My pastor spends over 20-hours each week studying God’s Word in order to serve up an incredible sermon each Sunday morning. He has been trained to do the work of sermon crafting. He is an exegete of God’s Word. He has a gift for communicating God’s Word in ways that we can understand.

And, above all else, he is growing in his understanding and application of the Gospel, the most important part of any message, because it is the main point of the Bible. A portion of his Bible sermon prep is praying to God for help regarding the meaning of the text he plans to preach as well as insight on how to apply the passage to the people he brings care to throughout the week.

These are some of the reasons that make this time on Sunday morning the best Bible study of the entire week. Additionally, my pastor has been doing this for over two decades. I have never heard of a Bible study leader spending this much time and effort in the preparation of a Bible study.

Though every Christian teacher has a responsibility to teach accurately and clearly (James 3:1), none are held to the standard of a pastor (Hebrews 13:17).

God has given him the responsibility to bring guidance and care to our church and the Father will also hold our pastor accountable for how he brings care to our local church. (See Hebrews 13:17) What he does on a week to week basis is serious business. I think if the Lord of the universe was going to hold me accountable for how I cared for a group of people, like he does my pastor, then I would take it very seriously. And, in fact, he does.

This is why Lucia and I have such a high view of the Sunday sermon. We believe that our pastor has his thumb on the pulse of the church and he knows what we need. He is our shepherd and we are his sheep. If he is speaking, we want to be carefully listening to what God has directed him to say to us.

Therefore, we clear the deck so to speak, in order to make plans to be at the church meeting, and afterwards to make personal and practical application of the sermon to our lives. You can read more about how we have traditionally applied the Sunday meeting to our lives by clicking on Preparing for Game Day.

We put a lot of time in not only preparing for the Sunday sermon, but afterwards, applying the Sunday sermon to our lives throughout our week. I want to listen to the shepherd, take copious notes, talk to my bride about the sermon, listen to it again via itunes, and make very specific and practical application to our family. All this work related to the sermon preached each Sunday is one reason we don’t attend a church that preaches a sermon three times per week. I’m not that smart to process that much information. It is also why we do not commit to other Bible studies, though we have sat in on Bible studies from time to time. (I do podcast five other churches each week and listen to each of their sermons, but not with the intensity and purpose that I listen to the one at our local church.)

Other Related Posts

1. Too Many Bible Studies, Pastor. Too Many Bible Studies, 1.0
2. Too Many Bible Studies: Here’s What We Do, 2.0
3. The Best Bible Study Ever, 3.0
4. The Missing Element in Bible Studies, 4.0

Other Posts in our “Too Much” Series

1. Too Much Church, Daddy. Too Much Church
2. Too Many Bible Studies, Pastor. Too Many Bible Studies, 1.0
3. Too Much Skin, Girl. Too Much Skin 1.0
4. Too Much Production, Worship Leader. Too Much Production

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Twelve years ago a lady, who I will call Jane in this story, knocked on my office door. She was in tears. She had just finished her weekly women’s Bible study. The Bible study was good and the fellowship was nice, but my friend was in tears.

At that time I could not connect sad tears with a women’s Bible study. But she explained it by her question to me:

Would you talk to my husband?

That was it. That was all she said. I had known her and her husband for a few years. Her husband was passive, quiet, untrusting of others, and rarely engaged with God. Jane had spent a couple of hours at the church building with her lady friends watching a video of a woman teaching on some topic. She enjoyed the video teaching as well as her lady friends.

At some point during her Bible study, she began to think that there was something missing in her life and what she had perceived as good was becoming less and less satisfying. She began to see her weekly Bible study as her surrogate husband. (A surrogate is a person or thing that replaces another, while carrying a similar role and function.)

It’s not Un-biblical, but Sub-biblical

Jane began to realize that there was something inherently wrong with what she was doing. She was not saying that the women’s Bible study was unbiblical, but it was a sub-biblical context that had slowly become a replacement for her husband. Richard, her husband, was not leading his wife spiritually, particularly in the most important way that a man can and should lead his wife.

She was not “throwing the baby out with the bath water” as far as Bible studies were concerned, but God was kindly pressing into her conscience that there was a better way to get what she wanted: intimacy with God and intimacy with others.

Bible studies are not unbiblical, even though you can’t make a strong case for them from the Bible. What you can make a strong case for is studying the Bible. The various contexts for studying the Bible have morphed or changed over the years. That’s not necessarily the problem.

Some husbands have fallen asleep

The Bible does make a clear case for a husband to love, nourish, cherish, honor, serve, and lead his wife. What better way can a husband accomplish these good things than by personally discipling her into a deeper and practical relationship with the Father? I realize some husbands would try to make a case for their discipleship leadership skill through delegation. They delegate the responsibility of discipling, to varying degrees, to women’s Bible studies.

A women’s Bible study can be a supplement to your wife’s spiritual growth, just as a book, or blog post, or the other wonderful mediums we have in our culture that can serve us in our sanctification. The real issue for Jane was not the supplemental contexts that God provides as a “means of grace” to her life. The real issue for Jane was who’s responsible to guide her?

Jane’s husband was not only disconnected from what she was doing and learning, but was not providing any kind of guidance. Jane was, for the most part, pursuing God without the other half of her one-flesh union. Richard was not asking questions about what she was learning. He was not helping her apply what she was learning. Other than knowing she attended a women’s Bible study some time on Tuesday, he was unaware of what the “video teacher” was telling his wife?

Jane’s friends were more intimate with and knowledgeable of Jane’s problems than Richard was. This is why Jane was standing in my office, in tears.

Application Thoughts for the Main Men in Jane’s Life

1. Husband – what is your wife learning?
2. Husband – are you aware of what she is learning and then asking her specific and practical questions about what she is learning?
3. Husband – are you helping her apply what she is learning to her life?
4. Husband – are  you pursuing God as much or more than your wife, so you are able to lead her?
5. Husband – talk to your wife about this blog post. (Wife – if he is not reading this blog post, then send it to him and humbly appeal to him to sit and talk with you about it.)
6. Pastor – what is the point of the Bible studies provided by your local church? Do they create problems as described in this article? How do you know?
7. Pastor – what is your plan for capturing the heart of the men in your church, in order to help them lead their wives?
8. Pastor – how are you teaching these men, by your example, to lead their wives in this most important area?
9. Pastor – are your Bible studies getting in the way of drawing the husbands and wives together spiritually?
10. Pastor – what contexts do you have where the husbands and wives can study together, rather than separately, in order to give the husbands contexts to practice leading their wives spiritually?

Other Related Posts

1. Too Many Bible Studies, Pastor. Too Many Bible Studies, 1.0
2. Too Many Bible Studies: Here’s What We Do, 2.0
3. The Best Bible Study Ever, 3.0
4. The Missing Element in Bible Studies, 4.0

Other Posts in our “Too Much” Series

1. Too Much Church, Daddy. Too Much Church
2. Too Many Bible Studies, Pastor. Too Many Bible Studies, 1.0
3. Too Much Skin, Girl. Too Much Skin 1.0

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site

There are many ways, I suppose, to describe a local church as far as how they “do church.” I typically define and filter a local church through three general categories. I’m sure you have your own. Here are mine:

• The Busy Church: Functional, active, lots of stuff for people to do, but somewhat relationally dysfunctional.
• The Amazed Church: Savoring and satisfied in God, but not necessarily relational or practical.
• Gospel-Centered-Gospel-Practicing Church: Stunned by the Gospel while aggressively pursuing one another in real, specific, transparent and practical ways.

Here are my descriptions for each category, realizing that no one church strictly adheres to any one of these categories:

The Busy Church: The Doers of the Word

James 2:14: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

These are the busy Christians. They do love God and want to do things for God. They tend toward the functional aspects of Christianity as opposed to the relational aspects of Christianity: they are more about doing than relating. This type of church is a place where you can exercise your burden to minister.

The Blindside: In worse case scenarios, they can be tempted toward legalism. They would see the Gospel as the power of God for salvation, but not understand how the Gospel is also the power of God for sanctification. These Christians can be easily tempted into an obedience-motivated lifestyle.

They can blindly slack off family responsibilities in lieu of the needs of the local church. This neglect of the family creates more work for the local church. It’s a self-defeating cycle. Additionally, their countenance rarely communicates joy and they are often tired.

The Gospel is reduced to participation in scheduled meetings and ministries of the church; activities, busyness, five Bible studies; lots of doing but minimal heart change.

The Amazed Church: The Beholders of Christ

2 Corinthians 3:18: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

These are the adoring Christians. They love the wonder and bigness of God. They have a majestic awe of God and worship him deeply. Their love for him should be emulated by all Christians. They see him high and lifted up and have learned to savor him. The bottom line is that they are in love with God.

The Blindside: They can be weak on practical sanctification. It is hard to speak into their lives or bring them down to the mundane aspects of life where sanctification really takes place. Transparency is not their strong suit. Though they most certainly savor and extol God, they can be reluctant to getting down and dirty where life really happens.

Gospel Motivated People Who Have a Distinct Gospel Practice

They are stunned by the practical realities of the Gospel. Like Paul, it is easy for them to doxologize about God’s mercy to them through the Cross. Like the “Beholders of Christ, they are relentlessly pursuing and relishing in what God has done for them. They are generally happy because of the Gospel. In short, they are stunned by God’s kindness to them.

Their gospel understanding is the foundation and fuel that motivates/energizes them to work out their salvation in the fullness that God intends. They are not shy about how the Gospel is being applied or not applied to their lives: either way, they are a transparent people.

The gospel affects everything about their lives but especially how they relate to people in their church: they relate to each other on a heart level demonstrating transparency, honesty, and vulnerability. They participate in confession of sin, repentance,  and forgiveness. They build up the body. They have Biblical fellowship (fellowship is sharing with another our deepest, most intimate relationship in life and that is our experience of God himself). Ministry just happens out of a heart that is right with God.

The Blindside: They can be tempted toward self-righteousness regarding the other two groups.

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Continued from the article You Can’t Really “Go to Church” – 1.0

In addition to these things, my friend now has church clothes and non-church clothes. He is more reverent toward God in the sanctuary, but at home he treats his wife like a second-rate citizen.

The reason I know that Jesus was not betrayed on a Sunday is because Judas told his friends that he would identify the Savior for them, by betraying Him with a kiss. If it were a Sunday, the Savior would have been wearing church clothes. Because it was not on a Sunday, Jesus looked EXACTLY like his culture and therefore, had to be identified by someone who knew him. Of course, if the crowd Jesus was with were Christians, then I’m sure they all had on church clothes and therefore, would still need Judas to identify him. (only kidding)

John gives us even more insight when he says that worldliness is not in the world, but in the heart. John had his priorities right. Worldliness is in the heart NOT in our culture. Most certainly there are cultural problems, but placing a “worldliness” label on it is wrongheaded and can only lead to separation rather than engagement. The Savior and his friends engaged their culture, rather than choosing to separate from their culture.

A Better Way

I chatted with my friend tonight and I told him that it would be better to not only say “I am going to the church building to meet with you”, but to ask God to allow this kind of theological precision to transform his mind, attitude, and life.

It is theologically impossible to go to church. You are the church! You go to the church building to meet with the church. It is a church meeting. It is not a sanctuary. You are the temple of God. He is alive and he is in you, if you are a Christian. It is a bit hypocritical to attempt to show God respect by what you wear or by where you meet when you won’t be kind to one another.

The only people in the NT who wore “church clothes” were the Pharisees!

A biblical worldview for dress is more about modesty, not church clothes vs. non-church clothes. Modesty is a 24/7 issue not a Sunday morning, Sunday night or Wednesday night issue. Worshipping God is a 24/7 issue, rather than an issue that comes into focus only when we wear certain clothes or are in a certain place.

It’s a Building. You are the Church!

Because you are the temple of the living God and your brothers and sisters are also the temples of the living God, you can show reverence to them at the church meeting, as well as at Wal-Mart, or in the home and any other place in our culture.

You are no longer constrained to a building. You have been set-free! You don’t have to go to the temple to pray, as though that was the only option in God’s world. You can now worship God by loving him and others any time of the day, whether you are wearing your pajamas, your shorts, or your tux.

Honestly, I’ve found it a lot easier to have a compartmentalized God. It was far easier for me to serve God when I was a legalist than it is today. (Not to say I’m not a legalist today. I’m working on not being one. It’s progressive sanctification.) To think about him 24/7, to love him 24/7, to love others 24/7 is hard. I need the Spirit of God working in this temple of God, while I’m praying to God to be empowered by God to be like Christ.

It was far easier to go to church three times a week, wearing my church clothes.

In This Series

1. You Can’t Really “Go to Church” – 1.0
2. You Can’t Really wear “Church Clothes” - 2.0
3. Where in the World is Worldliness – 3.0

Other Related Articles

• Investigating Legalism – Pt 1
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 2
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 3
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 4
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 5
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 6
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 7

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site

My friend sent me an email today and said he would see me at church. Please understand, I am not the Word Police. Sometimes when I write posts like this, people become overly cautious about their language, particularly when talking to me. Don’t do that.

However, part of my friend’s on-going problems are tied to his worldview-shaping belief system that you can actually go to church. Unfortunately, this kind of thinking and understanding alters how he thinks about and relates to God, himself, and others.

His poor theological thinking does not happen in a vacuum. It has tentacles that reach and twist into his life in very practical, conflicting, and confusing ways. His going to church theology is most certainly not the core issue regarding his situational difficulties, but it is a red flag that gives clues to a world of skewed thinking. In addition to going to church he also has church clothes to wear to church. While inside his church he worships in a sanctuary, an Old Testament truth that has become New Testament baggage.

He Has Dichotomized Thinking Which Morphs Into a Contrived Doctrine of Separation

His legalistic-shaping worldview has created two worlds instead of one. There is the world where the religious people hang and there is the world where the non-religious people hang and the twain shall never meet. And yes, he can identify the two worlds of people by external observations, which I find quite miraculous. It takes a depth of insight that I do not possess in order to judge people externally and conclude the content and quality of their devotion or walk with God.

He can do this because he has a worldview-shaping belief that dichotomizes the secular and the sacred. You’ll see none of this in the N. T. Actually, you’ll see the Savior and others often deconstructing this religious schema. The Savior was not tripped up by the religious things he saw and heard.

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person. -The Savior, Mt. 15:8-11

A Model for Inconsistency

• My friend acts one way at church and another way in the home
• My friend dresses one way at church and another way the rest of the week
• My friend shows more respect for others while at church, but not so much during the week
• My friend thinks more about God while at church, but not as much during the week
• My friend is tempted to judge others by making external “religious” observations
• My friend has a compartmentalized “God” who receives degrees of adoration depending on the day of the week
• My friend is a legalist

In This Series

1. You Can’t Really “Go to Church” – 1.0
2. You Can’t Really wear “Church Clothes” - 2.0
3. Where in the World is Worldliness – 3.0

Other Related Articles

• Investigating Legalism – Pt 1
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 2
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 3
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 4
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 5
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 6
• Investigating Legalism – Pt 7

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site