Some Sundays Are Better Than Others
Most of the times pastors write about how pumped up they are about Sunday and how this week’s service was the best ever. While Compass Point has been having some really great services recently and every week there is a new attendance records…this week was not one of them. We dealt with a BUNCH of technical problems today (mainly sound…which is always a problem in a gymnasium) and attendance was pretty ugly. To top it off I wasn’t really “on” today…the sermon was pretty weak in my opinion. In essence it wasn’t one of our better Sundays at Compass Point.
Not too long ago a day like today would have Denise hiding the sharp objects around the house. These days I don’t sweat it too much when we have less than great days…because days like today are not all that common any more. Most Sundays are good…some great…a few fair…rarely are they bad…today was fair. It’s not that it doesn’t still bother me…it does…it just doesn’t drive me insane like it use to. I’ve come to realize some things going into my fourth year of this thing called church planting:
1. I know my church and my town. Compass Point and Lakeland is not like anywhere else in the world. I was reading some other pastor’s blog this week and they were excited because Mother’s Day is a big day for them…not Compass Point. Traditionally Mother’s Day has been a low attendance Sunday…mainly because people in Lakeland head out-of-town for Mother’s Day. Attendance will be back up next week…I can say that because I know the community, the church…and we keep pretty good records.
2. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Church planting is not a sprint…quick out of the gate and quick to the finish line. It’s a marathon where you have to pace yourself and take in every separate stage of the race. This week didn’t go so hot…last week did…next week is coming…and it will be better. When a bad service occurs…sleep on it…meet about it…rattle somebody’s cage when needed…compliment when needed…be realistic with your assessment…and try to do better next week.
3. It’s never as bad as you think it is. I learned back in my comedy days that my perception…is not what other people necessarily see. There have been some pretty bad days at Compass Point…and pretty bad sermons…and folks will still send emails saying how great the service was. I guess what I’m saying is that I’m my own worst critic…while I know where we dropped the ball…and want to make we don’t drop it again…the folks sitting in the seats don’t always pick up on it.
4. We don’t need to hit a home run each time at bat. There are a BUNCH of perfect churches with perfect “Ken and Barbie” pastors here in Lakeland. One of the things that actually draws people to Compass Point…is the imperfection. Other church pastors I know would freak out over the imperfections we let slide. We know our people…we know Lakeland…we know what disconnected people in this community are drawn to. It’s not perfection…high tech…or excellence. While it is never an excuse for mediocrity…some days our “dropped balls” reach more people for Christ…than the days when everything goes according to plan.
5. Safety only comes in never taking risks. Some of what we dropped the ball on today was experimental stuff. We experimented with our projector and speaker placement…it didn’t really go over well. We also used a lot of video today…something we don’t normally do…it went over pretty good. I tried to color outside the lines a little with my sermon…it felt unprepared and too off-the-cuff. However, we learned a TON today…and it is helping us take the next steps in our journey. Basically some of what happened today was because we took some risks. The day we stop dropping the ball on Sunday is the day we stop taking risks. The day we stop taking risks is the day…I quit and sell insurance. 
In conclusion…if you had a bad day at church today…go home…take a nap…enjoy your family…and let it go. Fix what you can fix…ignore what you can’t…and take comfort in knowing next week you get another shot at it!!!
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great post friend.
thanks dude. huge encouragement to a crappy day.
Chris, I’ve got a lot to spill after reading your post, some of it applies, some of it’s just what has been on my heart lately….
God is going to build his Church not because the projector runs smoothly, not because the Pastor has it all together, not because you have the best guitar slinger, not because production is on it’s “A” game, the lighting scheme is perfect. God is going to build his Church because a broken humble man LEAVES HIMSELF and preaches the BIBLE unashamedly under the conviction and power of the Holy Spirit.
The Church is not a game. It’s not something WE should measure. Let Jesus do the math.
Our Youth Pastor preached today. He’s a guy I really like and I agreed with the most of his message. BUT, he got on a jag about how the Church and “Christians” have turned SO many people away from Jesus. This segment of course got a whole lot of AMENS.
That makes a dangerous and MAJOR assumption that which is that the Church today actually represents Jesus Christ in the first place. Before anyone thinks I’m about to go on some kind of emergent rant hear me out. I believe MOST of todays Churches, at least the fastest growing ones, are bent towards evangelism. A whole lot of those aren’t actually pastored as evangelists serve the role of Pastor. Here are the two main things so many new mainline churches have in common… that everyone else in Christendom is scrambling to keep up with…
1) The structure is flawed. People aren’t being rooted in the word, trained to become evangelists themselves. Instead they come to church for “life change” much like lost souls go to motivational seminars for “life change”. Now the “pastor” is who we are supposed to bring our friends and neighbors to hear because he has some supposed “super gifting”. Usually, to be blunt, this means he has a super cool hairstyle, and excellent talent for speaking and puts people turned off by “stomping” frothing at the mouth preachers at ease. On top of that he is usually VERY YOUNG and so are his elders and he planted the church himself so if you question anything you are set outside the ring or turned away completely as there is an implied sense of “ownership” that is implied.
2) The Gospel message IS NOT the Gospel message. Sin is a taboo subject. Repentance or the concept of it and our fleshly rottenness is, as a concept, often completely mothballed. As much as 80% of the attendees/members believe they are “saved” because they “said a prayer”. Their doubt is pacified by routine opportunities to serve in social justice projects or on a parking team or something in which by doing good works they find security or at least temporary fulfillment. That’s basically the message I hear from a lot of people in the emergent/emerging corner, “Christians are failing the culture because we don’t INFLUENCE THE CULTURE by “behaving” like Jesus.
I contend that many/most people in church today ARE NOT CHRISTIANS thus NOT filled with the HOLY SPIRIT. I used to have a difficult with the parts of the Bible that dealt with the last days and a GREAT falling away… How could that be? Would God take away his gift of salvation… no, now I get it. The GREAT falling away is made up of the false shepherds and false sheep.
I’m heart broken. The CHURCH itself needs to be evangelized, then it needs to be Discipled.
The Church isn’t representing Jesus Christ… but not because we are out of touch with culture… we are out of touch with God’s Word and having it proclaimed with the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT.
I appreciate your Heart Chris.
I’m done.
your #4 is a helpful perspective. I heard it put differently by a pastor once who likened sermons to a meal. they don’t have to be memorable to be nutritious. Glad to see you’re not enslaved to perfection. Excellence comes with doing a good job over a long period of time; in other words, faithfulness. We long to hear, from Jesus, “well done, good and faithful servant;” not, ‘excellent job, wonderful, incredible pastor.’
hey Chris!
I was shocked to read this post, because my mom told me yesterday that she was really impacted (and she doesn’t always share what she thinks about Sunday services)
She went on about how your sermon grabbed her hard and how she is applying it in her own life.
As an artist, I share your feelings about being your own worst critic. People tell me how awesome my work is, when all I can see are the mistakes.
As a fellow minister, my experience has been that more people have been impacted by what I would consider a “fair” delivery. How ironic.
Anyway, be encouraged, my parents are really impacted by your church and tell me often about how much richer and beautiful thier lives are becoming.
Thanks, Chris. You are an incredible encouragement to me. I appreciate your authenticity and straightforwardness. I’m printing this post off so I can read it every Monday… especially after those “bad” Sundays.
true.
good stuff.
….as did we.
thanks for the insight.
Chris thanks for the honesty, it makes me feel better about our ministry. Last week, I was editing my message to post on line and thought, “this sucks why would anyone want to hear this?” It definatley wasn’t “on”. I grew up in Lakeland (scott lake baptist in the south, and worked as youth pastor at turning point near mulberry. Live in Jacksonville now youth pastoring/college pastoring. There are Ken and Barbie pastors everywhere that just can’t be honest.
Dude, if you are ever in Jax, please call me I would love to buy you some Starbucks or lunch to talk with you about your journey. Kevin kevinsoffice@aol.com
Church is a community. So there are never bad days. we can only have bad performances but friends are together for the long haul.
Good insights here, just don’t be a Ken and Barbie pastor.
Great stuff Chris. I wonder if you really know that I’m an old buddy from the past LOL
Remember Christian life tapes and books?
Because what you do is an act of love and not a preformance, I’m sure that you ministered greatly to those who came. Thanks for the insights once again.