VIEW FROM THE PEW: Where We Are At

Today, churches have changed very little from 50 years ago, while life for most people is completely different. Most people work in offices or shopping centers interacting with other people all day long. They are also spending more time at social events during the middle of the week.

By the time Sunday rolls around, many people would rather spend time at home watching television with their own family and a few friends than at church with many other families that are more often acquaintances than true friends. Some people would rather be participating in a sporting event than sitting in a church listening to a sermon they have heard many times before. Others would rather attend a sporting event or an amusement park.

Television shows are scripted, directed, edited, and produced to appeal to a specific target audience. The Sunday morning service in most of the churches today consists primarily of live music and one pastor who talks for thirty to forty five minutes and who is rarely able to keep the attention of an audience that has become accustomed to targeted bullet point presentations.

There are books, and tapes, and movies, and television programs, and radio shows that effectively teach the word of God. Only the most gifted of pastors are able to craft a sermon anywhere near as interesting or as informative as these other mediums. Many of the people sitting in the church seats are as knowledgeable about most Bible topics as the pastor.