5 Reasons People Don’t Pay Attention in Church

Everybody is in the attention game. Everybody is trying to grab a few minutes of attention on one of the screens that is always in front of our people. Getting people to pay attention to a sermon on any given Sunday morning has always been difficult. Now, it’s almost impossible.

We’re learning more and more about how fragile an adult’s attention span can be. Internet companies tell us they plan for an adult to spend about 8 seconds on each page they click on. Apps are designed for quick hits of dopamine that hypnotize users into wasted hours of “doom scrolling.” While the pastor’s effort of holding their congregation’s attention has always been challenging, now we’re competing with flashing lights and dancing cats. Not only is the process of gaining and holding our congregation’s attention harder now than ever before, we’re discovering some new realities and aspects of attention we haven’t noticed before.

Here are 5 things about attention I’ve noticed.

They aren’t paying attention to anything.

We live in a world that is driven by distraction. Our people are distracted at work, at home, while they’re driving and even when they’re eating. Every major publication or web site has a section about how to deal with all of the distractions that interrupt our lives. How many times have you seen a couple sitting at a restaurant with both of them looking at their phones? Our people walk into our places of worship distracted. Don’t assume just because they are sitting in their pew that they are there. Their bodies may be in the building, but nothing else is. Their hearts and minds haven’t arrived yet.

Do you know there is a psychological phenomenon that happens when you walk through a door? According to experts, walking through a door causes our brains to reset. Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten why you went into the room in the first place? That’s why. The doorway wiped your brain clean. Worship services have to begin with some kind of door opening. There has to be a call to worship, a transitional moment where we announce we’re now here, in the presence of God and no longer in our world of distraction. Give them an event that draws their attention to worship.

They don’t trust the speaker. When I started my ministry over 40 years ago, the running joke was pastors were lazy. After all, we only worked one day a week. How hard could that be? Things haven’t gotten better. Several very public failures of ministry have moved most people to the assumption that every pastor is a moral failure, just an undiscovered one. That means a lot of people assume the pastor is untrustworthy and therefore, not worth hearing.

We have to understand we aren’t working from a zero balance. We bear the burden of every failure before and around us. Just because you hold the title of pastor doesn’t mean you’ve earned the right to be heard. Trust is earned. These days, earning trust is harder. All of us as pastors need to be constantly aware that we are considered untrustworthy until proven differently. Trust must never be assumed. It’s not that you’re guilty of doing something wrong, you haven’t done anything right. Until our people see that, don’t be surprised they’re slow to listen.

What’s happening in worship doesn’t connect to their daily lives. Since my retirement, I’ve listened to more sermons about stuff that doesn’t matter. Sometimes the pastor falls in love with their research and their congregation is treated to the exciting world of Greek verbs. Other times, the pastor is passionate about a current event and gives their opinion on the events of the past week. People are trying to make marriages work. Parents are trying to raise children in a world that is hostile to the innocence of our children. They need a word that encourages, builds up and shows a light on the path of their journey. If not, they won’t listen.

We forget the New Testament was written in a world of chaos and confusion, much like our own times. Does Jesus have anything to say to a person who just heard from the corporate higher ups that if they aren’t committed to the company’s goals, someone who is will be hired to take their place. Do they sacrifice their family for the next promotion? In our culture, we don’t build statues of our gods, we build them office buildings downtown. Like every idol, these idols demand the souls of our people. Does what we say make a difference here? If not, we shouldn’t expect what we say to be heard.

They’ve reached their word limit for the hour. Some worship services are exhausting. There are announcements and prayer concerns, short devotionals to set up the next song, and songs sung until the words become mush. When it’s time for the sermon, most of the congregation doesn’t have the energy to pay attention. Protect the hearts of your congregation. Protect their ears as well.

There’s no call to action. You know the saying, “After everything is said and done, more is said and little is done.” After most worship services, little is done and if nothing is done, why show up at all? Can something be different in me? In us? In the community around me. I don’t know about you, but I no longer have any time to waste – even at church — especially at church.

This essay was first posted in Scot McKnight’s newsletter.