Weight-loss for Churches

OK, I’m just going to say it as it is…in too many cases: Church life can become obese and ineffective. Unfortunately, there's enough churches stuck in self-seeking worship, with “outreach” more inward. But, I’ve also crossed paths with those who want to change and “lose weight” so that life for their churches can have more meaning and agility to the future. My experience has been that watching my weight is not necessarily all about throwing out everything that’s “good” to me. Rather, trimming the fat and getting in better shape has a lot to do with“exercising” margin and moderation. The same is true for overweight churches. Here are some suggestions. I’ll start with a couple and save the others for the next blog entry:

Enjoy community without becoming exclusive.
The idea is to get attached to healthy relationships for your life. And, some of the best friendships can be found in a church community setting; however, the tendency is to become possessive. When this happens, the church reflects a club-like, membership mentality. Appreciate the community with the heart to always invite and involve others into the family of God. That's good "exercise."


Expect to be fed for the right reason.
Being "fed" is meant to propel us unto good works. The pressure falls to the teacher/preacher for effective corporate communication. The responsibility lies with the hearer to allow application to be found. When we come to church expecting "spiritual food" so that we can feel better about ourselves as we leave, we have missed it and will fall into an attitude of critique on every sermon. The challenge is to become more like Christ, and good Bible teaching gives us that opportunity as we are open to life application. That's good eatin' that leads to good livin'!