Ah, megachurches.
When some people think about megachurches they think of their home church, and others wonder what the heck a megachurch is. For me, it is home. I grew up going to a big church, and when I came to college, I proceeded to find another one to attend for the next four years. Personally, I have a love hate relationship with my church from home (not so much with the one here). The worship music that is played is absolutely incredible, but the passages are sometimes weak and seem to barely use scripture.
This seems to be a common takeaway from many mega churches around the country, and that is the fact that sermons can be a bit shallow. Pastors seem to use their stories and examples and then find scripture to back it up instead of the the other way around. In today’s society, everyone is about “feeling good.” After leaving church, people want to feel refreshed and ready for the week and they don’t really care how the Pastor does it.
Megachurches (and all churches in general) need to find that balance of strictly making people feel good about church and really digging in deep to help people get through the tough aspects of life. I think there needs to be an innovation process throughout churches to help them find this balance and reach the needs of more people. People go to church for answers, not a story about the Pastor’s summer vacation. God is always making things new and he would love to help churches innovate and create something magnificent!
I agree Ellie. I also attend a mega church here at school and it is very different from my home church but different does not always mean bad. It is a common struggle with mega churches to make their motivation the entertainment/wow factor, but that’s not at all what the church was created for. The church is not even a building and yet we spend so much time pouring into the building in hopes of it bringing more people in.
Sometimes I wonder if Sunday at megachurches is when they do most of their ministry or if the bulk of their ministry is achieved through groups of people meeting and doing ministries in their homes and communities throughout the week outside of church.
I think this was really productive, honest and thoughtful reflection on your opionion. I had a lot of issues with the non-denominational church I grew up in and it was incredibly neccisary for me to come here and visit all sorts of churchs. I hope you have visited other types of churches it was really eye opening for myself.
I do not personally love megachurches but what they acheive evangalistically is incredible and has so much value, and thats what I love abouts them.