A certain pastor decided to randomly check the notes of the members during one of his sermons. He asked one woman to bring her notes for a check. To his amazement, while he preached, the woman was busy calculating the prices of stuff she intended buying at the market. The woman was a spectator in Zion.
Friend, don’t be a spectator in Zion (Psalms 84:7). This is one office that does not exist in Church. Everyone is supposed to be a participant (1 Corinthians 14:26). Everyone is supposed to be involved in what God is doing. The Church is not a place where we come to watch pastors perform. It is a place where we participate.
When God brings you to a local church, He wants you to be a part, a participant, and a partaker. It is participants that become partakers, and it is partakers that carry the grace of Zion to the world out there (Acts 4:13). If you attended Church and nothing in your life out there reflects what you contacted in Church, you have just gone to another entertainment centre.
What happens to you in Church on Sunday must affect what happens to you at work on Monday (Daniel 6:3). But the key is to participate, not to spectate or speculate. Don’t be a journalist in Zion. Don’t be the one noticing what went wrong or bad. Don’t be the one who gives reports of the activities in church without tangible proofs of the same in your life (2 Timothy 3:5).
When people say that they don’t enjoy the worship or praise in Church, I’m tempted to ask; “Is worship meant to be enjoyed or engaged?” Are we the focus of worship or God? In true worship, we lose the focus on ourselves and the person leading us; we shift our gaze on God. Only then can we be transformed into the same image from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Your pastor is a coach, not a celebrity. The greatest gift you can give your pastor is to reproduce his ministry in your life (Acts 11:26). When you see your pastor cast out devils, pray for the sick, and administer the anointing in Church, he is simply showing you what is possible for you out there (Philippians 4:9). The Church is both the classroom and laboratory of the Holy Spirit. We are shown how to demonstrate the Spirit life to the world (Matthew 14:25-29). But you need to participate.
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria