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January 11, 2006
The Watered Down Gospel
I've heard it said before; "The Church isn't here to entertain people."
Really?
I think that's exactly what the church is here to do, just not in the way that we normally think about entertainment. Usually we think about entertainment as a diversion from reality and the church certainly shouldn't do that. In fact, it should help you cope with reality.
Looking simply at the first meaning of the words:
Entertain
v. To hold the attention of with something amusing or diverting
Amusing
adj. Entertaining or pleasing
Diverting
v. To turn aside from a course or direction
So, should the church "Hold the attention of with something that turns aside from a course or direction"? I should say so, that's exactly what the gospel of Christ is all about. We're here to lead people to turn from their sin and follow Christ.
I'm not saying that we should look to buffoonery or hedonistic methods to garner peoples attention, in fact the Bible warns against this. But too often the Church has turned to a speaker that sounds like he's an expert witness at a legal trial full of technical jargon that almost no one can understand. We hear about the concerns of false teachers who "water down" the gospel, but what of our own who reduce the effectiveness (water down) of the message of Christ by not taking steps to ensure that people will listen and learn from what God is having them say? Aren't we watering down the message when we have an environment where people won't return to hear more of God's message?
Sure, the Israelites were commanded to shout (well, sing) from the mountain tops, but Christ commanded all Christains to "Go and make disciples." Shouting isn't what makes a disciple, teaching is. And to teach without anyone learning, isn't really teaching at all.
So, the next time your church entertains (to extend hospitaliy towards), think about what you can do to make it more entertaining (holding the attention of with the life changing message) without making it a joke.
Posted by Jesse at January 11, 2006 1:58 PM
Comments
One of the things I've enjoyed about your church is how people seem involved and want to be there, and how Dennis wasn't afraid to use humor as well as more serious approaches in his sermon.
I still chuckle at the time I was there and Dennis told a golf joke and the big woman way up front cracked up and couldn't stop laughing for like, 20 minutes.
There's a line in Dogma about how Catholics mourn their faith (that is, their services are rote and depressing) and many churches, Catholic or not, are probably like that; I was more involved and felt more connected to a church that had joy, in multiple forms, in its services.
Posted by: JC at January 12, 2006 10:56 AM