Entitlement mentality

I recently read an article decrying the “entitlement mentality” in the modern church, and to be sure, this is a major problem. People bounce from church to church, looking for one that “fits,” and as soon as it gets a little uncomfortable, it’s off they go once more. This is a spiritual problem, but not one we should be too surprised about (2 Timothy 4:3).

I’ve heard sermons on this, on the need to stay committed to your church, even in the tough times. Agreed. I’ve heard sermons that it’s the message, not the music, that matters in worship. Agreed (albeit somewhat less emphatically). I’ve heard sermons reminding us that church is about God, not man, and so we don’t need to worry about whether our needs are met or not. Wait. Let’s expound on that thought. If I understand this correctly, what we’re really saying is that, as long as God is in ANY way “glorified,” then we have done our duty? Can we glorify God “better” by serving more skillfully? 

So the preaching shouldn’t challenge or encourage us?

The music shouldn’t move us?

The people shouldn’t love us?

And how long should we expect people to be committed if their needs aren’t being met week after week? At what point do we as church leaders admit that we are indeed responsible for meeting the needs of others? Hunting out the entitlement mentality in church can be used as an excuse for lazy leadership… “My preaching may not be inspiring, and even downright boring, but its biblical,” or… “The music may not be that great, but you can tell they love to praise.” We avoid hard criticism of leadership by falling back on the fact that we’re trying to “glorify God.”

Yet as church leaders, it is, in fact, our God-given responsibility to “equip the saints” (Ephesians 4:12). Equip. Enable. Empower. This means people need to be fed. They need to learn, they need to grow, to be inspired, exhorted, held accountable, to be motivated, guided, and trained. They need to be fed.

Of course, its not all about spoon feeding at church (more on that next time), but we can’t just keep assuming that church stagnation is a function solely of the entitlement mentality. Maybe it’s time we accept some responsibility and realize that we actually glorify God better when we listen and respond to the needs of his beloved bride, the Church.