ENTERTAINED TO DEATH
By Eric Barger
"The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than
hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for
the people, with a view to winning them....My first contention is that providing
amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of
the church. If it is a Christian work, why did not Christ speak of it?...Again,
providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ
and all his apostles."
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
(From "Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?" The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, New
Horizons, March 2001)
"Beware of the leaven (destructive forces) of worldly pleasures, for its
working is silent but sure, and a little of it will leaven the whole lump (take
over and destroy). Keep up the distinction between a Christian and an unbeliever
and make it clearer every day....Avoid the appearance of evil. 'But we must not
be too rigid,' says one. There is no fear of that in these days. You will never
go too far in holiness, nor become too like your Lord Jesus. If anybody accuses
you of being too strict and precise, do not grieve but try to deserve the
charge. I cannot suppose that at the last great day our Lord Jesus Christ will
say to anyone, 'You were not worldly enough.'"
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
(From "Places of Entertainment" SWORD & TROWELL, Issue 1995 No. 2, The
Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, Editor: Dr. Peter Masters)
Since the very beginning one of our focuses has been to speak out about the
effects of entertainment on society, in particular the Church. Though others,
such as the late Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death), have denoted that
particular mediums through which people are entertained (i.e. television) are
destroying our culture, in all of these years I have never intimated that being
entertained is in itself wrong. I don't believe this is what Spurgeon was
driving at either. To have a harmless diversion, hobby, activity or interest -
something we refer to as "entertainment" is not necessarily an evil practice.
As with Spurgeon, my concern is the trend of making
entertainment a basis for Sunday services and an enticement to draw people to
church.
So then, is it wrong to find church entertaining? Do I believe that there can be
nothing entertaining in our services including joy and laughter? The answer is
unequivocally NO. This is not at all what I'm saying. Is it a mark of godliness
for a Christian to appear as if he has just ingested prune soup? Of course not.
It doesn't witness the love, peace, joy and hope of Christ for us to be dour and
gloomy. Some of the most inspirational and impactful services I have ever taken
part in were at times also entertaining. However, it would
appear that in today's Church many local congregations and their leadership have
determined to make entertainment, pleasure and emotional and sensory comforts of
the seeker the focal point. Here in lies the problem. I believe that
Spurgeon would agree.
It is the foremost mission of the Church to stand for the truth of God's word.
In doing so the Church must build up (teach and inform), edify and comfort the
saints and reach out to the lost. It is our task to make the world aware of the
opportunity for all men to know God though a personal relationship with His Son,
Jesus Christ. It is also recumbent on us to make known that certain, final and
eternal judgment awaits ALL who reject Jesus. However, as Spurgeon believed, it
is clearly outside of the biblical and historical model for the Church to use
entertainment for the sake of just entertaining or as a primary tool to entice
people to attend services which runs completely counter to the prevailing
mindset being embraced by many Christian leaders today.
Why the Change?
Perhaps due to shrinking attendance and growing expenses, some evangelicals have
slowly adopted the notion of "giving the people what they want" as their church
plan. Now seen as "old fashioned", "outdated" and "negative" are the biblical
ideals of discipleship, doctrine, righteousness, victory over evil and the
conquering of sin. At any rate, this is the underlying rational being forwarded
by a number of today's popular growth gurus. Those whose books and teaching have
lead the Church away from biblical thinking have probably done so without
overtly malicious intent. Nevertheless, the popularization of the so-called
"positive gospels" have come from a non-historical basis, a mix of bad theology
and a "change or die" church growth mentality. Here is a case in point.
Before Rick Warren opened the doors of Saddleback Church in southern California
in 1980, he conducted a poll of the residents in the surrounding area as to what
kind of church they wanted. With results in hand, Warren then proceeded to model
his church after the suggestions of the generally unsaved population. As
Saddleback rose to mega-church status, Warren's plan for church growth gained
widespread popularity and success. This success - based on sheer numbers in the
seats - in turn gave him the platform with which to further permeate the
evangelical world with errant theology focusing on earthly "purpose" and not
eternity complete with a non-biblical plan of salvation and a complete disdain
for sound doctrine. (See "Our Disturbing Spiritual Condition" and "Will They Say
of Us, 'They WERE the Evangelicals?'")
Just think where we'd be today if the Apostle Peter would
have stuck his proverbial finger in the air to see which way the wind of worldly
opinion was blowing in his day! "Give 'em what they want" is not and never has
been an authentic God-ordained strategy for growth. In fact, it is indeed
a mirror opposite of the plan which the Bible demands those called into
leadership to follow. Have we forgotten that though the modern church growth
plans may translate into more warm bodies in the pews that that in itself is not
at all the mark of success? Injecting our ideas and introducing what often
amounts to worldly compromise - all to attain the goal of church growth - is
actually a deceptive and dangerous strategy for leaders.
Far worse
though, compromising leaders help propagate lukewarm "religious" followers with
no sense of godly biblical standards who miss the awe, reverence and
supernatural power of God.
One common thread, notoriously absent from "seeker sensitive" and "Purpose
Driven" churches, is preaching with the conviction, anointing and fire of the
Holy Ghost with a focus on driving the world out of the Church. Instead, when
church leadership fixate on anything but the entire counsel of Scripture, the
attitudes and compromises of the world seem to be invited guests in our
congregations - not rogue intruders.
What we read of in the Gospels and the Book of Acts set Believers aside from the
crowd with teachings and spiritual visitations that helped cause the lost to
become authentic followers. The teaching of Christ and the Apostles drew yet
divided the masses as the power of God rocked their world to its foundation. In
modern times however, so many in the Church seem to wish to see how close to the
world they can walk – instead of how close to God’s truth they can live.
Certainly, some of this is simply the work of the flesh. However, the spiritual
vacuum many churches are experiencing is the result of leadership depending on
whatever is popular in the culture instead of focusing on the Bible for
operating instructions.
Many churches are counting on the entertainment factor to
carry them because they are in fact void of spiritual depth and power. No
matter how well executed or presented, "special effects", trite skits or
"positive" sermonettes are just so much drivel without the supernatural hand of
God upon them. Perhaps, in the natural, it is simply easier to attract and then
appease the carnality of men instead of making the uncomfortable stands which
God's word implores us to make. If we lead our congregations to focus on
shallow, eternally vacant and theologically errant gimmicks like the "Forty Days
of Purpose" then praying, fasting, studying and seeking God for a bona fide
supernatural encounter such as the early Church regularly experienced will seem
far less risky or important. God help us!
Bored to Tears?
So, does church have to be boring to be biblical? Of course not. We can and
should make church as interesting and compelling as possible. But does being
so-called "relevant" always maintain a focus and God's will and word? Frankly, I
am nauseated from hearing the cliché phrase "we're just trying to be relevant"
come from the mouth of preachers who are simply (sometimes ignorantly) using it
as an excuse to toy with forsaking the tried and true mission given to the
Church by God. The message in countless once powerful evangelical and
Pentecostal churches is suffering from trying to change their approach.
Why? Because along with a new way of "doing church" the
true fire, anointing and zeal for souls has often given way to how to please the
people. At least the wacked-out Emergent Church admits they don't want or
don't know to follow orthodoxy. But the truth be told, staggering numbers of
others have adopted the Emergent line that "all change is good", which in the
case of the Emergent crowd often means adopting aberrant spirituality and
calling it "Christian."
If the end really did justify the means then all of the various methods for
church growth that we see floating about today would be peachy. But chances are,
any church bent on providing what the flesh of the lost are looking for is doing
so by abandoning the model found in the Book of Acts. And there again is the
bone I have to pick with those who contend that to be "relevant" the church must
strive to entertain and to "give the people what they want."
The misguided brethren and their market-driven
approach have crowned the consumer king rather than Jesus. The
manifestos of Warren and Hybels hold greater sway than that of Peter and Paul.
And though they've drawn a crowd, they've not drawn aside to seek God for
direction and understanding. As is proven by the rotted spiritual fruit
emanating from the ministries of those who have done so, many of these "new"
techniques ignore giving the people what they need - the unadulterated gospel of
Jesus Christ as taught by the Apostles including repentance, submission,
holiness and the truth about Heaven - and Hell.
Hard to Find?
Upon moving to where we now live, we looked long and hard to find a church for
our family. It was indeed a long, trying and often-bleak search but we praise
God that He has led us to a place and a pastor who has successfully bridged the
relevancy gap while clinging tenaciously to the Word of God. The church Melanie
and I attend cleverly utilizes technology such as world-class video in the
services each week. Our pastor is humorous, personable and yes, relevant. At
about forty, he is one of the most tech friendly people that I know and
understands that media can reach the next generation for Jesus. However, I have
never heard him compromise in his preaching of the Bible. God has put an uncanny
evangelistic zeal and anointing on him as well. Though I am gone many Sunday's
out on the road preaching, when I am able to be at our home church I often feel
entertained but am always ministered to and challenged by God's word. (Thanks
Pastor for remaining true to God's word when conventional thinking screams that
a church cannot be built by speaking out about sin, righteousness and the power
of the Blood!)
To all of those who share in leadership, I challenge you to adopt and never
waver from the plan found in Acts instead of the nonsense many seem to think
will attract the world to our doors on Sunday. For all of those confident that
we can attract and somehow convert the world to our side if we "just give 'em
what they want" I ask, since when do we think that the whole world is going to
buy into authentic Christianity anyway? Some will because they are convicted by
God and drawn by the Holy Ghost but the majority will not.
The liberalism that permeates the old denominations has miserably failed God and
the unsaved and now some supposed evangelicals feel that if we just tone down
the message a bit and stop talking anything deemed as negative we'll flourish?
Ridiculous! Sheer numbers maybe, but making true
converts and disciples are quite another matter. We are surely not doing
those lost in the world any favors by changing the only message that can redeem
them - all because we think the truth will turn them off! Let's stop trying to
play the part of the Holy Ghost, and make our stand with the biblical plan
instead of one devised of ourselves.
Jesus Prayed: I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because
they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the
evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. - John 17:14-16
------------------------------