Maybe you’ve experienced it – you walk into church and realize that you don’t really know anyone. It’s not your first visit, but it might as well be. Church is supposed to be a place where people come together in the family of Christ, and develop real authentic relationships with one another. But sometimes it’s just the opposite.
Slow Church author Chris Smith shares about how today’s church got to the point of isolation and efficiency that we are familiar with today, and how that hurts our faith. He also helps us to discover how we can repair what’s broken in our own churches and get back to a true sense of strong community in the church.
Attitude
Part of what influences church-goers today is the style of any given church service. Traditional or contemporary services, start times, and the length of the sermon all play into a persons decision to attend or not attend s specific church. While these can appear to be important factors, this is a very self-centered view of church-going. Christ Smith challenges us to look at how we can participate in a time set aside for God. We want to meet with Him on this holy day and not be distracted by the many details of life.
Service Style
When people ask about church, how do we describe it? Is it a place where we go to listen to the latest contemporary Christian worship songs, watch a short well-made video about a topic the pastor has selected, and hear a brief and easily applicable sermon? Is it a place where we go to be with the extended family of Christ, to share each other’s burdens and to worship God collectively? Is it something else entirely? If you leave church talking about something other than God, you might need to slow church down a little.
