The Church As A Captured Audience
Be A Good Christian! Just Make Nice!
Every afternoon, shortly after 4 pm, I get a series of phone calls. I know the callers well.
There are Matt and Brian. They are cheerful fellows who represent home security companies. There are Rachel from Verizon and Debbie who is sure my carpets need cleaning.
- I’ve tried simply explaining that I have no interest in what they are offering.
- I’ve tried asking them to not call again.
- Now I just hang up.
They’ve given themselves permission to annoy me with their message which is about their needs — not mine. They do this because they can. Technology makes it possible.
A few minutes ago, my computer started talking to me. Someone had found another way to intrude.
I will never buy a home security system from Matt or Brian. I try to remember the advertisers who abuse their relationships with me.
So how does this relate to life in the church? How do our worship services intrude on worshipers and their relationship with God?
We tend to make assumptions. After all, the congregation is a captive audience. Our presence at worship can be seen as permission for anything church leaders wish to do with us.
- I’ve heard pastors force agreement from their congregation. “Let all the people say …” They wait for an “Amen.” It’s just a like a pep rally. If the response isn’t strong enough, they try again. “Let all the people say . . ” “AMEN.”
- I’ve seen pastors approach people who have chosen to not participate in communion and try to force a blessing on them.
- I’ve attended worship to hear five minutes of ads from the lectern or pulpit before prayer.
- I’ve been invited to prayer by pastors who came to our congregation with clear intent to do harm.
- I’ve been passed the Peace of God from people who brought enmity to our doors.
I was in church. I was expected to Make Nice.
It’s part of modern society to assume that what we want from people is so important that we have a right to pursue it in any setting. All we need is the ability to force our way into their thinking.
Church has one major goal: to bring people into relationship with God and his people. The relationship with God is most important. If we put the needs of the community first, with all our pet agendas, we risk intruding on relationships that we should be fostering, not milking.
We should not treat worshipers as if they are part of a captive audience. We don’t know what brought them to our door. We should make an effort to find out! Recognize that they are individuals at varying places in their faith journeys. They may not be ready to agree or support our ideas. They may not be ready to pray with us. They may be truly questioning what they hear. They may be angry or hurting and looking to make sense of things with God. Their presence is not an invitation to sell them on the next Potluck Dinner.
It’s church. We are supposed to accept whatever comes down the road and make nice—no matter what. Compliance spreads throughout church life.
One pastor once said to one of our Ambassadors, “Why don’t you people just move on?” In other words, “Hand over everything you own to us, allow us to lock you out of your faith community, don’t care, don’t stand up for what you believe, and do as you are told.”
Faith actually requires independent thinking—not group think. When we foster group think we are not fostering faith.
NO is often the right answer.
It’s hard for the worshiper to hang up on someone making an unreasonable request in the Church. It’s easier to stay home.
How do we foster independent thinking in the corporate community?