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Home::Advice

American Churches - Inspiring or Entertaining

Author : Rev Michael Bresciani

Once while traveling rural Alabama some years past I decided to
visit a local church for the mid-week Wednesday night service. I
can't remember the name of the little town I was in but I will
never forget that church and what happened there. It was a true
experience but to this day I still think that what I found there
is what church is all about.

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.

When I entered that church there were only four people already
there and no more came in throughout the entire service. I made
the fifth person but then I noticed beyond a doubt that there
was a sixth presence there also, it was the Lord. One way I knew
he was there was because of Christ's own promise...For where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them. Matthew 18:20. The other way seems much more
subjective but to me was no less reliable. I could feel the
presence of the Lord there; in fact it was so powerful I was
nearly overwhelmed.

The power and sweetness of the Spirit I found in that little
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.

I've attended churches where thousands of voices rang out in
song and flag dancers whirled around the room. Soloists with
clarion voices and perfect pitch sang special music and the
preaching was polished to the nines. But often I went away
un-inspired and very sure that God was not as pleased with all
the fanfare as the people who attended were.

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 is probably displeasing to
God after all...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
said..." 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."

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