How do you like your eggs?
Scrambled, fried, over-easy, hard-boiled, in an omelet, with cheese, with salsa, etc?
What if all the eggs you ever ate where the exact same? What if the cook at your favorite breakfast restaurant only knew how to make one kind of egg?
In the same way, I don’t think it’s a good idea for a church to put all their eggs in the Sunday morning basket.
Is this an odd statement to hear from a worship pastor? One whose primary task is often the Sunday morning gathering?
Perhaps.
But, as I continue to grow in my understanding of church, discipleship, and people, I’ve come to believe this is something we can’t miss.
Why?
Here are 5 reasons:
1)Church is to be the church everyday, not just on Sunday morning. When we start thinking of church as a place or service on Sunday, we are on a dangerous road that typically doesn’t end in developing mature disciples. Remember the early church? Remember what they did? They met in large groups, but they also meet throughout the week in smaller groups. Both venues played a role in building faith and disciples in the early days.
2)It’s not possible to do everything in a 60-90 minute time span. No matter which philosophy you ascribe to, there are basic things that the body of Christ should be doing. Then, depending on your traditions and priorities, there are a number of second-tier things, too. It’s just not feasible or effective to do it all on a Sunday morning. When we try to do everything, we end up doing nothing well. Factor in time constraints, and it gets even harder. You might want to check out what my friend, Fred McKinnon, wrote as he asked the question How Much Can We Squeeze in on a Sunday Morning?
3)It’s just not possible to minister to every spiritual level in one setting. This is somewhat related to the reason above. Hopefully, your church has people at different levels of spiritual maturity attending. When digging into the truth of God, some need a garden trowel. Some need a shovel. And some need a backhoe to get into the truth. It’s not possible to teach well to all of those levels at the same time. We need more options and gatherings to meet people where they are and help them to grow. (And without necessarily expecting everyone to show up to everything.)
4)The reality is that not everyone will be there at the same time. If you’re counting on that, people will be missed and miss out on what’s happening.
5)Some things can be done well in a service setting. Others, not so much. Musical worship, vision-casting, corporate identity, community, and teaching are things that can be done well in a large gathering. However, things like deeper discipleship, relationship building, and evangelism aren’t done as well.
Without a doubt, the corporate gathering should be one part of the greater community and discipleship strategy. As a worship pastor, I will serve my church better as I broaden my view and stop seeing Sunday morning as the most important expression of church life. Or feel the need to compete with other ministries for focus and resources.
Is Sunday morning important? Absolutely. I don’t believe a church can fulfill all she is intended to be without this important aspect. But it can’t be the only thing we are investing in and driving people to be part of.
If I only invested in making scrambled eggs, I would eventually get bored. I would miss out on omelets, hard-boiled eggs, over-easy eggs, eggs in baked goods, etc.
Let’s make sure we are spreading our eggs around so that every aspect of our ministry is a part of the action.
How does this work at your church? Will you leave a comment below?
Great stuff…I think the biggest reason we can put all our eggs into the Sunday basket is because that’s never what Sunday was meant to be, even in the early church. The church is the church when we live out what we learn, hear, and sing on Sunday. If we put all our eggs in the Sunday basket, we’ve missed the point of the Sunday basket.
Benjer, thanks so much for stopping by and the insight. You hit it on the head. How is this playing out in the church you are a part of?
Our biggest avenue for this is our small group ministry…for three years, we’ve pushed and pushed and pushed small groups (even clearing out competing programs, such as adult Sunday school), and we’re at just about at 50% participation or so. Still a bit to go, but it’s really changed the culture of our church from what I know (I’ve only been there two years). The cool part is that we are very clear, the groups aren’t just Bible studies; groups are expected to serve with one another, whether within or outside the church walls. Some of the coolest stories that we celebrate at our church have to do with a group taking up a cause and “being the church” outside of Sunday “business hours.” Often times, these groups meet needs or reach people we never would have heard of as an organization otherwise. Groups are certainly not the only way to do it, but it’s made a huge difference for us.
Thanks for the insight. I don’t think it’s by coincidence that your groups are playing such a huge role. I think they are one of the best investment a church can make.