Jesus didn’t Suck!

A while back I wrote a post on the Three S’s every church needs to grow.  It was a little controversial and generated a lot of traffic.  So I thought I would expand on it some more with this post “Jesus Didn’t Suck.”

Churches tend to overspritualize some things and undersprititualze others and the “SHOW” (the Sunday worship program) at your church is one of them.   Churches many times will dismiss mediocrity by saying things like “the only thing that matters is preach the word of God” or “It’s all about the Gospel”  or “It’s the power of the Holy Spirit that changes lives.”

You know what I have to say about that?  Duh!  The gospel IS the power of salvation.  The Word (all of it) MUST be preached.  The Holy Spirit IS the agent that convicts and draws people to Christ.  We know that.

But you know what else? Jesus didn’t SUCK at his presentation (show) either.

Jesus was the master at captivating an audience with his story.  Ever seen someone fall asleep in church?  Pastor, your preaching better not SUCK!  You better not be guilty of boring people into a coma – and maybe hell because your preaching is lame.  I’m not saying tickle people’s ears or water down the truth.  On the contrary!  Preach the truth!  But preach it well!  Don’t bore people because you aren’t prepared!

“But what about Eutycus – the guy in the book of acts that fell asleep during Paul’s preaching and fell out the window and died?”  Paul had preached long -  till midnight.   Most pastors bore people in 20 minutes.  The dude fell out of a three story building while sitting in the window.  Can you pack em in like that and keep em there that long and only have one guy leave the hard way?  Then when he fell – Paul left the stage – raised him from the dead – and then proceeded with act 2 of the show till dawn!  Tell me that wasn’t a great sermon illustration!  Church wasn’t boring that day

Jesus didn’t suck when it came to using props either.  When he turned water into wine what did the master of the banquet say?  “Most people serve the best wine first and then the bad stuff when everyone is drunk – but this is the best wine EVER!” (DAV: Dave Anderson Version)  You think that wasn’t part of the “show”?  Jesus used the very best props and elements to teach people and make them believe.   What about your slide presentation?  I think its a SIN to use Clip Art.  And why are you still using Power Point 2000?  Why are you using PowerPoint at all?  When you make an announcement you can drone on and on about the ladies spaghetti supper – or you could have a video presentation of the one they did last year.  It’s not rocket science.  Put it in PowerPoint if you are stuck there and build some transitions between the slides.  At least that’s an upgrade.  But there are way better tools!

What about the stain around the toilet in the restroom?  Do you show honor to God and the guests he brings your way by giving them the equivalent of a truck stop to pee in?  Is the rest room stocked with paper products?  We are in a portable environment and bring our own paper towels, hand sanitizer, breath mints, cologne – even feminine products!   You can honor God and show people you care by doing small things.  A clean restroom can be a religious experience for people.  A dirty one will send them someplace else.

What about your kids ministry?  Do you change every diaper before the parents come get their kids?  Our Fusion Pastor has our volunteers put a sticker on their little fannies (well, on the diaper) that says “Lovingly changed by Crosspoint Church!”  Do you know what that says to a mom about how much you cared for her kid?  Jesus said its better to hang a stone around our neck and be cast into the sea than offend a little one.  How many moms or dads have we offended because of an offending odor coming from a little one’s diaper?

What kind of coffee do you serve?  Do you serve anything to people who don’t like coffee?  At Crosspoint we serve FREE Starbucks coffee and serve FREE soft drinks, bottled water and juice.  We could get away with Folgers and save money but there is a mystique about Starbucks.  We could charge for coffee and drinks but then people who don’t have extra money wouldn’t be able to have the same experience as the guy who does.  So we simply give everyone the best there is – kind of like Jesus.  Sure it cost’s money but what dollar value do you place on someone’s soul?

Look around your church sometime through the eyes of someone who has never been there and doesn’ t have a relationship with God.  Chances are they are evaluating EVERYTHING about the environment LONG before you stand and “preach the Word of God with Power and Conviction.”   The person you are trying to reach is LOOKING for an excuse to leave.  They are looking for a reason to try something else.  The devil WILL make sure they find it if he can.  Like it or not – people have consumer mindsets and nonspiritual people evaluate the church based on more factors than if you had a correct exegeses of Leviticus 16 .  Woe unto us if the gospel is not preached.  But woe unto us if we SUCK SO BAD they never hear the gospel! (By the way we had a live goat for that passage of scripture!)

Jesus NEVER sucked at ministry.  Rememeber the fish and loaves?  Jesus fed 10-15,000 people with what he had available, took up leftovers and rocked their world with his teaching.  That didn’t suck.  No one complained about how long the sermon was either or how many  points it had.  You might not have much but what are you doing with what you have?  Is it the best you can make it?  Are people getting filled and leaving your church changed?

My list of things that need to get better continues to grow.  But I am going to tackle it one thing at a time and give my Jesus and the people who come to Crosspoint the very best that I have! What is ONE thing you can improve THIS week that will help someone take a step with Jesus Christ and fall in love with him?