July 18th, 2026
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Reject the Club
Have you ever been a member of a country club? I have not, but I understand that, for a fee you get to be a member. Membership includes perks like use of a nice quiet swimming pool, a wonderful restaurant that only allows members who dress a certain way, opportunity to play golf on a first rate coarse and professional quality tennis courts, use of banquet and meeting facilities and numerous other perks. On top of that, there is the prestige of saying you are a member. However, when the club allows the “wrong kind of people” to come in or some of the facilities begin to lose their luster members begin to grow disgruntled. Complaints begin to flood the suggestion box and membership begins to dwindle. Why does this happen? The reason is that membership in a country club is about the members and keeping them happy.
Over my 46 years of fulltime ministry and almost 70 years of being part of the church I have never met anyone who would consider him or herself to be a member of a “country club church.” On the other hand, I have met individuals who complained about and sometimes actually left their churches for the following reasons…
The list could go on for ages, but you get the point. Those were people who thought the church was for them. It was for making them happy because, to quote an old credit card commercial, “membership has its privileges.” Like it or not, whether their church was a country club or not, they were “country club members.”
The problem is that modern church culture has created a “consumer” mentality among attendees. If the church doesn’t fit their personal needs, just go look for another one that does.
On the other hand I have met numerous individuals who have held a deep and passionate love for their church. Many of them have experienced the same inconveniences as the people mentioned above. They understand that the church is not their “club.” The church is the body of Christ. Rather than expecting the church to meet their personal wants and needs they love giving themselves to God’s work and to the lives of others. These are committed followers of Christ who understand that the church family is made up of imperfect human beings who do imperfect things. But they love God’s people and want more than anything to see them grow in Christ and reach their potential in him. They have a passion for reaching out to people who don’t know Jesus personally with the message of hope and eternal life.
As a result, they are happy in their church family. These are people who place attendance on high priority. They seek out others for the purpose of helping them grow. They look for ways to serve, not because they feel guilty, but because they want, more than anything, to make a difference.
You see, attitude makes the difference. Are you connected to the Lord’s church? Do you understand that Christ died for the church? Do you see that Jesus loves the church, his bride and he seeks to make her holy by the washing of the water through the Word (Ephesians 5:26).
What is your attitude? Is it joyful and self giving or negative and self centered. Are you a country club Christian or self giving follower of Jesus?
This Sunday we will begin a series of messages called The Dedicated Church Member; Outwardly Focused Christians with a message titled, A New Attitude, based on Philippians 2:1-11 and other passages. I pray that you and I will be encouraged and challenged to become more enthusiastic, life filled, happy and committed members of Christ’s family.
Rejecting the Country Club way,
Jon
Reject the Club
Have you ever been a member of a country club? I have not, but I understand that, for a fee you get to be a member. Membership includes perks like use of a nice quiet swimming pool, a wonderful restaurant that only allows members who dress a certain way, opportunity to play golf on a first rate coarse and professional quality tennis courts, use of banquet and meeting facilities and numerous other perks. On top of that, there is the prestige of saying you are a member. However, when the club allows the “wrong kind of people” to come in or some of the facilities begin to lose their luster members begin to grow disgruntled. Complaints begin to flood the suggestion box and membership begins to dwindle. Why does this happen? The reason is that membership in a country club is about the members and keeping them happy.
Over my 46 years of fulltime ministry and almost 70 years of being part of the church I have never met anyone who would consider him or herself to be a member of a “country club church.” On the other hand, I have met individuals who complained about and sometimes actually left their churches for the following reasons…
- They didn’t like the music.
- There wasn’t anyone their age or their children’s ages.
- The building was too hot or cold.
- The sermons were too long.
- The preacher wasn’t their kind of preacher.
- The church asked for money.
- The order of service was changed.
- The service was too long and they were late for the restaurant.
- Their name wasn’t mentioned when they gave or did something.
- The new carpet was the wrong color.
- The building wasn’t being maintained properly.
- There weren’t enough quality contacts for their business.
The list could go on for ages, but you get the point. Those were people who thought the church was for them. It was for making them happy because, to quote an old credit card commercial, “membership has its privileges.” Like it or not, whether their church was a country club or not, they were “country club members.”
The problem is that modern church culture has created a “consumer” mentality among attendees. If the church doesn’t fit their personal needs, just go look for another one that does.
On the other hand I have met numerous individuals who have held a deep and passionate love for their church. Many of them have experienced the same inconveniences as the people mentioned above. They understand that the church is not their “club.” The church is the body of Christ. Rather than expecting the church to meet their personal wants and needs they love giving themselves to God’s work and to the lives of others. These are committed followers of Christ who understand that the church family is made up of imperfect human beings who do imperfect things. But they love God’s people and want more than anything to see them grow in Christ and reach their potential in him. They have a passion for reaching out to people who don’t know Jesus personally with the message of hope and eternal life.
As a result, they are happy in their church family. These are people who place attendance on high priority. They seek out others for the purpose of helping them grow. They look for ways to serve, not because they feel guilty, but because they want, more than anything, to make a difference.
You see, attitude makes the difference. Are you connected to the Lord’s church? Do you understand that Christ died for the church? Do you see that Jesus loves the church, his bride and he seeks to make her holy by the washing of the water through the Word (Ephesians 5:26).
What is your attitude? Is it joyful and self giving or negative and self centered. Are you a country club Christian or self giving follower of Jesus?
This Sunday we will begin a series of messages called The Dedicated Church Member; Outwardly Focused Christians with a message titled, A New Attitude, based on Philippians 2:1-11 and other passages. I pray that you and I will be encouraged and challenged to become more enthusiastic, life filled, happy and committed members of Christ’s family.
Rejecting the Country Club way,
Jon
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