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25 Responses to “10 Easy Ways to Make Your Church Services More Boring”

1. Anne Jackson
   September 8th, 2005 at 11:25 am

   

   I think all of those are good, but at the same time we have gone over significanly and occaisionally in our worship services. Sometims the music needs to last longer for reflection or celebration. Once we used a NOOMA video which was compltely fitting so we went over in time there, too. How long should a service be?

   As long as it’s good.

2. Todd Ramsey
   September 8th, 2005 at 11:43 am

   

   Tony,

   Do 45-minute sermons build character in adults too? I sure hope so!

   Todd

3. Sarge
   September 8th, 2005 at 12:06 pm

   

   Great post Tony! Linking to it.

4. Brenton Balvin
   September 8th, 2005 at 12:41 pm

   

   Right on Tony. I had to copy that one. Thanks.

5. Johnny
   September 8th, 2005 at 1:15 pm

   

   #11 - Always slightly sway and close your eyes when leading worship songs. Who cares if the crowd is with you are not. “Go deeper” and “press in” without them.

   The swaying and closed eyes should help everyone understand that taking a nap is ok for them to do at this point…

   Great stuff, Tony. I’m going to link to it right now.

6. Ben
   September 8th, 2005 at 1:29 pm

   

   It’s easy to get into the same song rut. Too bad there aren’t more worship songwriters that are writing singable stuff like Chris Tomlin. Poor guy’s music is now on a list for boring church services. And this is because he writes great music that churches love to sing!

   He does have more than one or two songs out there. Good post Tony.

7. robKELLY
   September 8th, 2005 at 8:22 pm

   

   Tomatoes

   When I was 10, my friend and I borrowed a couple of tomatoes from my neighbors garden, had a feast, and became very sick! It was a bad experience and it kept me away from tomatoes from that day forward.

8. Tony Morgan
   September 8th, 2005 at 10:29 pm

   

   Ben, just to clarify, I love Chris Tomlin’s music. I just don’t love the same song every week. I love “Brick House” by the Commodores as well, but there’s only so many times you can “shake it down, shake it down, shake it down, now” before you can’t shake it no more.

   Tony

   P.S. — I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I used to dream of being the next Lionel Richie.

9. Gerry
   September 8th, 2005 at 11:13 pm

   

   Well, you are as Easy as Sunday Morning….to read.

10. Tony Morgan
    September 8th, 2005 at 11:30 pm

    

    Gerry…you bring me up when I’m down… Thanks man.

11. Mark Batterson
    September 9th, 2005 at 7:11 am

    

    Tony,

    Keep it coming! I had a thought a few weeks ago: boring is boring! I think it was Soren Kierkegaard who said that boredom is the unpardonable sin :) That’s my paraphrase. There won’t be an ounce of boredom in Heaven. There shouldn’t be an ounce of boredom in our churches.

    Blog on.

    Mark Batterson
    Lead Pastor
    http://www.theaterchurch.com

12. LB
    September 9th, 2005 at 10:53 am

    

    1. Don’t worry about when you finish. I’m sure no one has plans after the service.

    “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”
    I’m not saying that you should abide by the Jewish law of not working, but if someone can’t set aside a significant amount of time for worship, then I wonder what they’re bothering to be a member of the body of Christ at all.

    2. Straight Scriptures. No stories. Jesus didn’t teach that way, but you’re a better communicator than Jesus, right?

    “The Word of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

    Please don’t downplay the Word. Jesus’ parables are not the only things we have in the Bible. If we don’t want to read the Word of God in church, where would we read it?

    3. Television. Movies. It’s just a phase. People don’t really need visual stimulation. They prefer talking heads.

    We watch TV and Movies all week, we do need to go to a place where we’re not bombarded by wordly images. I don’t know if I’ve ever realized the immensity of God while watching TV.

    4. Use the same service order…every week…no exceptions…ever.

    I find it funny that we allow other religions their rituals and almost praise them for it, but Christians need variety every week.

    5. Make more announcements.

    This one I agree with. I think announcements interfere with the sacredness of worship. Sometimes it’s a necessary evil, sometimes it’s overdone. Let people read their bulletins.

    6. Encourage your elementary school kids to sit through your services. They love lively 45-minute sermons. It’s good for them. It builds character.

    I think 45 minute sermons (talk about boring…) are unnecessary first of all, but if kids aren’t in church from the time they are in utero, when do they learn how to worship? Families need to worship together, it’s part of the nurturing process.

    7. Talk more about the past and the less about the future.

    The future of what? Though I guess if we talked less about the past, we really could get rid of Scripture.

    8. Play the same Chris Tomlin song every week. And, try the chorus one more time.

    That is boring. There is something to be said for ritual, but we do need to use the creative gifts we’ve been given to bring new offerings.

    9. Use lots of big words that no one uses in normal, everyday life.

    I think there are people that use big words in everyday life. I do. Everywhere else the world is dumbing down in order to appeal to our most base level. Can’t we be edified in church? It’s insulting to the ones who do understand “big words” and insulting to the ones that we seem to believe can’t learn them.

    10. Forget relevant topics and life application. People are really only interested in hearing what you think, not why it matters to them.

    If you’re preaching from Scripture, it should have nothing to do with what anyone thinks or feels. Doctrine isn’t what a pastor ‘thinks’, it’s what is found in the Word.

    It might seem that I’m being flippant, but seeing this really made me sad. I don’t want our worship to be staid and stale anymore than anyone else, but I wish we’d stop worrying about appealing to our fleshly desires.

13. Ben
    September 9th, 2005 at 11:34 am

    

    Sheesh! And I thought my Chris Tomlin comment might be percieved as an argument.

    Tony, thanks for the clarification. I knew you didn’t mean that Chris Tomlin’s music was no good for the church anymore. I think your clarification took care of any misinterpretation.

    As long as the music leaves me “Dancing on the Ceiling” I’m fine with it.

14. Lewis
    September 9th, 2005 at 1:11 pm

    

    We bore people to tears with church - a place they’ve come to connect with God. We teach them that our “pursuit of God” is irrelevent in the real world; that He doesn’t care who they are or where they come from (which is why everything in the service is the way it is.)

    We get way more excited about our ‘church service’ than we should, like because we’re insiders, we see & feel a special value that others don’t because they’re not spiritual enough; we make others feel like outsiders when they go through the same ‘experience’ with new eyes & come away with “Is that all there is to church?” & “I’m supposed to be a part of this, WHY?”

    God forgive us.

15. Holly
    September 9th, 2005 at 3:13 pm

    

    “If you’re preaching from Scripture, it should have nothing to do with what anyone thinks or feels. Doctrine isn’t what a pastor ‘thinks’, it’s what is found in the Word. It might seem that I’m being flippant, but seeing this really made me sad. I don’t want our worship to be staid and stale anymore than anyone else, but I wish we’d stop worrying about appealing to our fleshly desires.”

    Amen, LB! You said it all.

16. April
    September 9th, 2005 at 4:28 pm

    

    As a gen-Xer who is supposed to have such a short attention span in these media saturated world- I completely disagree with this post.

    The premise is that these traditionalists are so stuck with their routine, churchyness, and ritual that they alienate the unsaved, seekers, and the “normal people.”

    But the Word of God is timeless, living, and exciting. Why do you think Jesus’ parents found him at the synagogue passionately studying, learning and preaching the Word. David said “I was glad when they said to me- let us go to the house of the Lord.”

    God’s Word is alive and true worship does not need to be manufactured with the wisdom of me. The concept that worship needs to be contrived to be fun or edgy reveals a self -centeredness that contradicts how Jesus told his followers to be. He told us to die to self- and that once we found him we would give up everything to obtain the pearl of great price.

    Take your philosophy out of the post modern American context and you are left with nothing. How would your “make it appealing to the unsaved” theory work in a Muslim environment- or any of the hundreds of people groups God has placed on this earth? It doesn’t but the Word of God and the power of God do draw people to salvation.

    There is an arrogance in re-interpreting the Word and a pride which is why the Bible says the human heart is desperately wicked. I know these words are offensive to the sensibilites portrayed in this article- but the flesh is hostile to God and cannot please Him. How do you interpret that statement in light of the let’s not bore anyone camp?

    I am not advocating dead ritual either or nullifying the freedom we have in Christ. But Jesus warned us about worldliness.

    The Word is alive and the Gospel is exciting in and of itself. You do not need to add to it or subtract from it. People do not reject Christ because Church is boring- but because they refuse to repent. No amount of candles can change that fact.

17. The Christian Cynic
    September 9th, 2005 at 6:36 pm

    

    Tony, first, I must say that I enjoy your writing style and your general attitude. A little bit of sarcasm surrounded by a healthy amount of wisdom. It would do Solomon proud.

    Unfortunately, I think you’ve been misunderstood. I doubt you meant by #2 that Scripture shouldn’t be a part of church but rather that it should not be the ONLY part of sermons. It’s just a matter of poor public speaking to only say what you’re going to say and not divert on meaningful tangents and deliver everything well to get your point across.

    I think your points are quite practical. Kids don’t often sit well through sermons that are meant for their parents, so give them programming that is designed for them (but not solely for their entertainment; teach them something, too). People think visually, so give them visual aids (another simple aspect of good public speaking). Change up your order and content so people don’t come in expecting the exact same thing week after week; if people wanted that, they’d work on the weekend. Focus on what the church can do and is doing rather than only where the church has been. And make sure that you relate significant applications to the congregation so that they can take God’s Word with them instead of leaving it behind in the pew each week.

    Good words; I hope to read your blog more in the future.

18. Tony Morgan
    September 9th, 2005 at 6:41 pm

    

    LB and April, I’m intrigued by your passionate responses. Just to put your minds at ease, I’m in agreement with you that God’s Word has the power to transform people’s lives. It has mine. And, let me confirm this up front: I don’t think I suggested anyplace in my post that we shouldn’t teach God’s Word in church. If so, I want to make sure that gets corrected.

    I’d love to try to better understand your thoughts and ideas, though. Let’s assume, as you’re suggesting, that God doesn’t want us to tell stories to illustrate biblical truth (#2). And let’s assume God doesn’t want us to help people apply the Scriptures to their lives (#10)–I believe those were the two items in my list that you were most concerned about. How then would you recommend we teach God’s Word to people who believe the church is irrelevant–people who don’t yet understand their need for a relationship with Jesus? How do we engage those people so they’re willing to hear the Good News? If we can learn together how to do that more effectively, the Church as a whole would be stronger for it.

    I hope you’ll continue to engage in this dialogue, because that’s my passion in life. I want people to meet Jesus not only because I don’t want them to go to Hell, but also because I want them to experience the fulfillment and joy that’s only found in Christ.

    Thanks for joining the conversation!

19. Dave C.
    September 10th, 2005 at 9:31 pm

    

    “How then would you recommend we teach God’s Word to people who believe the church is irrelevant–people who don’t yet understand their need for a relationship with Jesus? How do we engage those people so they’re willing to hear the Good News?”

    You don’t. It’s that simple. You’re expecting your works and your presentation to bring these people to Christ, but that’s not how it works. These people must be prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive salvation, and if that hasn’t happened then nothing that you do will make a difference. If they think it’s irrelevant, then preaching the whole gospel will be an indictment against them. That’s part of it as well.

    It’s all about GRACE, not the cleverness of men. If they have been prepared by the Holy Spirit, then preaching the FULL gospel (including all the “bad parts,” not just applications) will convict them of their sin causing them to turn to Jesus. That’s the only combination that works: the Holy Spirit and the Word. But to rely on that you have to believe in grace alone through faith alone, not the cleverness of men.

20. April
    September 11th, 2005 at 12:12 am

    

    Dear Tony,
    Thanks for responding. My response may have been passionate - but I believe God is even more passionate- for His glory and for His name to be known.

    Not opposed to story-telling or application at all. Expository preaching does not exclude either- on the contrary. It’s all about application because God’s Word is living and active - painful at times.

    How do we engage people who think church is irrelevent to their lives… Just preach the Gospel faithfully. It is foolishness to the perishing but God will draw people to himself. Don’t be ashamed of the Biblical God or Gospel. Jesus spoke of hell, repentance, and the holiness of God. These are very uncomfortable unpopular concepts right now.

    Intrigued by your statement- you want to tell people about Jesus not to save them from hell but to have a better life here… I think this reveals a foundamental problem. How sinful we are, how we all deserve judgement because we have rebelled against a loving, merciful Creator God. Because we, the clay, have tried to tell the Potter what to do. Because of our iron-hard pride and self-righteousness that will not bow down to God unless He makes sense to us and is in the image we would like Him to be.

    But- we can not mold Him into the God we are most comfortable with. He is unchangeing from all eternity. He hates sin. We hate the word sin.

    He is different from us. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts…His holiness is offensive to how good we feel ourselves to be.

    Sorry for the mini sermon. Hope its not too “boring”- (haha) but how in the world can you explain such deep theological issues in quick sound bites. God is different from us, and the Bible describes a worldview light years away from post modern America. We can’t hope to understand His character, our character ( according to the Bible), our sinfulness and need for a Saviour any more than we can expect to learn a foreign language in 45 minutes of fun once a week.

    As a foreign language buff - I have to tell you- immersion is the key. so it is with
    Christianity. But God’s Word will draw in people - not by fancy preaching but by the Gospel.

    “For I vowed to know NOTHING around you but Christ and Him crucified” 1 Cor 2:2

    1 Corinthians 1:17-31 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel–not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect. 18 For to those who are perishing the message of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is God’s power. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the experts. 20 Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached.

21. mike
    September 11th, 2005 at 1:04 am

    

    April - are you actually saying that God’s presence does NOT improve one’s life in the here and now? I do not see Tony saying he deosn’t want people to accept Christ to avoid hell, but rather not JUST to avoid hell, but ALSO for the abundant life promised by Christ. This is not making God into our own image, or even saying that life will be better (or abundant) from a worldly standard, but CERTAINLY life with Christ, here and now, is better than life without Him.

    I believe, seemingly like you, that too many people expect Christ to take up His cross and follow us, instead of the other way around - we are created for by Him, for Him, to live through Him, in glorifying Him. That said, you seem to WANT to see problems in what Tony has said by making allusions to things he in fact does NOT say.

    We must stay true to the gospel of grace, the character of God, and the person of Christ. He will draw people to Him. The question is, are we the best possible stewards of His gospel, as God’s ambassadors, making the most of every opportunity, becoming all things to all people (with integrity) that we might win even a few?

    Christ met people where they were really at - with agricultural stories, finacial applications, a real-life comparisons. We too, then, must meet people with an unaltered truth in a real way. The challenging truth of spiritual reality (dying to self, living for Him, others being more important than self, riches in heaven, all for God’s renown, not our benefit) MUST be presented in a way that makes a difference for people where they are in the moment. Jesus told the rich young ruler what to do with what was most important to him, not how to interpret mosaic law more accurately (though he obviously needed that lesson, too!). JC also told Zacheus what God looked like in Zach’s life, not just in theological, historical, terms - but for Z’s present and future.

    The truth doesn’t change, but it ca change the hearer fromhis own point of reference.

    Graciously in His grip..
    -mike.

22. Tony Morgan
    September 11th, 2005 at 1:28 pm

    

    Dave/April, let me assure you that we are not ashamed of teaching God’s Word at Granger. Like you, we believe the Word of God is “living and active.” And, we don’t shy away from teaching the “bad parts.” In fact, these last number of months we’ve dedicated whole series of messages to sin and the separation from God that that causes. If you look back through my posts, you’ll notice that we’ve taught about pride and greed and lust and many more difficult topics. Please don’t make the assumption that because our church is big, that we don’t teach the full Gospel. The teaching of Jesus and his apostles brought thousands to salvation. And I believe the teaching of God’s Word still has the power to bring thousands to salvation today.

    Now, that aside, we could also use this site to enter into the predestination/freewill debate. Frankly, though, I’m not at all interested in that. There are many other sites where you can engage that conversation. And, I hope you’re willing to acknowledge there have been great men and women of faith that have come down on both sides of that issue. To me, it’s one of those mysteries that I’ll probably not fully understand this side of Heaven.

    Regardless of where people land on that issue; however, I believe strongly that we are called to take an active role in offering God’s Word to people who have yet to acknowledge Jesus as Lord.

    > Mt. 10:5-10 “go to the lost sheep”

    > Mt. 10:16 “be shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves”

    > Mt. 28:19-20 “Go and make disciples”

    > Jn. 4:34-38 knowing “one sows and another reaps”

    > Jn. 15:26:27 indicates the Holy Spirit testifies and we must also testify

    > Acts 5:17-32 instructs to “Go” and “tell people the full message of this new life”; “we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit”

    > I Cor. 9:19-27 among other things tells us to the weak we should become weak, to win the weak; Paul acknowledged “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”

    > II Cor. 4:2 says we’re to “set forth the truth plainly”

    > II Cor. 5:20-21 indicates we’re Christ’s ambassadors in a foreign land

    This is what compels me. You may not agree with the approach, but please don’t assume because you don’t agree with it that we aren’t committed to the ministry of God’s Word. That’s just not true.

    Now, let me try to understand one more thing, and then I’ll probably let this conversation go. If you’re right and I’m wrong, our ministry is fruitless. We’re wasting our time, and “our presentation” has nothing to do with whether or not someone will enter into God’s Kingdom. So, as you’ve suggested, it’s ridiculous for us to be engaged in ministry that’s focused on reaching people who think church is irrelevant and boring. If that’s correct, why are you trying to fix me and my church? If what we’re doing to reach the lost has no impact, why does it matter? You can’t take that position and also take the position that “our presentation” is creating a barrier that God’s Word and the Holy Spirit can’t penetrate, can you?

    I’m just curious about that, because it might help me understand better why some people are so angry and bitter about megachurches and churches that are trying to reach people who don’t yet know Christ. Can you help me better understand that?

23. April
    September 12th, 2005 at 11:52 pm

    

    I’m 100% pro-evangelism and missions!!! Not anti-mega churches per se. Just against a watered down Gospel. I’m not saying your church preaches that but some mega churches do avoid the hard saying of the Gospel- such as you are a sinner under God’s judgement, hell, sin and the cross. Many people are angered and offended to hear that they are not a “good person ” in God’s eyes but sinners and rebels against God.

    Does reconciliation with God through Jesus give a better life in the here and now? Yes and no. Jesus promised persecution, we must carry our cross, die to self. But like pearl of great price- knowing Jesus and being saved is worth it.

    For many of us, becoming Christians meant our friends no longer understood us, family mocked us. The concept of self sacrifice is frequently downplayed…more like “you can have it all) happy family, good job, PLUS Jesus.”

    Jesus did meet people where they were. That included telling the rich man- to sell his stuff. He left unhappy.

    I attended 2 megachurches-where the Gospel was preached- meaning the whole Gospel- man’s utter sinfulness, heaven/hell, God’s grace in saving undeserving sinners. Saw many people get saved from many backgrounds and religions. ( At Times Square Church and Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC)

    I agree you have to pull in the unsaved by evangelistic events but just make sure once they are there you preach the Gospel. All of it. Not just take Jesus to make your life better. We want to avoid “false converts” You know- people who think they are saved but arent. http://www.livingwaters.com.

    I’m not judging you or your ministry brother. But I heard my pastor say- isn’t the purpose of church to worship our God - who deserves all worship and praise- and not to entertain unregenerate sinners? So where do you draw the line? I personally like worship services to be about God, preaching the Gospel, teaching the Word and then evangelistic outreaches for unbelievers.

    The Gospel always brings opposition, offense, and mocking so there can be a temptation to soft pedal it to please the unsaved.

    http://www.twincityfellowship.com/cic/articles/issue89.pdf

24. Peter
    November 14th, 2005 at 5:42 pm

    

    Jesus did not preach about hell very often at all. It would seem that those people who have had a problem with these sugestions either did not understand them, their purpose or feel that their own churches are like thins and feel ofended by them. It is an unfortunate thing that some “Christians” can be selfish enough to think that peole ought to just know about “salvation”. We need to make church attractive when there are other things sreaming for there attention. People will not know where to look if they start serching, unless they know that the church is good. PS videos, etc. in church are not worldly, that is rubbish and presumtious, Jesus told stories if He was to teach today he may well have used videos.

25. Mark Slabaugh
    March 14th, 2007 at 3:19 pm

    

    Wow.