Jack sends in this short video that parodies what the modern church is like.
I've been to a few churches like this. It's the whole, "Hey man, we're cool just like you" approach to evangelism. It just seems so fake to me. And completely uncool.
Honestly, the most Christ-like Christians I know are the ones that don't go to church. They're the least judgmental, the least fake, the most sincere. For some reason, when Christians go to church they get surrounded by this group-think mentality, and they begin to judge all other Christians on whether or not they match up with their own Church congregation. Their Faith becomes colored by their church environment. It's annoying.
Too funny!
What?! You mean my church isn’t unique, and nothing in the Bible is done exactly like that?
But, wait a minute… we need to be careful. Remember what happened when Michal (spelling?) criticized David for dancing in the street the way he was, as he celebrated the return of the Ark. She was embarrassed by his exuberance and show, while in his heart, he was praising God. I suppose the difference is basically in the question… is their greatest desire to glorify God or be on stage and sing their songs? David wrote many, many songs. He worshiped on his own, as I know many of these worship leaders do. He sought to bring glory to God through his worship, no matter what other people thought. Just because it’s structured or planned (to an extent) doesn’t discredit it from being effective worship and an opportunity to draw a congregation to a close time of worship to their Savior. I think it’s wrong when people will just go through the motions, because it’s what the leader is doing, but isn’t that the primary responsibility of that individual, and not of the worship leader? I’m not a worship leader in front of a congregation ever, so you won’t hurt my feelings (as if I’d care or take it personally).
By the way, I thought the video was HILARIOUS!!!
My family didn’t have any idea why I was laughing… I’d prefer to keep it to myself for now. 
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Your secret is safe with us!
In response to how worship is “structured”, I spent time on a worship team at a “certain” church that is talked about quite often on here. We certainly planned out the service that seemed, for lack of a better way of describing it: contrived.
There was nothing really spontaneous about anything, except musicians making mistakes, that is. For example: start off with the up tempo praise song that everyone knows. This gets people to come in from the other areas of the church, and gets them into their seats. Next song may be another well-known up-tempo tune. About once a month we would slip in a new song, sometimes written by one of the worship leaders; however, it could just be a new song in general. This is always done a few songs in because they wanted to piggyback off of the crowd’s enthusiasm.
Then there is the worship tunes– you know the drill. Three worship songs and out. During the last tune, pastor gets up and either continues the song, or gives us the “bring it down” signal so that he can have a word with the people. We then cut out softly and the pianist/keyboardist stays on stage until given the okay to stop. The band then sits off to the side, but is told not to leave. Why? Because many times they said that “The Lord is going to move”, and that we would need to stick around and play some more at the end of the service. Funny how they knew in advance.
The bigger this church got, the more streamlined this became. Oh, and if anyone wants to hear a certain someone whose name starts with a ‘Jew’ and ends with a ‘Duh’, leading worship, singing out of tune, while not knowing how to get out of the chorus and back into the verse section– well, I’ve got the tapes
This reminds me of something…
When I took lessons on my (musical instrument), my teacher told me with a smile that I, as a musician, could change the entire mood in the room, I thought it was the coolest thing! When I switch to a minor key in the service, whether during prayer or free worship, everyone gets very, very “reflective”. If it’s a busy chord progression, the congregation gets louder and louder and more fervent. If I bring the chords down and simplify the intensity, the room gets quieter and quieter, until the pastor or MC comes up and has a “Word of Knowledge” or “Prophecy” – or exhorts the room to not let prayer drop. It’s really kind of manipulative. As a musician, I experimented with it. As with any music, I feel the mood… always have. I know the congregation does too. I think it’s fine for music to bring us to a place where things are brought to mind. So, in a busy song when there’s a lot going on, it’s hard to pray. In a quiet song, it’s hard to be energetic. But, I have a hard time with the thought that the musician(s) can and will set the mood of the room based on what they’re praying. And, in certain chord progressions, the Holy Spirit seems to “move more” – brought on by the musician’s chord progressions? What? To me, as one of those musicians who was told to do it, it’s manipulative and eerie. If the congregation can’t be reverent AND excited about praising God without the help of the music, there seems to be a problem.
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Wow Matricks- it you hadn’t made that referene to Judah I could have sworn you were talking about Capital Christian Center in Boise!
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What’s even more eerie is that the musicians have to take their cues from the worship pastor who is taking cues from the ‘lead’ pastor who thinks he is taking cues from the Holy Spirit. You know that they’d never ultimately give their power away to a musician even if they did let the musician get in the flow so they could try to discern what the Spirit was saying! It does sound spooky now, but that was our normal then too.
When you think about it, it’s channeling a spirit – but what spirit? We thought it was the Holy Spirit and maybe it was but maybe it was something else?! why is it any different than channeling a spirit in a seance?
I’m just relieved to sit at the feet of Jesus in my right mind again. When I think of the unrest it caused me in my life back then – where was the fruit of peace once the worship service was over? Why was it any different than getting high on a substance?
Just what WERE we delving into with all that? Beyond the mind control aspects of it (i.e. singing a hyped up chorus over 10 times is mesmerizing, exhausting, and like you said NSQ, manipulating). what if we were trying to ascend something we were not meant to ascend? Why is reaching ecstatic heights in worship any different than the story of the tower of Babel when an ancient people tried to literally ascend into the sky to reach God?
Just wondering out loud.
[Comment ID #37673 Will Be Quoted Here]My dearest NSQ, THAT was one of the more insightful posts I’ve seen. The whole ‘praise & worship’ scene these days is being used to support the ‘buildings, bugets and bigshots’ program that is what Christianity has become in our time. We are a long ways from 1st century Christianity, and in my opinion, we are in desperate need of a return to our roots.
If you would like a tool to help seperate the wheat and the chaff, I’d suggest reading a book by Watchman Nee, “The Latent Power of the Soul”.
Thank you for posting and sharing your insights.
I believe the “Modern” or “Modernized” church that we are speaking of caters to churchgoers as opposed to challenging them– this is the foundational problem that will creep up and bite them later. When you have re-worked/established your entire church around formulaic simplicity, then you end up with simpleton churchgoers. Now, I can see why this would be advantageous to many churches–having a bunch of programmed bots shows up and give money without thinking for themselves.
However, doesn’t anyone see this as one of the reasons that church and belief numbers have been declining over the past decade? If one wants to go somewhere for some fluffy, feel good cotton candy to munch on, there are certainly more easy to access and entertaining places to go than church (not to mention, these other places don’t come with all the built in rules and guilt-trips). When church starts getting into this kind of game, well, to put it bluntly, they are the ugly girl in the beauty pageant. If modern churches truly want to become “modern”, they should perhaps evolve past this current state of “modern” and move into the realm of actually offering content and asking hard questions, as opposed to giving easy and dumbed-down answers.
I am sorry, but the idea of showing up at church and hearing the same old condemnation talking points, meshed together with the prosperity business is tired. If these churches really want to be unique, and ahead of the curve, they are going to need to dig their foundations a little deeper. I am not trying to sound like an old fogy here (I am barely 30), but sooner or later, the new trend is going to be one that involves being “real”, and not being a series of sound-bytes, and one-lined updates. The point of saturation is coming, and if these places don’t anticipate this, they are going to be left behind.
Church can’t compete in the realm of ten second attention spans, nor was it ever meant to. The ideas that it champions are best when not diluted, even if they are harder to shallow/chug that way. People are always going to deal with real world problems, and these aren’t solved by what social networking and ADD-geared mentalities have to offer. Someday, people are going to want substance, and by then, many of these churches will have evolved themselves right out of the loop.
Until these places begin to get this right, people will just have to make due with the usual, modern routine: Twenty minutes of music that will whip people into a frenzy, followed by forty minutes of stand-up routine with only five minutes of substance; all tied together with a feel-bad, now feel-good repentance for your sins of the past week session… We’re all saved, now let’s go home and update our friends about it!
Well said, NSQ and Matricks. The weird thing, though, is that it’s the churches that manipulate people’s emotions that get the crowds. People pay for it because it’s so addictive, ego-building and conscience-soothing — even though it’s fluff and plastic.
Find a church that follows a simple “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” message, and there probably won’t be a big crowd, a ton of fanfare and much ado about nothing.
sooo tempted to post this on the generation unleashed facebook wall..
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You nailed it Anna. My church is no frills, just the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His saving grace. No crowds, no big tithers. Just people looking for Jesus. It’s the best church expereince I have ever been apart of, yet I don’t think it will ever draw the numbers the hype machines do.
Wow, so appreciative of these post
My last post was a little disparaging and discouraged.Â
Again re -searching and re-viewing what I put my faith in and followed can be discouraging.Â
But early this morning reminders of people I’ve known and heard about in history who’s lives of love in action put  feet on the real Jesus for me.Â
It’s reminding me of who I believe the Real Jesus is for me. One who loves me and every other human on earth.
How do I see that played out in practical real life.Â
I assumed it would be in a church because thats where the pastor said it would be. It finally occurred to me that a love so big and strong could not be possibly be confined within the walls of one church or two or denomination or three.Â
That for me  heroes of the Christian faith are not the televangelists nor the pastors preachers self appointed prophets or priests. It’s the ordinary people that take there christianity seriously and endeavor to live out the Christ in there lives for realÂ
I am thinking of  quiet steady Matt  on a Mission trip. Â
Who didnt talk much thru the trip but showed his love in actions with his hands.Â
On an hours long transcontinental flight  while I was just thinking of resting and getting home.  He chose and planned  to spend an hour  with each person (about 9 in all ) just to get to know them. to listen to them and love and find out who they were.Â
For no ulterior motive but just that to love and find who they were. It was a cherishing feeling to be on the receiving end of that.
I am thinking of people who recognized and quietly fought for a people treated as nonhuman and subhumane because of skin color.Â
Examples are the unknown Quakers in slavery times who homes constituted the underground railroad
The Christ love for all people shone in their daily  lives and actions. Risking their lives and families lives because the principle of love was stronger and they believed would endure longer.Â
I am thinking of actions that really SHOW love,respect and care.
Not just words or actions to LOOK like one cares in order to get donations or move oneself up.
Many names we will never know. Many which, dare I say,  may not even go by the label “Christian”Â
But whose actions and lives so actively demonstrate a love of people. It reminds of the stories of compassion
that Jesus had for people —like the woman caught in adultery.Â
Thinking of these examples is giving me hope.
-Respectively in search of the Real Jesus.
very well said willtherealJesus. I feel I too have been on a quest these recent years. It’s a lot like an old Neil Young song I like a lot even though it probably didn’t have christianity in mind. Anytime I hear it I think of the need for true christianity to be expressed instead of this phoney western hemisphere version we seem to have inherited. The miner part seems to be especially prophetic.
“Heart Of Gold”
I want to live,
I want to give
I’ve been a miner
for a heart of gold.
It’s these expressions
I never give
That keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
I’ve been to Hollywood
I’ve been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean
for a heart of gold
I’ve been in my mind,
it’s such a fine line
That keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
Keep me searching
for a heart of gold
You keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m growing old.
I’ve been a miner
for a heart of gold
And then there’s the prosperity gospel version: