This is a really good post.
Pastor Mark Driscoll had a really bad attendance at Mars Hill Church, a mega church in Seattle. He is a edgy young pastor, with a influential ministry. He writes on his church blog about a recent service when it snowed heavily in Seattle (you may have seen it on the news) and it affected attendance negatively….
“I preached to 80 people at the first service in a room that seats 1300, and the best attended of the four services today was about 250 people…..”
He has some pretty frank things to say… (Driscoll frank? Who would have thought!)
“Those who see it as a job are the first to call in and cancel their duties, not show up, dog it, or leave early. Those who see their service at Mars Hill as a calling go beyond the call of duty to cover for everyone else”
You can read the rest here
It’s an interesting read, and Mark Driscoll certainly says some really good things in there about honouring people who show enormous dedication for your church.
But I couldn’t help but feel the whole way through that this was a church that is defined by it’s Sunday morning service. Mark’s judgement on who his most dedicated and “hardcore of the hardcore” is based on their determination to make it to the church service – and I think that’s a dangerous trap to fall into. (This is from someone who has had about 3 Sundays in the past 5 years without a church service).
I thought similar. Calibrating the discipleship of a person by their attendance at a Sunday gathering does seem to be taking a rather narrow view.
I believe commitment to a community is an essential aspect of discipleship, but I think he misses the mark here