Are Your People Bored at Church?

Host: TJ Freeman

Summary: In this episode of Rural Church Renewal, TJ Freeman addresses the challenge of low congregation engagement in rural churches and the misconception that ministry work is solely the pastor's responsibility. He emphasizes the importance of equipping church members for ministry, as outlined in Ephesians 4, and discusses how to shift the consumeristic mindset prevalent in many congregations. TJ discusses the critical role of engaging, relevant preaching and persistent pastoral care to mobilize members for the advancement of Christ's kingdom. He also highlights the resources and training available through the Brainerd Institute for Rural Ministry to help pastors and church leaders foster a healthy, mission-focused church community. Including details on the upcoming Rural Ministry Conference on October 10-11 in Wellsboro, PA and the new Residency intensive. 

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• Website: brainerdinstitute.com
• Email: contact@brainerdinstitute.com
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Transcript

Are you growing frustrated at the fact that the people in your church don't seem to want to do anything? They wanna leave all of the work of ministry up to you, and they kinda show up for the show on Sunday morning. If you've ever felt frustrated by a lack of engagement on the part of the congregation, this episode is for you.

Well, thank you for joining us for another edition of Rural Church Renewal. My name is TJ Freeman, and like you, I'm in rural ministry. I don't know if you're the pastor, or a deacon, or a volunteer who really wants to see your church become more healthy.

I happen to be a rural pastor, and I've been giving a lot of thought about glorifying God in the middle of nowhere through the local church, and that led to me being involved with this podcast. We know that God cares about the church in places the rest of the world thinks of as the middle of nowhere, and we don't get a pass just because the people don't know the name of our town.

You know, people out there in bigger places, they've never heard of your town. They don't know you exist. You know, there's nothing big and major going on in your place. That is not a pass to think that what we're doing in our church doesn't matter as much. Maybe you don't have many resources and you're thinking, man, just because we don't have that worship team that that Fancy Pants Church has, or we don't have the kinda speaker that that church has or whatever, you know, you think it doesn't really matter.

Our church will just never be like that. God cares so much about the way your church functions because it's his glory at stake and you don't get a pass for feeling under-resourced or like your place out in the middle of nowhere doesn't matter. So you need to pay attention to what the Bible says a church should do.

And one of the responsibilities given to the leaders of the church in Ephesians four is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Scripture talks about the church like a body, and the Lord tells us that each church member is gifted by him for the building up of the body, for the advancement of Christ's kingdom. Every member in your church has a role to play because whatever God wants to do in the world, he wants to do it through all of Christ's people.

And there's some subset of Christ's people who have gathered in your church now you show up on a Sunday morning and the people seem sometimes like they're there for a show. You know, they'll stand up and kind of mumble through the singing. They'll listen sometimes while you preach. Sometimes they'll find the occasion for a nice morning nap, whatever, but they're there to primarily consume something.

And I'll bet you if you were able to go around and just get into the mind of each person in the congregation, that'd be a dangerous thing. You don't want to do that. But if you could. And you got into their mind and you were able to analyze why did they show up to church this morning? You're going to find that a large number of people come to church for something they think they're gonna consume.

I'm here because I want to get fed. I'm here because I need encouragement for another week. I'm here because I don't wanna upset someone else. So I'm going to maintain positive relationships by being here, keeping up appearances, whatever it is, I'm here for some reason. You know this, this church has a great kids ministry.

The people here are so friendly, whatever it is, and on the flip side, people don't go to churches where they don't feel that those needs are met. I wasn't greeted well. They didn't have anything for my kids. I couldn't connect with the singing. The pastor couldn't hold my attention, whatever it is. They've come with a consumeristic mindset, which is why we have the term church shopping.

That term wouldn't exist if we did not primarily approach the church as something I'm there to consume, instead of something I'm there to be a part of. And in rural communities, there's a often a long legacy of being a part of the church for some reason other than building up the body for the advancement of Christ's kingdom.

And rural people often are very involved in the church. I mean, you're gonna see them doing, you know, all the church social stuff and running out bags of garbage at the end, and a lot of service oriented kind of things. What you might struggle to see is a church that is well mobilized to go reach the community with the gospel and to care well for each other when a need arises.

And I don't mean they need the fence mended or you know, somebody to teach 'em how to make sourdough bread. When the needs of the body are real in terms of counseling, resources, whatever, spiritual care, the body often , especially in rural places, thinks that's the job of the pastor. So if somebody's having this kind of problem, I need to send 'em to the pastor.

In the same way, when the church thinks about reaching the community with the gospel, they might think, I need to bring somebody to church, but they're often going to think it's the pastor's job. I'm gonna bring that person to the pastor, or I'm gonna tell the pastor he ought to be out knocking on doors during the week, whatever. The responsibility though of the leadership according to scripture, is to mobilize the people, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to help them be well empowered.

And the primary way a pastor does that is by preaching or teaching the word of God to the people and praying. Those are the two things that in Acts six, you see the Apostles give themselves to, in a way that they refuse to break away from. They devote themselves to the ministry of the Word and to prayer.

And that is the primary role of the leaders in the church. And listen, I, this is for another episode. I have talked to so many pastors who are frustrated because they say, I'm preaching the word, and the people just don't have ears to hear it. And listen, I wanna be charitable and I, I'm not like some rockstar preacher either, but I wanna say a lot of the times our sermons are just far too boring.

They act like it's good enough to say, well, I'm communicating things just about the Bible, therefore I'm preaching the word. I'm explaining what these lines all mean. That is not what preaching is. Preaching is part of the way that you shepherd the flock of God that's among you according to one Peter five, and you actually care for that congregation in that place.

Yes, the word is sufficient, but God, in his sovereign wisdom called a local pastor and a local congregation who actually knows these people and understands the time in which they live. To communicate and apply this word of God to them. Think about the way that a sheep would come into the fold in the evening and a shepherd would know, okay, this sheep last week twisted its ankle and I need to do a little extra looking over that sheep to make sure it's getting around okay.

And that sheep over there hasn't been coming to drink and I need to check it. Maybe it's sick somehow. And that sheep over there just bit my finger yesterday and I wanna make sure that that sheep and I are okay. You know, you would do that as a shepherd. And pastorally, one of the best ways you can provide that kind of shepherding care is by preaching in a way that meets the people where they're at. That meets their actual needs.

You're not just talking about some theoretical theology in a vacuum and telling us, now I told you what the Bible means, you should go live it faithfully. You have a significant responsibility to make it engaging, not cool, not hip, not funny, not, you know, all that garbage nonsense that we see coming out of really big churches that you know, we all know are not helpful.

I don't mean you're trying to entertain them or that it's your job to make the word mean something to them. What I do mean is that you are a shepherd, called to apply this scripture in a way that actually meets the real needs of the sheep in your congregation. They will be engaged if they understand you love them, you understand them, and you're connecting with them, and you're connecting the word with their situation and their life to minister to them.

You are a minister of the gospel. Anyway, that was a little rabbit trail that was gonna be for another episode that maybe that was enough. But the point is that we have a responsibility to use the word and to use our time in prayer as a mobilization tool. I don't mean to minimize it to just a tool, but it is part of what we do with those things, is to mobilize the saints. So that they are actively engaged in the work of caring for each other, using the exact same word that you're using, applying it to each other's lives, holding each other accountable, encouraging each other, building each other up.

Developing a common interest around gospel kinds of conversations. The body's gotta be doing that. You gotta be training them to do it. And then secondly, the body's gotta be thinking we don't exist for us. We're not here so that we can come in and get something. We exist as a demonstration or display of God's glory in our region, but also from our region to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Every one of Christ's people matters. Their service to the body matters. Their engagement with the lost matters. God has called them not just to salvation, but to his service, and he's called you to mobilize them. So if you're finding people on a Sunday morning come in as consumers, realize it's not your job to complain or get frustrated about that.

That's normal American Christianity. It is your job though, to get under the hood and figure out how do I mobilize them? What can I entrust them with? How can I empower them? How can I have conversations about what they're really here for? That's the kind of shepherding your congregation needs, and they need it from you, their rural pastor.

This is not something that just takes care of itself overnight. You're gonna give the rest of your life to this kind of work, and if you come in with the wrong mindset or shooting at the wrong target, you're going to grow very frustrated and you're gonna want to quit and you're going to push too hard and they're gonna want you to quit so that they can get somebody else in there who will just do what they say.

The way to get around that. Is to be extremely patient and to be laser focused on your plan to accomplish God's plan within the congregation he's entrusted to you. Your job is to mobilize them. Your job is to show them that they're not consumers and they're not gonna understand that overnight, and they're not gonna understand that if you're not talking about it all the time.

It can't just be a one time sermon series. You know, you preach a sermon to try to correct what is going wrong in the church and think you've done something. This is a long-term shepherding play, and you're gonna need a lot of leaders around you. And those who are getting it are the ones that you should be pouring the most time into. And encourage others to be pouring into others and others, and others until every member of your church has somebody pouring into them, to mobilize them to do the work that God's called us to do.

To live in a way that demonstrates the gospel. To communicate the gospel to our neighbors, family, friends, whatever community. What did we cover today? We covered the reality that it's super normal to feel frustrated about the way people treat church more like a consumer, and also that it's not really their fault. I mean, sure, they're the ones doing it, but they just probably aren't being taught well.

Whoops, that's not their fault. That's your fault. Ah, that might be too strong. Let the Lord sort that out in your heart where blame lies. But the truth of the matter is you can't just get frustrated about it. You can't complain that you got the most stubborn congregation in the world or whatever. God's put you there to unlock those people.

So that they are mobilized and you're gonna have to figure 'em out and no one's gonna tell you what to do and you're gonna need some leaders around you and you're gonna have to be patient and do it for a really long time. How's that for encouragement? Well, if you wanna see renew renewal in your rural church, these are the kinds of things you need to be about, and it's maybe a little bit different pastoral or church leadership picture than what you've thought of before.

But your job is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. It's the saints you've been entrusted, not the saints you wish you were entrusted, and the Lord is with you. He's gonna help you do it. So go out, give that a try. Come up with a little bit of a strategy for how you might figure out how your church needs to be mobilized.

Not just so that you can enjoy a Sunday morning where you feel like everyone's involved, but so that your church is truly renewed, and healthy, and going out and making Christ known. Thanks for listening. This has been an episode of Rural Church Renewal, a ministry of the Brainerd Institute for Rural Ministry.

I wanna see a healthy rural church in every county that is rural. A little redundant there. But, there's like 3,100 plus counties in the US. Vast majority are rural. What if we saw a healthy church in every single one of those counties, taking responsibility to ensure that the gospel goes forth to every man, woman, and child in that county?

Man, that would just be a wonderful spread of the saturation of God's glory through the local church, and I've been talking to a number of you. I've thrown out my email address, tj@brainerdinstitute.com. A number of you have reached out. Some have said, how can I get something started in my area?

Others have said, do you have resources? We want to help serve you. That is why we are here. If you would just reach out, tj@brainerdinstitute.com. I'd love to get connected. Also, just two quickies. Number one. Rural Church conference in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, October 10th and 11th. Really excited to talk about how to make the glory of Christ known in the middle of nowhere together.

I would love to have you join us from wherever you're at. If you have questions about that, feel free to reach out. Secondly, if you would like us to help train men in your church, we would like to do it in one of two ways. Number one, you can send them to us for a year. We will pour everything we got into helping equip them to be really faithful ministers of the gospel, whether they're just a lay elder.

I don't mean just as something minimized, whether they're a lay elder, or they become a pastor, just a really good church member. We want to equip men to be healthy leaders in rural churches. Second way is, if you wanna send them to us for a couple of weeks, we'll run 'em through an intensive, we'll send them back to you, but we'll mentor them and put 'em in a cohort with other guys who are receiving the same training.

And they'll do the training, but they'll do it right in your church, onsite, working with us from afar, you locally, and then we'll bring 'em back once a quarter so that they can sit under another intensive. Super good theological intensivess under doctorate trained guys. Way smarter than me.

And we'll just keep working together for that year and hopefully equip them the same way, but in a decentralized format instead of you having to send them here for the full time. I would love to talk to you more about our residency. There are answers to some of your questions over at brainerdinstitute.com.

You can head on over there and if you are interested yourself in being trained for ministry, I would really love to talk to you. We are praying for six slots to be filled for this fall. A number of them are filled. I understand they're feeling quickly, but we would still really love to talk to you and see if we could get you added to the class for this fall.

That's all I got. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on Rural Church Renewal.