March 12, 2009
Fairytale
Once upon a time there was a small country church in Good Hope, Alabama. In seven short years the little church grew and grew and grew until it became a coveted mega-church. Their most recent sermon series is promoted on billboards and reads Great Sex: God’s Way. Jerry Lawson, pastor of Daystar Church, says the purpose of the sermons and the billboards is to get Christian parents talking to their kids about sex before they learn too much immorality from TV or playground buddies. Can’t you just see the Holy Spirit wondering how He’s going to work this theme into ‘Come, now is the time to worship…’
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4 comments:
Gail;
-----The mega-church reminds me of a young lady primping for a hot date. She wants to look attractive - maybe even somewhat seductive - to the neighborhood guy. She has probably been out with him a couple times and might not know him real well, but she’s been studying him enough to know what pleases his imagination. So she is very careful in choosing the eye shadow and lipstick. She will use a little blush, but not too much. She has picked an outfit that is a little provocative, but not outright permissive. And she has made her hair up to be bouncy and free, cute and tempting, yet just a tad frumpy so a few brush strokes will put it back in order after its been mussed up. She plans not to go far with the guy, but she plans to go where he might follow her flirts and hints. And if he is a nice guy, she hopes for some permanence in the growing relationship.
-----So the mega-church always presents her most attractive face to the community, doing her best to be a little come-on, wanting the community to enter her door. And she doesn’t mind if he brings along some of his own baggage. She presumes to deal with that later, and later is ok, because how fast they go is not as important to her as capturing his desires to go just a bit further. Foremost in the subtleties of everything she does and says is her beauty to the community.
-----But she hasn’t forgotten that she is a promised lady. In fact, she tells her sisters that the only reason she wants to play with this neighborhood guy is so he will meet and like the One to Whom she is promised. And she does talk to the guy about Him, a little bit, but not so much he gets turned off and goes home. Her challenge is to be available and charming enough that he will hang around, yet not as much as might break her commitment to her Betrothed. And in her heart she really is being honest about wanting the neighborhood guy to meet her Betrothed; she is just playing a little loose with him until her Betrothed arrives, kind of forgetting what belongs to Him.
-----So let’s hope she doesn’t become too captivated by the neighborhood guy, loose her self-control, and be found the Laodicean Church - wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. For in as much as she is betrothed to the Lord, she should apply her eye shadow and lipstick to attract Him. Her outfit should be provocative to Him, and her hair should be mussed by Him alone. For she belongs to Him alone. Everything about her should be directed towards His taste only. She should be proud to look smacking like her Betrothed, walking like Him, talking like Him, thinking like Him. Inside her doors should be a sanctuary where she dates her Betrothed on a special day each week, not an auditorium for flirting around with the neighbors. Having it dressed it up like the neighbors should be to her an intrusion, not an invitation. For her Betrothed is not interested in marrying the neighborhood guy; He is interested in marrying her. If she so wants the neighborhood guy to meet her Betrothed, let her take her Betrothed next door and introduce them there. Let her preserve a sanctuary for her and her Betrothed alone. If the guy likes Him and truly desires to know Him, then he can become part of her in their sanctuary. For to be truly Philadelphian, she must be truly genuine, reflecting her Betrothed, not her community.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
Your insightful description of the mega-church reminds me of another woman who was betrothed to her Beloved, and then 'played the harlot under every green tree'. I read about her in the Old Testament, in books like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Hosea... Her sad result was bondage to the very ones she was trying so hard to impress. It makes me wonder...are today's seeker-friendly churches in bondage to the very culture they are trying to reach for Him?
In Jesus,
Arlene
Arlene,
Nice to hear from you. The short answer is...Yes. Maybe this generation has had so much freedom that they can't even feel the chains of bondage.
Gail
Hi Arlene;
-----From what I have seen, the seeker-friendly mega-church is in bondage to a dangerous, ancient error that is quickly rising in the world again: follow the leader. It is a tricky idea, because in itself it is a true idea. Jesus Christ set us free to follow the leader. But the leader He set us free to follow is the Lord God. Yet, it always seems that the nature of man is either to get behind another man and follow the trail he blazes, or to get in front of others and be a trail blazer. The more people the trail blazer leads, the more he feels validated. And the more massive the crowd a follower finds himself amongst, the more he feels validated. That sort of mentality goes hand in hand.
-----Although the Word of God does make a place for influential people and for imitation of them, it still calls each individual in the body to do a little trail blazing of his own, as well as to show responsibility for the individual relationship with the Lord of those who are imitating. For ultimately, the new life is one believer on one with the Lord living in a community of believers. If many believers want to act together as a mega-church, that can be wonderful, as long as they all are responsible in their individual yielding to the Spirit and the Word, rather than to the community leader.
-----Several years ago, when there was much consternation and fear in the church concerning its numerical decline, a vastly popular leader stepped forward with an idea of his own, and his following became massive. He felt validated. They felt validated. It is a shame that his idea was about what the church should look like and how it should present itself to the community rather than about her individuals simply being godly and outspoken. Like all leaders who think they hold the key to utopia, he presented his ideas to be followed to the letter. And the greater the consternation and fear in the masses, the less sensible or accurate the idea needs to be. Certainly, his idea was neither sensible nor Biblically accurate.
-----It is those few of us who have felt little consternation or fear about church numbers who are left outside the mega-church seeing it as it really looks. For the sake of numbers she looks to be in bondage to culture. We have always understood that Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said many travel the way leading to destruction, but few travel the way leading to life. We have known that even though God desires all to be saved, church norms should not be shirked and masked so the whole world will find her acceptable. So, I rather enjoy it out here where brotherhood does not have to mimic a culture and the Word does not have to be masked behind some community norm. Small is ok with me, because my faith is validated by the Word, not by numbers. As long as I am following The Leader, being influenced a bit by some of His followers, and being an influence upon some others, I can feel very well amongst a few.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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