Friday, March 28, 2008

Worship or Entertainment?

Yes, when in church I am one of those who occasionally look around during service to see the expressions on the faces of others. When I watch a sermon on television I pay close attention when the camera swings around to the crowd. What I see is the same things going on in these mega-churches as they are in my own church. Adults with their arms folded staring straight ahead with little or no expression on their faces. Occasionally looking down at their watches checking the time as if counting the laps of a race or measuring the pace of the service.

I was blessed once with the opportunity to be part of the choir. It breaks your heart to be standing up there singing your heart out for God and see others in the audience with lifeless faces. The difficulty for the Pastor to give his sermon with passion for God while seeing those same faces scattered throughout the audience must be tremendous.

Without a doubt these are the lost. Yet these same lifeless faces have greeted me in the hallway and made it very clear by telling me that they were saved long before I was born. Point taken but your witness by your actions is a little hard for me to accept.

I have tried to step into their shoes. Trying to understand why they are like they are. Trying to see things from their perspective. I have not been able to figure it out. I get charged up at worship. No I am not one to jump out of my seat and dance. Sure there are times I would like too. Yet like most Christians I do not want to offend others there or look foolish. By caring what others think though I am looking foolish in front of God. Perhaps that is part of it. It is a problem facing all of our churches today.

We have the full audiovisual presentation. Sound like a stage production a projection screen like a theater. We have soundboards and lighting controls with every color under the sun. Small armies queuing up the microphones for the choir, musicians, soloists, and the Pastor. It is a full-blown production every Sunday morning.

Even with all this we find fewer and fewer people stepping forward and giving themselves to Christ. We see fewer baptisms each year. It must be just as heartbreaking for the crew of volunteers behind those controls as it is for the choir members and the Pastor.

Ten or twenty years from now when I am sitting in the pew will I be as broken as those I see today. Year after year seeing your church rise and fall. Battled scarred from this spiritual war that is going on daily. Or will I be just as excited about Christ then as I am now? I must be if I am to serve my Lord and Savior. I will not be able to do it alone. We need our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Perhaps that is the solution. Regardless of age we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Seek and save the lost.

2 comments:

Becky said...

D.C.
You have truly written about what has been on my heart for awhile. I am in told agreement about the condition of the hearts of those around us. But it is our commission by our Lord and Savior to go out into all the world including the world (church) we leave in to tell others of him. We have been given his word to share no matter how hard hearted those around us maybe. The only person we are to please in our worship is our Father and that is what I intend on doing. I never want God to find me setting on a pew with my arms crossed in front of me when HE opened His arms on the cross for me and all of us.

Becky

Anonymous said...

AWESOME! SIMPLY AWESOME! I couldn't have done better myself!

Troy

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