Sunday is Not Gameday

My friends in ministry like to refer to their weekend services as, “game day.”  I can see where they are coming from.  In general, it is a pastor’s primary opportunity to speak to their entire church and to maybe reach someone who far from God.  To my pastor friends, every Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday and I admire that passion and commitment.

But this brings up the question:  What is the playing field?

For the typical church plant, Sunday is game day and church is the playing field. The rest of the week is spent trying to make Sunday great.  Trying to get people to the big show.  The people of the church will often follow the leadership and make Sunday the big day of their week too (and primary means of worship).

But I’m afraid that if we church planters (and pastors) focus all of our attention on our weekly gathering,  we’ll send the signal that it’s all about Sunday.

It’s not.  It’s about every day (including Sunday).

For years people have gone to church on Sunday, put their church face on, and then lived a completely different lifestyle the rest of the week.  The church has often fed that ugly monster by doing the same thing.  The result is a bunch of hypocrites whose lives look no different than the unchurched person next door.

But what if the church changes the signals it gave? Instead of making Sunday the big day what if we made every day the big day?  How would that affect our structures, our leadership, our budgets, our ministries?

I don’t have all the answers to those questions but I can tell you this: For Project Church, the playing field isn’t the church service, it’s the real life relationships beyond the weekly gathering.  That’s where the rubber meets the road.

Relationship with Jesus. Relationship with spouse. Relationship with kids. Relationship with friends and family. Relationship with peers. Relationship with neighbors. Relationship with the world. Relationship with one another. I could go on but you get my point.

Relationships are the playing field- not the big show.

Sunday is not game day- every day is.

Worship is a lifestyle- not an event.

We can’t just say it with our words- we need to lead it as the church.