A Congregation of Me

For the past week, I have been thinking a lot about the mindset of those who come to a worship service. One thing I notice many people saying during my church’s recent search for a pastor was that we needed to be unified as a church. It was not until recently that I began to think about what that meant. Our world tells us to “look out for #1”, to be an individual, to look different, think differently, and act differently than everyone else. Then, all these individuals come to church, and expect to be unified. I believe that this is having a major impact on the way churches worship.

In 1 Corinthians 1:10, Paul urges the church to have the “same mind and the same judgment.” In 1 Corinthians we see a church who is very divisive. Like so many of our churches, there is unrepentant sin, and fights and quarrels. Paul reminds this body of believers that the only reason they can have fellowship is Christ (1:9).

We come to church so often with consumer mindsets, where we are looking to be ministered to, but this is not what church is about. As Paul says in Philippians 2, another passage where he calls the church to be likeminded, we are to look to the interests of others. If we come to church seeking what I can get out of it, or how I can be ministered to the church will just be a congregation of “me” instead of a church worshiping together in their hearts to the Lord.