"When a church is spending more on media than shepherding, something is wrong." This quote captures the essence of a recent interview with Dr. Charles Swindoll by Christianity Today. He is worried that the church is starting to look too much like the world through the influence of the entertainment industry on our worship services. He argues that instead of looking like just another talk show or comedian that we should center in on what it is we really have to offer: a genuine worship of the one true God. I agree with Dr. Swindoll that we need to be wary of making the technology and flashiness the center of our worship, instead of God. I do enjoy getting to worship with a full band playing songs written in the past two years or so, but I don't think churches should have the same feel as a concert. Church is the body of Christ bringing about the kingdom of heaven here on earth. I think that if we lose sight of who we are in Christ (our core identity) then we will end up replacing the Holy Spirit by turning up the bass line on Sunday morning, hoping no one notices the difference. We are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ and cannot afford to forget that. I am not against innovation in the Church, but false worship is detestable. Before we add a light show to our next worship service, how about we ask how this is going to draw us closer to the living God.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Swindoll on Pizzaz
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I completely agree that we focus on the light show more than the God show. In my friend’s church, they just had a controversy over whether to buy sub-woofers for service or not. They too are a flashy smoke filled light frantic church that specializes in up-to-date music. I recall him asking, “Do we really need these speakers to worship God?” What constitutes the essential worship environment? As a pastor, I do want to stay relevant and winsome for Christ. However, we should realize that the core of Christianity is in a timeless message of Christian maturity as fostered in a loving community. The atmosphere of worship must cultivate a genuine experiential component, which can be vocals only, fully instrumented, lights, no lights, rhythmic drums, no beat, or simply humming in praise to God. Thus, as pastor, it is my job to understand the culture, but bring Jesus to the core of that culture. Borrowing from Christ and Culture, call it the Christ that transforms culture, not the Christ that is transformed by culture. Therefore, we must ask, is it essential to Jesus formation to have subwoofers? It might add to it, but what about spending that money on feeding the poor instead?
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