Is Church Worth Your Time? In a recent post I looked at why Boomers are leaving the church. The truth is, it’s not just Boomers who are leaving. People from all ages are leaving the church for many of the reasons I mentioned in that post.

The Church is Losing Credibility

Have you noticed? The church is rapidly losing credibility. You can’t go a day without reading something negative about a church or a pastor in your newsfeed. It makes for good click bait… let’s look at what these hypocrites are doing now.

But who can blame them? The church is offering up soft balls for the media to hit out of the park, too hard to resist. Just this week the Pope apologized to Canadian Natives for past abuses. I have to admit that I’m not very happy with the church at large, right now. It’s offering people too many reasons to walk away or stay away in the first place.

It wasn’t too long ago that ministers were considered one of the most respected professions in America. In fact, evangelist Billy Graham was near the top of the “most respected people” list for six decades. But in the most recent poll, only 55% of people respect ministers, below garbage collectors (74%) but still above (so far) reality stars and politicians, both coming in at 41%.

Hard Questions About the Church

One has to ask the hard questions:

Is the church still relevant?

Does it still have a role in our culture?

And most practically: is it worth my time?

The quick answer is: it depends. Some churches are unhealthy: steeped in politics and legalism. Others are just plain boring, offering nothing more than reruns from past decades. So, no… these churches aren’t worth your time. In fact, I’d consider some of them to be toxic, literally hazardous to your health.

But there are good churches out there worthy of your time with hard-working pastors worthy of your respect. What do these churches look like?

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Churches That Are Worthy of Your Time

Following are some of the qualities that I think make for a church worthy of your time. They are places where you can:

learn about God and how you can know him.
worship God in a community of fellow believers.
find God’s healing from past emotional and relational hurts.
be accepted unconditionally no matter what your story is.
let God shape your character to love, forgive, and be generous like God.
engage in a community and be accountable to them to live the life of faith.
find opportunities to serve others and make a positive impact in the world.
follow leaders who model the humility and servanthood of Jesus.

No Church Does It All

Now, to be honest, it’s hard to find a church that does all of this well. As a result, you find churches that end up specializing in different facets. For example, some churches are known as “seeker” churches that help people connect with God. There are churches that specialize in inner healing and other churches that are driven to serve their community in practical ways.

We shouldn’t judge these churches (as some do) as inadequate just because they don’t do it all. It’s just hard to cover all the bases well. And we shouldn’t judge people who change churches based on their stage of faith. I don’t see this as “church shopping” out of shallowness, rather they’ve “aged out” of their churches’ specialty and need to move to the next level. Everyone is different and everyone needs to find their place in the church that’s right for them.

The Bottomline Church Test

One of my bottomline tests for whether or not a church is worth my time has nothing to do with their preaching or programs. It has to do with their love quotient. Jesus said,

Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34

If love isn’t the output that comes from a church then it’s not worth your time and really shouldn’t exist. It’s sending the wrong message to the world. One of the greatest roles of the church is to show the world who God is and what the kingdom of God looks like. I don’t see a lot of that happening right now.

The Role of the Church

People are lonely today. People are hurting. People are looking for how to authentically be a better person and live a better life. Many of them would love to know God, improve their relationships, and become generous people helping others. But life keeps getting in the way. This is where the church can play such a vital role. We have what people need. So, let’s give them that.

Looking For A Second Reformation

My hope for the church is that it will go through a Second Reformation: that is, it will shake off the foolishness that it’s become known for and rediscover its calling. I want people to say of the church what they said of the early disciples:

…they marveled and took note that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

Note: I’ll be taking the month of August off and return to my writing after Labor Day.

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