Is Your Church Inwardly Focused?

Dr. Thom Rainer wrote an excellent book on what it means to be a church member from a biblical perspective. In chapter three Dr. Rainer gives a list of ten dominant behaviors that are consistently seen in churches who are inwardly focused. As I read through this list I was reminded of how easy it is to allow tradition and preferences to keep us from making an impact on the culture in which we live. I would like to share this list and I hope you will prayerfully consider if these attitudes are prevalent in your life.

1. Worship wars. One or more factions in the church want the music just the way they like it. Any deviation is met with anger and demands for change. The order of service must remain constant. Certain instrumentation is required and others are prohibited.
2. Prolonged minutia meetings. The church spends an inordinate amount of time in different meetings. Most of the meetings deal with the most inconsequential items, while the Great Commission and Great Commandment are rarely topics of discussion. 
3. Facility focus. The church facilities develop iconic status. One of the highest priorities in the church is the protection and preservation of rooms, furniture, and other visible parts of the church buildings and grounds.
4. Program driven. Every church has programs even if they don't admit it. When we start to doing a ministry a certain way, it takes on programmatic status, The problem becomes an end instead of a means to greater ministry.
5. Inward focused budget. A disproportionate share of the budget is used to meet the needs and comforts of the members instead of reaching beyond the walls of the church.
6. Inordinate demands for pastoral care. All church members deserve care and concern, especially in times of need and crisis. Problems develop, however, when church members have unreasonable expectations for even minor matters. Some members expect the pastoral staff to visit them regularly because they have membership status.
7. Attitudes of entitlement. This issue could be a catch-all for many of the points named here. The overarching attitude is one of demanding and having a sense of deserving special treatment.
8. Greater concern about change than the gospel. Almost any noticeable changes in the church evoke the ire of many; but those same passions are not evident about participating in the work of the gospel to change lives.
9. Anger and hostility. Members are consistently angry. They regularly express hostility toward the church staff and other members.
10. Evangelistic apathy. Very few members share their faith on a regular basis. More are concerned about their own needs rather than the greatest eternal needs of the world and comment in which they live.

Let us use this checklist to constantly evaluate our motives and actions to make sure that we stay focused on the task on expanding the Kingdom of God.

I am so thankful to Dr. Rainer of Lifeway for writing this simple but powerful book that reminds us of what it really means to be a member of the Lord's church. I also want to thank Micah Fries for his blog post that reminded me of this list.