What if it took faith to attend a church service? (Would a faith-based church meeting even work?) Perhaps now is the time for churches to take a leap of faith and to allow ordinary people to speak out in Sunday worship as they are led by the Spirit!
Everything that happens in most church services has a prearranged outcome. There is no uncertainty or spontaneity. Being in the service requires no faith, just passive attendance. However, as Santosh Kalwar wrote: “Life remains unchanged till a leap of faith runs towards heaven.” Perhaps that is why church seems to have so little impact on our contemporary culture.
The very concept of faith requires believing enough to take action when you don’t know the outcome (“taking a leap of faith;” “stepping out in faith;”). Believing without taking action falls short of faith. The Bible puts it this way in James 2:17: “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (NIV) However, “one leap of faith can change your life forever.” –Robert Holden
To truly experience God we must be willing to take a risk and step out of the routine — out of the planned. Like Mandy Hale says: “You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.”
Are we “cheating God” by keeping church meetings confined to a closely controlled plan? Jen Stephens puts it this way: “If we never had the courage to take a leap of faith, we’d be cheating God out of a chance to mount us up with wings like eagles and watch us soar.”
If we really want to encounter God, perhaps we should open up church meetings to the control of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. Alyssa Urbano puts it this way: “Life is a gamble. There are no sureties. If you want something badly, you’d have to trust your heart and your instincts and then take a leap of faith.”
“Taking a leap of faith is essentially a personal willingness to take a chance.” –Bridget Riepl
“Nobody gets argued all the way into becoming a believer on the sheer basis of logic and reason. That requires a leap of faith.” –Francis Collins
“There are many talented people who haven’t fulfilled their dreams because they over thought it, or they were too cautious, and were unwilling to make the leap of faith.” –James Cameron
“It’s called a leap of faith, not ‘a drag your feet to faith,” so quite analyzing and get moving.” –Blake Franks
The Bible defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 this way: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (NIV) Faith is about “what we hope for” and “what we do not see.” When we know the outcome and see it printed on a Sunday bulletin and/or repeated the same way week after week, we need no faith.
So what if we tore up our prearranged plans and agendas and based church services on Sunday morning leaps of faith?
” Don’t be afraid to take that leap of faith; You have nothing to lose but fear.” –unknown
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.
So where will people get the opportunity to step out in faith — to express their faith in their works? Perhaps we should give them the opportunity to leap out in faith during Sunday worship meetings. According to William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, “Faith and works should travel side-by-side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again — until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other.” Maybe church meetings should not be limited to passive, pew-sitting “faith,” but also allow active, Spirit-led interaction.
“‘It’s impossible,’ said pride. ‘It’s risky,’ said experience. ‘It’s pointless,’ said reason. ‘Give it a try,’ whispered the heart.” –unknown
Give leap-of-faith church meetings at try, every Sunday morning @ The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville, TN 37207 at 10:45.
