All Weekly Sharpening Posts

November 15, 2021

Church as a Training Ground

Why do you go to church?

I’ve asked many people this over the years, and the answers vary.  People want to worship, learn, serve, see friends, and feel a greater connectedness to God.

Why do YOU go to church?

I know a lot of men struggle with attending church.  They go out of obligation.  They go to please their wives.  They go because they feel like they’re supposed to, and it’s rarely with a sense of excitement.

What if you started looking at church as a training ground?  A training ground where you learn to become a better man.  Would that change how you worship or how closely you listen to the sermon?

I find great power in looking at church this way.  It’s where I’m sharpened, challenged and equipped to become a better man.  It’s where I get my marching orders.

It doesn’t have the same effect on me when I think in terms of “this sermon might help me become a better person.”  It has even less appeal if I think in terms of it “making me a better human.”

I want to be a better man.

When I receive teaching in this way, I immediately start thinking about the roles I play as a man: husband, father, brother, pastor, athlete, coach, friend.

The next step is applying what I’m learning at church in these different roles.  (I approach Bible study the same way.)

If church feels like a chore, I encourage you to look at it as a training ground.  Go with a desire to listen and learn in order that you can grow as a man.  Apply what you learn in all your manly roles.

It’s what our world needs.