I saw it on a shirt.
Worship. Nurture. Serve. Repeat.
And at first glance, it looked right. Sounded right.
But the longer I sat with it, the more it bothered me.
Because if that’s the rhythm of the modern church, we’ve got to stop and ask,
What are we actually worshiping? Who are we nurturing? Who are we serving? And what, exactly, are we repeating?
Worship?
Worship isn’t worship anymore
It’s a full-blown auditioned performance
You need lights, fog, a stage, a clipboard, and a mic
You better look the part
Sing the part
Match the vibe
Meanwhile Jesus is standing outside the building knocking
And nobody hears Him over the drum break
We sing songs about ourselves
About our strength
About how God destroys our enemies
Where’s the reverence?
Where’s the adoration for a God who gave His Son to save us by grace, not hype?
Nurture?
Who are we nurturing?
There are fewer disciples now than ever
Plenty of followers
Not enough disciplers
Not enough people willing to walk with the messy
Only the polished
We have entire ministries built around branding and growth
But we can’t even disciple a new believer through the Gospel of John
Serve?
We serve the stage
The schedule
The safety of people who look like us
But that single mom down the street?
The one with the three kids and no car?
We don’t serve her, she’s not a “member”
She doesn’t tithe
She’s not in a group
So she’s not our “assignment”
This is the state of the Church
And we pretend this is normal
Repeat?
Let’s do it all again next Sunday
With a fresh flyer and better transitions
Meanwhile, the American rhythm is
Eat. Sleep. TV. Home improvement. Repeat.
And this watered-down religion?
This is what we’ve discipled people into
At this rate, the Great Commission will take another 150 years
Families are breaking
Churches are branding
And people are walking away because they’re starving for something real
If this sounds harsh, it’s because it is
It should be
Because Jesus didn’t die for this
He didn’t say Repeat
He said Go
So maybe it’s time we crash the cycle
Tear down the slogans
And stop worshiping a system that doesn’t look anything like the One we claim to follow
💛 Trish
