The Unresponsive Church Pt.1
In recent weeks we have been considering the work of church revitalisation and the nature of gospel driven change. But what happens if you faithfully minister to a church for many years, but your labours meet with little response or apparent fruit.
In our new series of posts, seasoned pastor (and long-time pastor of pastors) John Benton steers us through what unresponsiveness is, what causes it and how we can handle it if we are serving the Saviour in the local church. In this week’s instalment we handle some of the hard stuff – thinking through what unresponsiveness is and the effect it can have on pastoral ministry. In subsequent weeks we will think through how the phenomenon can be handled.
Listen to a pastor’s description of his church. They come to meeting from one Sabbath to another and hear God’s word, but all that can be said to them won’t awaken them.! He goes on: ‘They are gazing about the assembly minding this and the other person that is in it, or they are thinking about their worldly business!’
This is an example of an unresponsive church, and sadly, it could describe many churches in the UK today. They hear the preaching – but it doesn’t stir them. They are half-hearted – the preaching doesn’t really produce much fruit. Many pastors labour in such situations. What can be done about the unresponsive church? That’s what this article is about.
But before we can see what to do, we need to understand this spiritual lifelessness. How can we describe this lack of response?
First, we ought to define more clearly what we mean by an unresponsive church. Responsiveness is a matter of the heart. Probably the best way to comprehend a lack of response is to contrast it with the way our hearts, and those of our hearers, ought to be. The new covenant conversion is spoken of in terms of the heart of stone (unresponsive) being replaced by a heart of flesh (tender / responsive), Ezekiel 36.26. In the OT, King Josiah is an example of someone with a responsive heart, 2 Chronicles 34.27.
The responsive heart thirsts for God, Psalm 42.1; Psalm 84.2. The responsive heart is one that seeks God, 2 Chronicles 19.3; is fixed on God, Psalm 57.7; is joyful in God, Luke 1.47; seeks to be upright, pure and clean, Psalm 73.1; is tender, 1 Samuel 24.5; seeks to be obedient, Psalm 119.112; is awed by God’s word, Psalm 119.161. We get the idea.
The unresponsive heart
The stony heart is the opposite of this. It doesn’t seek God – it’s in church but primarily for other reasons. It is not fixed on God – it has other priorities. It is not very joyful or thankful, but tends to grumbling. It is not tender, but hard to get through to. It is not concerned about obedience – it may often say ‘good sermon pastor’ but it has been a long time since there has been any real change in the life or any embarking on a new venture of faith. It hears the word of God – but with a ‘we’ve heard it all before’ attitude.
Maybe people are in church regularly, they give their tithes because it’s the right thing to do, but the zeal and the first love for the Lord (and for others) have gone. I have painted this in quite stark terms. I have given a ‘black and white’ picture of the situation. No doubt this needs to be nuanced. I’m sure there are degrees of hardness. Perhaps we could see the lukewarm heart of the Laodicean church as ‘semi-responsive’ (Revelation 3.16) – but it doesn’t please the Lord.
So an unresponsive heart is one where the desire and excitement for God has gone and true obedience has been replaced by ‘keeping up appearances’. There is little or no real life. An unresponsive congregation is one dominated by such an attitude.
The pastor of the unresponsive church
This situation can be both tough and dangerous for a pastor. It can be tough because you feel that no matter what you do you aren’t getting anywhere. Like the pastor of the church we quoted to begin with, you feel ‘all that can be said to them won’t awaken them’. It appears you are wasting your time. You end up questioning yourself. ‘Is it me? Am I simply no good as a preacher?’ This is hard.
But it can also be dangerous because, especially if the unresponsive church is able to provide you with a nice manse and an adequate salary, it is tempting to simply give in and go along with the status quo. ‘Nothing’s going to change here – but the church will see me through until something better comes along or until I retire, so why rock the boat?’ You become lazy and careless. This doesn’t please the Lord, and it is spiritually dangerous for the pastor.
Dr Benton has graciously allowed us to share materials on this theme which originally appeared in booklet form on his Pasta Pastor website.
