What would make church better?
Gourmet breakfast tacos. Stop talking about money so much. Child care during worship. Free car washes on Sundays. The list could go on, and include some creative connection points to reach people.
The Bible gives another answer about what would make church better. Different people. As in replacing you? No. As in changing you. Making you different. Better.
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1,2).
Stop driving the well worn paths of this world’s way of thinking, of prioritizing, of putting self first, of being too smart or strong to need God. Change your course! Reset your navigation app onto God’s paths. Make up your mind to be different than the world. That makes a better church.
It’ll take some work. It’ll mean you give up what your sinful self likes. That’s why the Bible calls you a “living sacrifice.” You’re not burned to a crisp like an Old Testament animal. You remain living. But you still die.
You kill your self-centered desire to choose your own way and instead choose God’s way. You put to death every day your tendency to think, act and decide like everyone else on social media. And you live for God. That’s different.
Be different for God, because he is different for you.
It was different for God to become a human in Jesus. God’s mercy treats you like you don’t deserve. He lavishes love and peace and forgiveness on you in a different way, and in different amounts than you should receive.
This will then change your worship. Make it different. Make it better. A life of worship throughout each day living for God. A church of better worship filled with people passionate about the change that God’s mercy creates in us.
A better church is not as much about offering valet parking on Sundays as it is about your life being an offering to God on Sundays and everyday.
PRAYER: Dear God, as you offer me your mercy I offer you myself—a living sacrifice seeking to be holy and pleasing to you. Help me change. To put my selfish needs to death, to live a different life and lead the world to you. Amen.
FURTHER MEDITATION: I preached about this on Sunday and would love to share more details, stories, and mercy with you. Take a minute and watch.