no one that barely made it, no one that only puts in the bare minimum of effort, no one who is slack or doesn’t pay attention, no one that came with the wrong motives, and no one who only half-heartedly worships. So why be that way now?

”My church only has a few people; there’s no point!”

Whether our church has 5 people or 500, we are there to worship the same God. Just as the pastor does not put any less into his sermon knowing there will probably not be hundreds, we are not to give any less because of the amount of people. We are there to learn from what the pastor has prepared. We are there to serve whole-heartedly, not with an attitude, not grudgingly, and not doing the bare-minimum. Just as the pastor has his job, the musicians have theirs, the pastor’s wives have theirs, the teachers have theirs, and so on, the congregation as a whole has a very important job as well: to give their attention.

The point is not that we should only be giving the bare minimum of our attention, but that that it is at LEAST what we should be giving, and if we can’t even give that, there is a heart problem.

What you can do for your church, for your pastor, and for the Lord, even if you’re not sure what else you can do, is to show up and give your full attention.

-Allyson Million