Dec 16, 2008
The Church has Worn Me Out
The Church has Worn Me Out
The church has worn me out. I look around at a number of churches in my own area and across the country and I see something so different than what the New Testament describes and it just wears me out. So I want to share with you just a few reasons I’m tired of the way we do church in our culture:
1. I’m tired of the weekly production
That is exactly what so much of church is – it’s a show and a production. It’s not a community of faith participating in the worship gathering, it’s a group of people enjoying themselves. We use sex, tanks, supermen, and giveaways to sell the gospel and market the church. We have rock concert-like environments with celebrity endorsers who vouch for the Gospel. The question by Matt Casper still rings in my ear: Is that really what Jesus told you guys to do? Of course, all this leads to…
2. I’m tired of the consumerism that saturates our church culture.
The show better be good and the show better be good for our kids as well, otherwise we are going to a church that will give us what we want. Oh, and can you throw in a couple of restaurants, some donuts, a pool and a movie theater? The consumerism in our church is a reflection of the consumerism in our culture. I get that. But aren’t we supposed to be cross-cultural, not consumer-cultural?
3. I’m tired of the shallow theology of our music.
Some of it has gotten better. Todd Agnew has some really good songs. But I struggle to even listen to Christian music anymore because it swims at the shallow end of the pool. When I was in seminary, there was a theology student getting his PhD and his dissertation was the theology in the music of John Newton. I wonder what we would find if we did that with some of the music you hear on Christian radio today? My guess is that it would all center on God’s love, and his greatness. But there is so much more that can be said in our music, but isn’t.
4. I’m tired of hearing about how great a church is just because it is large.
As if large is a sign of success. Oh wait, it is in our CEO-oriented, consumer minded culture, thus it shall be in our churches. I’m not against large churches. But I am tired of success being determined by how much and how many.
5. I’m tired of the shallow teaching from the pulpit.
We had family come to our church for a year from a very large (top 5 in size) church in the South. They were only here for a year because the man was on a temporary assignment with his company. During this year, I preached a series on the Trinity called Tri-God, and it was a practical understanding of Trinitarian theology. He told me that at their other church where they had attended, they never have heard a series like that. Theology wasn’t stressed from the pulpit. It’s all one-line theology. Everything is centered on the practical, not the deep issues and complexities and grey areas surrounding a relationship with God. Why not? Well, it is generally not conducive to building large churches.
Sorry for the rant. Maybe some time this week I will give some thoughts on what to do to change this mindset.
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I had to cut short a series of sermons going through Grudem’s Systematic because the church just couldn’t take it anymore. It was too much for them and they resented it.
I suppose it was too big a step, but it is frustrating to have such low standards. It’s no wonder we can’t produce teenagers that graduate our youth programs and will stick with us after they arrive at college.
“I’m tired of the shallow theology of our music”
Have you listened to the music of Keith & Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend? They have some really good new hymns.
Good post here. What do you propose to do about all the things that make you tired?