2nd Opinion: Faith Fuel

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What do you expect to get out of going to church?

Some people go to church looking for a therapy session. Some want a concert, while others go to church seeking affirmation of their own wretchedness. Still others go to church seeking a weekly spiritual rush.

mark wingfield130Mark WingfieldA member of our church told me about a coworker of his who attends a church for the latter reasons. Every Monday morning, she comes to work talking about how uplifting church was the day before, about how good she felt and how pumped up she was.

But when a crisis hit her family, this coworker found she had no spiritual resources on which to draw. Away from the adrenaline rush of Sunday mornings, she discovered a void. Her regular diet of sugary sweet spirituality lacked any enduring nourishment.

Herein lies a gaping hole in the church-growth mentality that has swept American Protestantism in the last 40 years: When church becomes only about meeting our immediate felt needs, churches fill a room without filling the hearts and minds of anyone.

Something meaningful

Going to church should be enjoyable, for sure, but it also requires work on our part as worshippers if we want to carry something meaningful into the week.

Faith that endures is not built only on singing sweet love songs to Jesus or experiencing a euphoric high in worship. And neither is it built on memorizing Bible trivia or drilling down deep into the minute meaning of every iota of Scripture.

These all are positive, but they’re not sufficient fuel for faithful living.


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Purpose and passion

God wants us to engage our full selves in worship, to soak in the music and teaching and community with purpose and passion.

Faith that endures comes by hiding the word of God in our hearts and being challenged to think critically about what that word says.

What are you looking for at church? And what will you carry away that will sustain you through the week ahead? 

–Mark Wingfield is associate pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas.


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