Media.net

Friday, June 28, 2019

Issue #2. The Church Concert, aka Worship

There is a great Christian Recording Artist named Ross King who I had the honor of meeting at National Collegiate Week many years ago. He has a song called "Clear the Stage" about how we approach worship in our country and the church. The first line of the song is "Clear the stage and set the sounds and lights ablaze if that's the measure you must take to crush the idol". He goes on in the song to be very honest about the state of the church when it comes to worship. We have to ask ourselves, what are we really worshiping? Are we singing to God, or are we worshiping at the feet of our own entertainment preferences? Maybe we are just worshiping our desire to be entertained and enjoy ourselves.

In my years in the church ministries, I have had some issues with worship and the way we say we "worship". Things have only gotten worse. My first and biggest complaint is that modern church worship isn't worship, it's an attempt to emotionally manipulate the congregation. We act like this is somehow "holy" if we get people really emotionally into what is happening. The reality, this happens outside the church. Jason Aldean, a country singer says in one of his songs that during a concert everyone feels the "halleluiah high from the floor to the ceiling". This is not a Christian song, this is not a context to worship God, but this country singer recognizes the ability to manipulate the crowd into feeling a religious experience. As a performer, it's his job to emotionally manipulate the people into feeling good and having fun. It is not the job of the church to manipulate the people in the congregation into feeling something. This isn't authentic, nowhere is the Bible does it talk about having an emotional experience with Christ. The reality is emotions are easy to manipulate but don't last. You know as well as I do the promises and vows you made in emotional situations that faded as soon as the emotions. Guilt, fear, and anger cause you to make promises you'll never keep. Feelings of elation and extasy do the same thing, and often the "mountain top" experience is an emotional decision that doesn't last long enough to even get us off the mountain. To compensate, the church has begun to try to emotionally manipulate the church once a week for 30 minutes, then we listen to Christian radio to try to fill in the gaps. This keeps people doing the right thing without the need for the Holy Spirit or any actual saving faith in their lives.

It didn't always use to be this way. We use to sing songs that taught, that had depth and that didn't attempt to emotionally manipulate people. They didn't require saying the same phrase over 50 times, they didn't have 3 part harmonies, solos, lights, and special effects. These things move worshipers to spectators. If you are doing things on the stage that the people in the congregation aren't doing, like guitar solos, they are no longer worshipers, they are spectators. I have had this conversation with many worship leaders, some agreed with me, many didn't. I am pretty convinced that the main purpose for these things in to create a "mood" and move the people into a specific emotional place. This is a nice way of saying "emotional manipulation".

The performance aspect of our church services, what we call Worship, has become an idol. People join and leave churches based on the music, which is basically their need to be entertained. We have entire churches that spend more on the music budget in a month than discipleship in a year. We have put so much into the emotional manipulation because it fills the pews. If we offer mini-concerts every week, along with a free coffee bar and some feel-good words, we can fill the building. It works, and it keeps people coming back and fewer and fewer people have the Biblical worldview. They walk away singing the songs that aren't teaching them anything. If you want proof, look at the state of our country, how much we have given up and given away. The church is not having the impact on society it once had.

The sad truth is, it's doubtful things will change. The leadership doesn't want to change things, they see this is working. Megachurches with the best worship keep growing. Worship leaders don't want to change this, they feel they are having a great impact. The entertained masses don't want to change this, they love the free show they can attend. We have gone so far down this road, it will take something disastrous to turn back. I don't see the worship trend changing unless this country makes it illegal to worship. Those just coming for entertainment will not come under threat of persecution. If the flashy show draws attention from a hostile government, it will go away. Then the faithful who are left will worship in a very different manner. They will sing Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs to one another without professionals, without solos and three-part harmonies. The music will become a teaching aspect of the church again, not an entertainment aspect. Emotional manipulation won't be a recipe for a large service, and then we may see revival in the church. Until then, it's an assembling of consumers for entertainment.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Church Issues #1 Leadership

Issue #1. Leadership.
Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't have church leadership. You should have church leadership, you should have a solid group of leaders who are dedicated to the principles of scripture. What would shouldn't have is the idol of leadership that exists in the church today. Leadership is more important that discipleship these days. You can find a ton of books, conferences, classes. My Master's Degree is in Educational Leadership from an SBC Seminary. Leadership is a big deal, it's big money and a huge focus.

The problem is, it's what we worship. Look at the leaders in your church, look at the people clamoring to be leaders in your church. We have leaders in church all over this country who bought and paid their way into the job. I know pastors who have done questionable things to get or keep their leadership. We know there are pastors being fired because they became abusive in their leadership. Power corrupts, and Pastors are being corrupted. Elders, Deacons, boards, overseers, entire groups of people are in love with their own power and position.  They cling to it like it's a pearl of great price. Most of my ministry career, I stayed in the 2nd fiddle job, this is where I wanted to be. I had no desire to be the lead pastor. From that vantage point, I could see the power hungry fighting to get influence. They used position, education, age, income, or longevity to fight for a claim the spots on the top of the hill.

I have said for years there are two types of people in church ministry and in leadership. The first are those who really love the church and feel a calling to serve God's people. These are in the minority. The second group is the people who just really want to be in charge. They have found a place to be in charge, the local church. They finally get to be in charge, and the often become dictatorial. You see these types of people in a couple of places, they are in charge of the church, homeowner associations (HOAs), and civic groups and organizations. Horror stories abound from these people, they often have a hard time getting along, they get in charge and stay there, they keep the leadership teams closed and tight. The young people that are added to the teams have either been in the organization (church) for many years, are related to the current leaders, or a combination of things. They are abusive, they want to keep things their way. They are not usually concerned with other people, they are not concerned with helping, growing, or supporting anything except their own position. If they want the organization to grow, it's for their own glory. If they want things to succeed, it is usually to make themselves look better.

There is a spiritual reality to this, one that is not comfortable, but we must address. There are many in church leadership today who are not saved. Pastors, elders, deacons, teachers, members who are in control of much of the church who are not saved. They serve with a passion and fire, but this doesn't mean they are controlled by the Holy Spirit. The religious leaders of Jesus day had a passion. Today we see Muslims, Buddhists, cult members and leaders all serve with a passion. People have a passion for politics, organizations, the military, and a host of other things. People can be passionate about the organization and programming of the local church, but not know Jesus.

Jesus told us this would be the case. In a passage we know pretty well in Matthew 7, Jesus tells us about people who serve Jesus without being saved. Jesus says:
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

If we unpack that a little, we see these people preaching (prophecy) and doing ministry (casting out demons) in the name of Jesus. These are church leaders, Pastors, leaders, teachers, and people with influence inside of the local church. These are people who do a lot in the name of Jesus, but their motivation is themselves. They are motivated by leadership. They want to be in charge.

How do you recognize this? People who are in love with leadership focus on leadership. They talk all the time about it, they focus on it. They will talk about their prior leadership experience, they constantly talk about their qualifications. They will protect their authority at all cost, they will even destroy others, and they often do. If they feel threatened by someone, they will gossip, slander, criticize that person. They will seek to have others removed from positions if they feel them a threat. They are often angry or insecure. The position is their idol, and they will do whatever they need to do to protect it. Nothing they do is out of the range of ability for any leader in any secular arena, even if they are claiming God's blessing. Remember, a growing church is not always a sign of God's blessings. Muslims are a growing group. Gangs grow, the Mafia grew, this wasn't God's blessing. Wealth, success, fame, all these things are not a sign of God's blessings. They come on evil men all the time. A follower of Christ will be gentle, meek, and kind. They will not need to try to control or manipulate anything, but will simply do what is right. Of course, in all matters of church leadership, the Bible will be the standard and will do whatever needs to be done to follow the Bible, not the opinion of key or important people in the church.

If you find yourself in a church like this, especially if it's the Pastor or the key leadership, you need to get out. They are not going to step aside or take correction. You can pray for them, you can gently try to help, but if you find yourself in a full confrontation, nothing good will result. If it's not the Pastor, but some other leaders, you will have to decide what the impact will be to you and your family. Remember, Satan is real and he will put people in the church to bring it down from the inside. Paul writes to Timothy about this, and it still happens. If something is becoming destructive to your family, then you need to think about finding a new church. It's not easy, but fighting with these people is never productive. They will protect their power and position above all else. My hope is you will never have to deal with this level of power struggle, but with all the focus the modern American church has put on leadership, it's a real possibility. Power has long been an idol, Satan used it to tempt Jesus. Many in the modern church have fallen under its control.

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Series: Where the "Good" Church Gets it Wrong

I love the church with all the flaws. I love the American church and I don't want to see it go away. I think the church is vital, but it's no secret that I am pretty disconnected from the church these days. After spending my early career in full-time vocational ministry, I have found several things that don't sit well in the local church. These are flaws that are often ignored and overlooked. These are deep-seated issues, problems that I believe need to be addressed, but get ignored.

I think it's pretty easy to see we have a lot of churches in this country that have turned away and flat out ignore the Bible. They have walked away from teachings on sex, marriage, homosexuality, the value of life, and a host of other issues. Churches have compromised on a myriad of social issues, and we have seen the liberal church embrace anything. There is a universal component to their salvation method that doesn't require Jesus. These churches are broken, and I'm not talking about these churches in this post. That's too easy. You can find the issues with the liberal church on your own. I'm talking about good churches, Bible-believing (mostly) who are trying to do the right thing and live by what the Bible teaches. For the most part, they are doing what they feel the Bible calls them to do. The issue is the problems that have crept in under the door that no one wants to talk about. Sometimes they are talked about, and often when they are, they are talked about as good things. They are focused on and highlighted. I have a feeling this may offend, and upset a few of you, and many of you won't agree with me. That's ok, I'm not Francis Chan, I know I can't say something like "you need to change your entire paradigm" and have you nod your head in agreement and solidarity and then not do any of it. I'm not a fool, I know that no one will read this and change the way they do church entirely, but maybe we can begin to change the nature of the church. Maybe someday we can solve these issues and make what I believe to be a more Biblically sound church in America.

The list is short, but my comments will be long, so instead of making this one post, I am going to break this up into several. Look for them, hope you will read and think about my position. I think we can really see great things happen for the church in America if we are willing to fix the things that are broken and address the things that hold us back. Change is hard, people don't like it and churches are very bad at it. In the end, I think these things will really help us reach a dying, lost and corrupt country. It starts at home.

Monday, June 3, 2019

The Parable of the Stone Wall

There was a country that had stone walls that were of high value. A young man in the country loved the walls and often came to sit by them. He wanted to help build the wall, but the men who built it told him "don't concern yourself with the work, just sit and enjoy the wall." The men at work were always nice to him, they greeted him, spoke with him. They would even share their lunch and give him water to drink. They would tell him about the wall, but never was he given the chance to help build the wall.

From time to time the young man would try to help, he would bring stone, but his stones were always rejected. The young man became frustrated. He wanted to help, to work but the men in charge of the wall refused to let the young man help. They would not teach him how to place stones or stack them. The boy began to show up less and less until one day he stopped coming. He lost all interest in the wall. Many young people became less interested in the wall. The wall builders were irritated with the young man. After all, they were nice to him, shared with him. They could not understand why the young man walked away. In the meantime, they continued to work, believing it to be too important to trust to anyone else.

I hope as you read, you understand.