Monday, September 15, 2008

Shouldn't it at least feel like church...

I know that when you say the word church, the definition of what that means is different for different people.  Quite honestly, even as a minister, some of the things that get lumped together under the heading of church I have to believe make Jesus cringe.  (Cue the zealots of Westboro Baptist Church here)  But I also believe that for all her imperfections, the Church is Jesus' chosen manner of revealing Himself and His redemption to the world.  Shouldn't that experience and be at least a little different than say...I don't know...a typical prime time TV Show.

As this was our first weekend away from LaGrange FCOG, Carlotta and I attended another pretty well known church in the area.  I've been to a lot of large churches, churches with professional level music staff, tech staff, etc.  I've never been to a church where I walked out feeling like I hadn't been in a worship experience, or at least that was the church's intent.  This weekend however made me feel more like that I had stopped by at a friends house to watch Saturday Night Live, with a little Christian music playing in the background.  So here's my question, and I'm certainly open for comments here.  You will not find anyone more interested in engaging the culture with the gospel than me.  But shouldn't our worship experience with Jesus feel at least a little different than sitting down in front of the television for some overproduced entertainment?  Where is that line?  The scriptures were taught clearly and from an orthodox viewpoint, but somehow I just felt like what happened could just as easily have taken place at Jefferson Pointe Mall or rather at NBC studios at Rockafeller Center.  What do you think??? 

1 comment:

Ingrid said...

Been there, done that. I'm not sure what's missing in a church like that -- or maybe the question is what's been added to crowd Jesus out. Puts me in mind of "The Truman Show". Nothing is "real". We miss you guys already. God's using this transition to grow all of us. I intend to call this week to see if you can handle one more lunch/dinner invitation and to see if we can help with the move in any way. The truck's still available, and I'm still good at packing =>}