Too Much Church?
Trey Graham, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Melissa, Texas has a nice post in the opinion section of the Dallas Morning News. In it, he poses the question how much church is enough?–arguing that when Christians spend too much time in the bubble of Christianity, they neglect the great commission.
One of the greatest obstacles to living out “go and tell” is the tendency for Christians to spend all their time inside the physical walls of the church or inside the social walls of the Christian community. In my sermons, I call this temptation “living inside the bubble.” If Christ-followers only live inside the bubble, how will people outside the faith ever hear about Jesus?
I think Trey’s article is a fair and well-balanced admonishment, especially for those trapped in what Jonathan Leeman describes as the counterfeit gospel of formalism.
After some thought, what really strikes my curiosity is whether or not this is a uniquely American phenomenon. For those of you overseas, does Trey’s article apply to believers in your continent?
For those of you in the US, how often (per week) do you attend church services or functions? How do you find a balance between corporate worship, fellowship, evangelism, and service?
Maybe I should cut down to 2 potlucks a week.