Jesus employed the lecture effectively but some in the back neither heard nor were impacted by His lecture style presentation. Paul had the same problem. In the painting, those in front are engaged. Only the folks in the back are not. Is is the fault of the lecture, the lecturer, where they sit, or the students themselves? Many have suggested that those who sit in the back come not to be noticed and to avoid noticing what is happening in the classroom. It is an astute observation. When I go to a conference and want to type away on my laptop or read some other material, I always sit in the back (neither to be noticed by nor to be interrupted by the speaker). When I am genuinely interested, I always sit near the front.
The lecture or even the lecturer are not the issues or the problems (well, not usually) but the student or the hearer. Truth to be told, we sit in the back because we do not want to be engaged, because we judge something else more important to our attention, and because we want to be on the outside looking in.
The same thing happens in church. I have never understood why people sit as far away from the chancel as possible. But almost certainly these seats fill up before those front and center. Sure, there may be other things involved (HVAC issues, sound issues, different comfort levels to the seating itself, etc...) but most of the time the people sitting far on the fringes of each side and the back are deliberately trying to be far from what is happening. Why?
Parents who take their children to the back so as to avoid distracting others, end up giving their children a bird's eye view of the read ends of the folks ahead of them --- all the way to the altar. They see nothing at all and inevitably are a bigger handful than those who can see. Adults who sit in the back or all the way to the sides, are further from the altar and pulpit by choice. I can only assume they do not want to be engaged by what they hear or see. Like the students who chose the back so they can focus on something else, could it be that people sit on the far sides and back to distance themselves from what is going on Sunday morning?
Again, I do not get it. You pay the big money to sit on the 50 yard line, in the seats on the floor in the concert hall or basketball arena, near the ice for hockey, etc... why? Because you see more and how you see it changes the closer you are to what is happening. So, either our people in church think nothing is happening, nothing is happening that is all that significant, or nothing is happening that is worth their full attention, or... well, they would sit up front.
Let me say it one more time. Sit up close. It makes a difference. Not just in the stadium. In the sanctuary as well. Try it. Try it for 8-10 weeks. Then go back and see the difference from where you were sitting on the far edge or read of the nave.
Today's public address systems allow the pastor to be heard from any location in the nave and sometimes even in the narthex. And some large churches have video screens located in the nave to help the sight-impaired.
ReplyDeletePerhaps rearward pewsitters might also have been influenced by the pastor's sermons preaching about, or as a child by a Sunday School lesson about, Luke 14:7-11 or Luke 18:9-14.
... or they could just be normal Lutherans. ;-)
The entrance to the nave is off to the side at the church in which I serve. I note that the people sit as close to the entrance (Exit) as possible. I wonder if some people simply enter the nave and drop down in the first convenient empty seat that is available. I wonder what would happen if the main entrance(s) to the nave were up near the altar.
ReplyDeleteAs an adult convert to Lutheranism, I wonder also. Growing up Baptist, the jokes about sitting in the rear of the sanctuary (auditorium) were plenty. I guess it is true in all churches that people sit near the exit. I hope it's because they have health issues that cause them to excuse themselves frequently (and thereby not interrupt the service). Or maybe they're anxious to beat whatever church's members to a particular restaurant?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, as a convert, Lutherans have the best thing going! Right Theology and Doctrine, the historic Liturgy, and Law/Gospel sermons. So what are people thinking?
Personally, my husband and myself sit in the second pew to the immediate side. (Because the first side pew has no kneelers, and center front have the kneelers very close - not good for someone who is a klutz.)
I think we should make the ennui-stricken Lutherans endure a few services from Reformed Baptist (1 1/2 hour sermons), Emergent (relevant "vacuousity"), or a non-denom. with ear-splitting rock n roll, and sermons on how to have better sex (they really do 'preach' that).
Maybe then the perceived tedium of the Divine Service would mean far more.
Lifer Lutherans: Wake up! You have REAL Christianity! Don't trade it for a mess of pottage (bowl of lentil soup)!
Interesting when I ask a person why he/she sits in the back, he/she just shrugs the shoulders. Obviously there is no pride in their real reason.
ReplyDeleteI cannot fathom why a believer would not want to be right there in front receiving all the good gifts God gives in the service. I surely don't wan to miss anything from Him.
"Interesting when I ask a person why he/she sits in the back, he/she just shrugs the shoulders. Obviously there is no pride in their real reason."
ReplyDeleteThere could be several other reasonable explanations, other than pride, for a person shrugging the shoulders when asked such a question.
"I cannot fathom why a believer would not want to be right there in front receiving all the good gifts God gives in the service."
What good gifts God gives in the service are received only by those in the front pews and not by those in pews further back?
There appears to be some less-than-best construction in assertions about the motives of people sitting where they do in the nave:
1. "Truth to be told, we sit in the back because we do not want to be engaged,"
2. "because we judge something else more important to our attention, and because we want to be on the outside looking in."
3. "most of the time the people sitting far on the fringes of each side and the back are deliberately trying to be far from what is happening."
4. "I can only assume they do not want to be engaged by what they hear or see."
5. "could it be that people sit on the far sides and back to distance themselves from what is going on Sunday morning?"
6. "either our people in church think nothing is happening, nothing is happening that is all that significant, or nothing is happening that is worth their full attention, or... well, they would sit up front."