American Churches – Inspiring or Entertaining?

I almost stopped first at a larger church only a block from away from the little church I visited. The large brick church had a parking lot fairly full of cars and several people were going in as I drove by. I can't say what made me keep driving but only a block away was a little white church with two people sitting on the front steps. As I slowed down to look at the church the two people waved to me and smiled. They beckoned for me to come in. I did.

The power and sweetness of the Spirit I found in that little, empty church was for me one of my greatest experiences and it became a litmus test for me later in life. I have been to few churches since then where the Spirit of God has moved so mightily.

The late Vance Havner was a grand old-time evangelist who preached around the country until his late seventies. He pulled no punches and spoke as a prophet to those who had ears to hear. He said that today's church offered people an experience but only delivered a performance. In my experiences in the church I have tested Havner's statement and rarely have I found it to be faulty.

Entertainment is a multi-billion dollar business in America today. It is like a fix or an aphrodisiac to almost all Americans. Witness the tens of thousands of contestants who show up city by city to audition for things like American Idol. Everyone must either be sucking the spectaculars into their senses or helping to produce them in some way.

In the secular world this could all be understood by just considering the source but when it leaks or in some cases pours into the church, it should raise some serious questions.

The idea of Christian Rap music, dancers and performers in church services, touring gospel choirs, and a myriad of other Hollywood style fluff is proof that there is more of the world in the church than there is church in the world. Some contemporary theology might find a way to justify all this but the bible does not.

If the church needs to borrow a vehicle to present the gospel to the world then the power of the gospel is not supplemented but it is supplanted. Adding the flash of the worldly to the gospel weakens it, and after allÂ… for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Luke 16:15

Jesus said that if we lifted him up and simply proclaimed his gospel it would bring out the sheep. If we have to make it entertaining and gild it in gold and adorn it with buttons and bows then it is most likely not the gospel of Christ in its purest form. Jesus said he was the Rock and the whole world was sinking sand so why then would we present him with a media that will be blown away just like the sinking sands in a flood?

When we borrow from the world to present his gospel we insult its power to stand by itself and do exactly what Jesus said it would do. It is still the old time gospel that saves men and nothing more. Yes, it can be adorned with every kind of flashy presentation available today but it is most likely to be buried by it instead.

The Holy Spirit convicts men of sin and leads them to the door of grace he does not entertain their senses and lead them to the back door of the church with praises for the presentation. And if the presence of God in a church is any test at all, then it may be that in many cases he doesn't even show up in such places.

It is best said by the use of an old analogy I heard about an old man who tried to worship in the big church but was constantly turned away. He was abjectly poor and that was seen in his shabby appearance. All who entered the church were well dressed and their culturally based congregation looked sharp each person reflecting the same level of success as their peers in that neighborhood.

The services were filled with praises sang from the projected songs from the computer displayed song sheet replete with moving images of ocean waves and mighty waterfalls against golden sunsets.

Theatre productions, dancers, professionally trained and well rehearsed musicians played in symphonic perfection the contemporary songs of the day. But for the old gentlemen there was no entrance. He simply looked bad and was so shabby he was repeatedly turned away at the doors.

One Sunday morning after being turned away yet once more he went behind the church and sat under a tree and wept. As he was sobbing Jesus Christ appeared to him and with a gentle voice saidÂ… 'why are you crying so sadly my son.' He said, 'Because I have been trying to get into that church for a long time just to worship you my Lord but they will never let me in.'

Jesus replied, 'Don't be too sad my son, I have been trying to get in that church also, and they have not let me in either.'


Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything
List Price: $24.00
Sale Price: $10.05

No matter how sophisticated or wealthy or broke or enlightened you are, how you eat tells all. If you suffer about your relationship with food -- you eat too much or too little, think about what you will eat constantly or try not to think about it at all -- you can be free...
Their Eyes Were Watching God Their Eyes Were Watching God
List Price: $15.99
Sale Price: $7.95

At the height of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston was the preeminent black woman writer in the United States. She was a sometime-collaborator with Langston Hughes and a fierce rival of Richard Wright...
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
List Price: $16.00
Sale Price: $6.39

The remarkable New York Times bestseller by the "C.S. Lewis for the 21st century" (Newsweek).A New York Times bestseller people can believe in-by a "pioneer of the new urban Christians" (Christian Today magazine)...