Sunday Jobs

This post isn't about folk working on Sunday instead of showing up "at church". It's about all the jobs we give people on Sundays "at church". Most church growth gurus teach that is necessary to get members involved in mininstry/service as part of a healthy church growth strategy. On the surface this seems right - Christians being servants. Yet, wnen you think about it for a while it seems (to me) that there's something below the surface AND it isn't necessarily healthy. Most Sunday church jobs in medium size congregations involve things like greeting (or "guest services" if you're sophisticated), nursery, serving communion (unleavened chiclets & non-alcoholic mini-shot glasses), collected the offering, etc. I got to thinking..... and I wondered how many people show up on Sundays BECAUSE they have a job to do. Sure that's gets them "there" but is that really what it's all about. I could come up with some prety creative ways to get people there. How many people wouldn't come without a job? How many realize Saturday night that they "have to go tomorrow" because they are passing out bulletins this Sunday? Maybe that's why we create more & more "minstries" so that we can get people to show up. Contrast that with the early believers in the book of Acts and you'll get my point (maybe). Fellowship, the Apostles teaching, breaking bread & prayer. Nowadays that's not good enough, at least for some people in certain places. IMHO, the modern church continues to devolve resulting in ever increasing efforts like the aforementioned strategies (often unrelated to biblical fellowship or discipleship) being employed to manufacture attendance thereby creating an allusion of a healthy church. Of course I might be wrong, but that's what I'm talkin 'bout.