|
LOVE JESUS, HATE CHURCH |
JULY 2006
 The
Reformation has finally begun!
Are
you a part of it?
Jesus said, "We
must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is
coming when no one can work." John 9:4
I
know your inbox is probably flooded with hundreds of emails that you
don't have the time to scan, let alone read. Mine is. Ugh.
So,
to be a good steward of your time, let me just cut to the chase about
the purpose of this month's newsletter.
In
a nutshell, Back2Acts Productions is presenting the Love
Jesus, Hate Church: How to Survive in Church— or Die Trying!
Church Reformation Series. We are at this time trying to
finalize our schedule for the Summer and Fall.
This
time of teaching and reflection is a must for any church or pastor or... er,...well,
anyone who has experienced the Love Jesus, Hate Church
phenomena— or for anyone who wants to guard themselves against
experiencing the Love Jesus, Hate Church type of hurt that often
takes place behind sanctified church walls.
Get
the picture? I thought so.
Oh,
and what does the Love Jesus, Hate Church Reformation try to
accomplish? Pretty much the same thing Love Jesus, Hate Church
the book, tries to accomplish. Only we do this in one or a series
of sermons, much like a revival, that's designed to present the Church
in the light Christ intended, and not in the apathy most of us currently
live in.
To listen to and sample a recent
Love Jesus, Hate Church
Reformation sermon (dealing with life in the two kingdoms), simply
click -
HERE
You can also
download the mp3 with a simple
click -
HERE
If
you're a pastor, church leader, or simply a concerned church member and
would like some information on how to have us come to your church and
begin the Love Jesus, Hate Church Reformation, just click -
HERE
I hope to hear from you soon.
Until next time,
Steve McCranie
"You know, this ain't the way church is suppose to be.
Something
must be wrong, bad wrong."
Disclaimer:
This newsletter, by design, cuts no slack when it comes to confronting
the Love Jesus, Hate Church phenomena that seems to make up much
of the current, contemporary church of today. So, if you’re looking for
a lame, watered-down, skim-milk type of newsletter that will share with
you meaningless, feel-good tidbits of stuff you probably already know—
well, you’re in the wrong place.
But if you want truth— no holds barred, no apologies and no compromise
truth— then please, read on.
True Worship or—
Oh My God!
Quick question for you: “What is worship?”
Oh, come on, you and I both know you’ve asked yourself the same
question.
“What is worship?”
Ok, let me elaborate. Is worship limited to what we do on Sunday? You know, is
worship joyfully singing songs led by a choir, or maybe a worship team,
or band, or a mini-orchestra— or maybe just some old guy in
a navy blue
suit waving his arms back and forth at us in a Mr. Miyagi, “wash on, wash
off” kind of fashion?
Is that worship?
Or is worship more about what we do in church? How we respond?
When we, in unison and right on cue, raise our hands in a trained,
knee-jerk, Pavlov’s dog type of response to when the worship leader
raises his hands— is that worship? Is that what God is looking for? Is
God all about making sure we display some canned, patented, outward and
socially acceptable sign, like clapping when the worship leader tells us
its time to clap, for Him to know that we worship? Is that what it takes
for us to be the kind of people Jesus said the “Father seeks to be His
worshippers?”
Is it all about what we do on the outside?
Or, is it more about what we experience on the inside? Is God more
concerned about our emotional state during the Sunday morning worship
service? You know, did we cry? Did we feel warm and fuzzy and bubbly? Were we moved to tears like we were the first time we saw “Old Yeller”
or some other tear-jerking movie?
Is that worship?
And, if so, is that the kind of worship that pleases the Lord?
Ah yes, the question about worship— What is it and when do we know
if it’s
happening?— is now the classic $64,000 question among church circles
today.
What is worship? And when do we know
if it’s happening?
Good questions.
Books, one after another, have recently been
published that present the notion that you can tell when people are in true worship by how loud
they sing, or how long they stand, or how high they raise their hands. Then, based on the Worship Leader’s ability to get a group of people to
sing loud and stand long and point high, they become an expert on modern
worship. Really? Sounds like Christian crowd manipulation to me.
“This last Sunday everybody was worshipping the Lord!”
“Really, how do you know?”
“They all had their eyes closed and were raising their hands.”
Yawn.
Worship Leaders, or Lead Worshippers as they are often called in more
progressive, mini-mega churches, claim to have been spiritually gifted
in their ability to “take us into the very presence of God” through
their God-given musical talents, showmanship or natural charisma. More
often than not, they end up being little more than sad excuses for rock
star wannabes— if you know what I mean.
Worship or—
the Rock Star Wannabe
For example, this past April I, along with 3,000 others, had the
opportunity to attend the Gospel Music Association (GMA) Christian Music
Week conference in Nashville, Tennessee. GMA Week, as it is called
in the industry, is marketed as the premiere annual Christian
music industry conference event and showcase.
And, to be honest... it pretty much was.
The Sunday morning session of the conference (known as
the GMA Chapel Service) was led by a Worship Leader named Lincoln
Brewster, a very talented guitar player. I assume he was chosen to
come to GMA because he must have possessed that enlightened gift
of being able to bring people into the presence of God— to be the
lead worshipper at GMA. To be the kind of worshippers "the
Father seeks to be His worshippers."
What a crock!
All it turned out to be was a platform for Lincoln to
showcase his considerable guitar talent and perform for a conference
room full of brain-dead morons. Oh, do I seem a bit cynical?
Maybe I am. And you would probably feel the same way if you sat on
the fifth row of the GMA sanctioned Chapel Service (their excuse for
church) and watched throngs of people, who should know better, slip down
front to take flash photos of Lincoln playing his guitar for them.
Yep, flash photos of the lead worshipper leading us into the
presence of God.
It was enough, as Jesus would say, “to vomit them out of my mouth.”
After a set or two of songs from Lincoln's new
CD, “on sale now at the table in the back” he closed with the statement,
“Hey, is it OK to play guitar in church?” Whereas the crowd of music/radio/retail professionals screamed,
“Yeah! Give us more! Entertain us! Show us your glory, Lincoln!”
Right. Show us your glory, Lincoln.
It was nauseating.
I mean, there we were in Nashville at the Gospel Music Association Sunday
Chapel service watching the focus of worship center on anything other than Christ. In fact, I’m pretty sure He wasn’t
even there. Must not have had a pass. Yeah, I'm pretty
sure Jesus wouldn't have come within miles of a service designed to entertain and promote man— and
not God.
And nobody seemed to be bothered by it at all.
One after another, like groupies at a rock concert, middle-aged adults,
Christian industry professionals, would come
from the back and kneel at the foot of the stage, at their makeshift
altar, to take pictures of Lincoln Brewster and his church band as they performed for us. For us! And
all this at
a time specifically set aside to worship the Lord.
And then, to rub salt into the nail wounds of Jesus, the emcee of the service said at the end, “Thanks for coming and worshiping with us this
Sunday morning. Wow! We really had church here today! Sponsored by
Integrity Music.”
Oh, gag, barf, heave, vomit, splat.
Church— sponsored by Integrity Music. Moneychangers and
overturned tables.
Worship or—
Hey, we don't know what
worship looks like!
Come on, sure you
do. We all do.
I hear that line of self-justifying garbage every day.
Usually from burned-out pastors or worship leaders who are a bit
offended by this kind of a Love Jesus, Hate Church message.
The fact is, we all know exactly what worship looks like.
We've just never seen much of it in a church setting before.
Let me give you an example.
In early June, a favorite rock band announces they are
coming to your town— third stop of their 65 city world tour. You
pick the band: Stones, Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Keith Urban... hey, it
doesn't matter. Any band will do.
As soon as the tickets hit the street, people find out
and voluntarily pluck down $125 bucks for front-row seats to a concert
scheduled for January the following year. How did they get front
row seats? Simple. They camped out for 23 straight hours, in
92 degree heat and afternoon rain showers, in front of the Ticketmaster
window to make sure they were able to get tickets so close to the stage
they might actually be able to reach out and touch the shoes of the
artist.
"Wow! Can you imagine! I'm going to be on
the front row! On the front row! Maybe they'll
even look at me when they sing my favorite song. Maybe they'll
even smile! Oh God, I can't wait! I'm so excited!"
Then, for the next eight months their life is literally
framed by the $125 ticket they have hidden in their top dresser drawer.
Every day, first thing in the morning and the last thing they do at
night, they take out the ticket and rub it gently and lovingly between
their fingers, feeling the smooth texture of the stock and reading
aloud, over and over again like a mantra or incantation, the soothing
words printed in courier font on the front. Ah, those four
small words that have given hope and security to their troubled and
mediocre life.
"Row 1, Seat 14."
How peaceful they feel when they say those words.
How blessed. When their friends also buy tickets, they
are first to point out that they are on the front row, center stage.
Ah, they marvel at how good, natural, and satisfying envy feels when others envy you.
"Wow. How did you get front row seats? What
did you have to do?"
"Pay the price. Show the devotion. Put in
the time."
The day of the concert is circled in red on their
calendar, on every calendar for that matter. Nothing will
deter them from that day. Nothing.
Not even the rapture!
When the day of the concert comes, after eight long
months of waiting, their mind and emotions run amuck— they can think of
nothing else. All of life, every responsibility and every
relationship, is put on hold. Meticulously, they dress in their
very best clothes, wearing the same attire that hopefully the artist
will be wearing. Why? Because we always want to emulate
those we love. After all, imitation is the highest form of
flattery.
Show begins, and for the next two hours— screaming at
the top of their lungs and casting all restraint and self-awareness
aside, hands raised high, waving in the air like wheat blown by the
August wind, fingers open wide like a trusting infant, stretching,
straining, reaching out to the star, hoping against all hope to just be
able to touch his feet as he walks by on the stage— they show their
devotion by singing back to the star the very songs the star wrote.
"Look, I know all your songs! I've memorized all
your songs! Look at me! I love your songs! And I love
you! Look at me! Please, just look at me!"
And when the concert is over? Well, they talk
about their experience and their joy and count the days until they can
do it again.
Why?
Because they worshipped. Oh yeah, they worshipped.
Final Word...
Have you ever worshipped the Lord like that?
Didn't think so.
Have you ever wondered why?
If the world knows how to worship its gods, don't you
think you and I, as the church, can worship the true God? I sure
do.
"And what if we don't?" you ask.
Well, that's one of the reasons that countless people
Love Jesus and Hate Church, isn't it?
To receive these
Love Jesus, Hate Church
email newsletters,
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