Pastor John MacArthur wrote a very interesting article about the epidemic of “seeker-friendly” services in Pulpit magazine today. He starts by explaining the dangers of having such services and the reason why they are dangerous. He explains that a non-functioning, non-participating member can be detrimental to a church.

Scripture teaches us that the church is to act as one body. 1 Corinthians 12 is very clear in teaching us of the unity and contribution each member has:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

1 Corinthians 12:12-20

If you read through all of chapter 12, you will notice how Paul explains that the church is meant to act as one unit. Having some not function, with something just as minor as a toe can have a huge effect on the whole body. John MacArthur writes a wonderful analogy on this:

I can’t read that verse without thinking of Dizzy Dean. He was a Hall-of-Fame baseball pitcher, whose career peaked in the 1930s. His 1934 season has never been excelled by any pitcher in history. Dean won thirty games that year, a feat that hasn’t been repeated since (though Dizzy himself came close, winning 28 games the following year). But in the 1937 All-Star game, he took a hard line drive off his toe, and the toe was broken. It should not have been a career-ending injury, but Dean was rushed back into the lineup before the fracture was completely healed, and he pitched several games favoring the sore toe. That led to an unnatural delivery that seriously injured his pitching arm. The arm never fully recovered. Dizzy Dean’s major-league career was essentially over in four years.

Something similar happens in any church where there are non-functioning members. The active members of the body become overextended, and the effectiveness of the whole body suffers greatly. Even the most insignificant member, like a toe, is designed to play a vital role.

I really enjoyed reading this article and it has convicted me in my love for the church. Do I simply become a spectator during church services? What does it mean to worship God? Too often, churches today, are trying to entertain it’s congregation with music, with dynamic sermons, and hollywood-like drama programs. Where has God gone in the midst of this? Is God the center of our worship, or are we worshiping the tools of the service? And if God is the center of our worship, how can we not but be involved in our worship. Can I truely say I worship God if I just sit back and soak things in?

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

-James 1:22-25

I sincerely pray to God that I would be an active member in the church for the love of my Father’s glory and his great namesake. I also hope in Christ that my church would function as one body and one unit.