Church: Why Is It So Boring?
I have heard time and again that people don’t go to church because it’s boring. Why must it be so boring?
Some churches have tried to “counter” the boring factor by attempting to make it exciting by reaching out to people who have this preconceived notion that church is boring. While I have nothing against using contemporary means to reach contemporary people, you have to be really careful that it’s not sugar coated and that it contains actual substance. You see, just like the food we eat, sugar does not sustain us and only satisfies us in the interim, causing us to crave more. Sure, it might seem ok to leave people craving more of the sweet stuff, but just like food, if we eat only the sweet stuff, we won’t live for long. We will die. We need protein, vegetables and grain to grow.
Likewise, spiritually speaking, if we get only the sugar coating, we will not be able to grow spiritually and that’s not good either. While it may keep people coming back for more, that church is doing nothing but promoting spiritual ADHD. One could say that ultimately, churches like this are spiritually boring.
I guess the question that begs to be asked is, “Why do we go to church?”
Do we go to be entertained? Or do we go to worship God?
Should WE be entertained? Is church about US?
Ok, that’s a trick question, I know. There are a lot of people that meet Jesus for the very first time in church, but still church is not about them…it’s about God. God brought them there to hear His message and spoke to their hearts to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
The angels rejoice every time someone comes to that knowledge. That’s certainly not boring!
Perhaps church might seem boring to you because you yourself are not close to God. Think about this…if you are close to someone, you want to spend as much time as possible with that person. Just being in the same room as that person is good enough to keep you going for an eternity. You want to know as much as possible about that person.
Why do you go to church? Do you go for God or to be personally entertained? If you are close to God, you want to know as much as possible about Him. We can’t possible come close to knowing all there is not know about God, so don’t try to kid yourself into thinking you can’t learn more. So, if you are looking for entertainment while sitting among other people who are there to worship God and to listen to God’s message, of course YOU will be bored, but is it fair to call church boring? You aren’t there for the right reasons.
Is church the only time and place that you are actually a Christian? It shouldn’t be. If you are truly a Christian, then it is safe to presume that you love God. Loving God, like loving anyone else, means you want to know all there is to know about Him. Knowing all there is to know about anyone means you have to study on your own as well. Surely you can’t know all there is to know about someone from setting aside one measly hour a week to listen to a sermon.
Ok, so, what is it about church that makes it boring to you then?
Is it the singing? As a whole, people love music and singing. While some won’t admit to it, there are few people that truly hate music and singing. In fact, how many tunes and jingles can we think of when thinking about various products we enjoy using. Why isn’t singing about God as enjoyable as singing about Big Macs?
Is it the praying? Again, if God means anything at all to you, you WANT to talk to him. Praying is how you do that.
Is it sitting still and paying attention that is boring to you? Again, if God means anything at all to you, you want to pay attention to His word. Funny how people can tell you every detail about certain movies that they enjoy that last 2+ hours but can’t recall a single detail of last Sunday’s sermon.
It seems to me that spiritual things are only boring when you simply just don’t care.
That being said, if your church isn’t teaching you about God, maybe that is why you are bored. Go find a new church.
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I wonder if “boring” is the right word?
When we use the word “boring” it sounds like what we really want is to be entertained.
I think it seems obvious to most Christians that church should not be a show or some form of entertainment; we are grateful to Jesus who saved us, we know it is about His Father and Him.
But I want to be fed.
And I want to want to go to church.
I want my children to be fed.
I want my children to want to go to church.
I want my husband to be fed.
My husband does want to go to church 
I want to go to church and be warmly welcomed.
But there are people that give me dirty looks.
I want the sermon to be applicable to life (it doesn’t have to be applicable to me alone every week…but I would like it to be applicable in some way).
I want the sermon to be the truth, inspired by God and based on God’s Holy Word (not the preacher’s mood or personality).
I want to worship God with brothers and sisters who love Him and are awake.
Our church is hard to go to and it is hard to stay awake.
The truth is there, but it is hard to get at because the leader is very quiet and standoffish.
When he preaches he says “um” a lot and doesn’t make eye contact,
his sermons lack any sort of gripping power.
People are leaving (a couple of families every month or so), not so much because he is boring (although he is boring) but because they are not being fed.
But as one of the elder’s said “we are not congregationalists, we are Presbyterians” which is code for: “we don’t fire the pastor because the church members are leaving, we fire him when the elders decide it is the right thing to do”, which appears to be something that will never happen because these elders hired this pastor and are friends with him and go way back…and anyway, he is a good teacher (which is true…in a small group setting, when people can ask questions).
So…we go to our church and hope that someday we will move to a different area that has a church within driving distance that is a place to be fed.
Pray for us.
And listen (don’t judge) when people say “church is boring” , they might be hungry and not know exactly what they should say…
Church can be boring for the reasons you stated. However, there are other reasons that are 100% the fault of the churches themselves. Some people like me simply prefer to worship in silence. I am irritated when a church sings every verse of one boring song after another. And some of the words to the songs are words I’ve never heard of and have no idea what they mean. They are sometimes very abstract and difficult to understand. I am not able to sing with a sense of purpose and sincerity the words that someone else wrote, that may not be at all relevant to what I’m thinking about at the time.
Singing endless boring church songs and listening to boring soloists is a lot like going to pick out a 25 anniversary greeting card, and having one of the store employees hand you a card and say take it whether you like it or not. You are not allowed to review the selection of cards and have no say-so in the matter. They are SOMEONE ELSE’S words, not my own. When I worship the Lord I am at my most sincere when I am using my OWN words. If we must tolerate being forced to sing someone else’s words, then limit it to a couple songs. Don’t drone and unnecessarily drag out the length of the service by forcing people who are in attendance to tolerate a service they can’t stand. I’m at the point where I’m so fed up with this callous disregard of those who don’t want all that boring singing that I have decided to skip the first 35 minutes of the service and show up at about the time the sermon starts.