Ok, so I happen to be blessed immensely by being able to go to Mars Hill Church and sit under the preaching of godly men like Chris Swan, Bill Clem, and Mark Driscoll. However--I have noticed that even though I receive some of the strongest Bible teaching in the nation, going to church has again become a chore/social event some days. When I'm surrounded by this amazing preaching I've started losing the amazing-ness of it.
Today on my way home from visiting Mars Hill Church's Ballard campus I was pondering this phenomenon. Let me explain a bit about Mars Hill Church (MH). We are one church in 10 separate locations (a.k.a. campuses). Most of the time Mark Driscoll preaches live at the "hub" of MH, the Ballard campus and the rest of the campuses watch that sermon via a video the next week. Occasionally the "campus pastors" will also preach a live sermon at their own campuses. I, personally, go to MH's Bellevue Campus (a.k.a. Bellevue).
So with that being said, I think I figured out my problem--why this complacency has set in. Getting to know people in a church is a hugely important thing. I can't say enough about how important community is in my relationship with Jesus. However once I made friends, I started worrying about what they think of me, how I look, etc. I want to impress THEM instead of focusing on the reason I'm there. Also when I've gotten to know the bands, learned Pastor Chris' vision for Bellevue and his style of preaching, gotten used to the flow of a Bellevue service, it just becomes commonplace. Visiting Ballard was a fantastic experience. Going to another campus just shakes it up a bit. The band played the same songs I'm used to, but differently. Pastor Bill spoke about the same Jesus I'm used to, just with a different focus. The people around me worshiped hardcore like we do, but I didn't know them so it didn't matter what they thought of me.
My resolution, having experienced this amazing thing, is to visit other campuses frequently. That could mean once a month or once a quarter, but I want to shake up my routine a bit and experience Jesus in a whole new way every time I think I'm getting complacent.
Well said :) I think we all can become complacent with our church routine and sometimes a new perspective on something we have heard a million times is a good thing.
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