Not In Kansas Anymore
Not In Kansas Anymore
There should be nothing quite like the church. The gathering of Gods people for worship should be an event characterized by beauty and holiness. The sights, smells and sounds that accompany the ceremony should assure a unique experience that warrants reflection and awe for days. The anticipation should grow in the heart of the believer as the Lords Day approaches to the point of joy that soon, we will once again feasting at the table with Christ. Our hearts should be glad that we are about to sing psalms and hymns that praise our God for who He is and what He has done for us. Our delight in watching the drama of redemption unfold in music, liturgy, posture, prayer, song, sermon and table as we retell the gospel of Christ, the story that defines us as a people, should be evident in our fervor, our countenance, our singing, and our tears.
The unity that we feel as we worship together should bind us together and make us one. The foot and eye and hand and ear all honoring each other and bound together as one. Each member endeavoring to out due the others in patience, encouragement, intercession, and charity. The result being that outsiders recognize us as the followers of Christ because of our love one for another. Our way of living should be so transformed by what it means to be a Christian that we are contra mundum, against the world (Latin—I'm self taught).
Why would anyone want to tamper with this? Who in their right mind would think that they could improve the church with nonbiblical methods? You should know that the church growth movement got off the ground when one person decided to ask pagans why they didn't go to church. The answers that he received had a common denominator...nothing was familiar. The music sounded old, the sermons hard to understand, the services too long, the day that worship was held on was the only good day off...and so the answers went. So this particular church changed their way of doing things to accommodate those who had no affection for tradition and orthodoxy. The result was...surprise, the attendance grew phenomenally. And then other pastors and sessions and denominations noticed and followed suit. The result? We aren't in Kansas any more.
We now live in an ecclesiastical world where we are no longer distinctive. We have dumbed down our doctrine and reduced our sermons to platitudes. The music has lost the regalness it once had, voices of the people heralding their king. Now we sing love songs to Jesus with the same syncopation that is used in Pop/Yuck music that silly little preteen girls idolize.
Twenty years ago both Time and Newsweek magazine did a cover story on the trend of baby boomers returning to church. The main reasons for the influx of these people coming into the church were the need for stability, a morality for their kids, getting back to their roots. Not because they were born again and wanted to follow Christ in total abandon. The report also noted that these religious persons shopped churches. Not for tradition or orthodoxy but which congregation offered day care, ball room dancing, soft ball, Mothers day out, and free oil changes.
This should have been a signal for the church to reform. Here people were following the church with the same motivation that they had for following Christ centuries ago. The difference being that Jesus made it harder to follow so as to purge from the crowd the majority that was not serious. The modern church misses this. And then finds that they must cater to this same group of people who continually want more. More programs, more variety, more diversity.
The beauty is lost. The crispness of black and white is replaced by the dazzling colors of the Now. The church is full and every heart poorer for the loss of majesty. Consider asking your pastor or elders why the church uses the type of music it does. Why the order of worship is set up the way it is. Why children are segregated from their parents. Why communion isn't done every Lords day. Why you have a gym or a day care. Does it bother you that there is a loss of reverence among our youth, an indication that we no longer take God serious, which is indicative of how our services are ordered. Don't you think it is time to do all we can to reform the church back to fearing God.
The New Testament is clear about the compassion Jesus had for people, His kindness in helping others, His healing the leper, his blessing the children, his tears for a friend. But make no mistake, when it came to followers he wanted commitment, not crowds. Let us join together in moving the church back to being a celebration, a feast, a gathering that only born-again, disciples feel comfortable attending. Lets get rid of the sugar and saccharine of worldly ideals and become the salt of the earth once again. While the world and it's liberal churches continue to move with the times, let us stand for something timeless. And let the chips fall where they may. This is a battle within our borders. The Church has been deceived long enough.
Growth is good. But only if hearts and minds are transformed. Only if church members are suspected by the world to be different, peculiar, or strange. We have moved so far from the sacred that it will take hearts of fire to recover what has been lost. How will we get back? We have to be a bit like Dorothy. She never liked Oz as much as she longed for home. And she knew that there is no place like it. A fact that she repeated over and over. A meditation that continued until it became real. I know, the modern church still talks about Jesus. And the music is supposedly Christocentric. But believe me, we are not in Kansas anymore.