Gimme That Showtime Religion
by John MacArthur
Can the church fight apathy and materialism by feeding people's
appetite for entertainment? Evidently many in the church believe
the answer is yes, as church after church jumps on the
show-business bandwagon. It is a troubling trend that is luring
many otherwise orthodox churches away from biblical
priorities.
Church buildings are being constructed like theatres. Instead of a
pulpit, the focus is a stage. Some feature massive platforms that
revolve or raise and lower, with colored lights and huge sound
boards. Shepherds are giving way to media specialists, programming
consultants, stage directors, special effects experts, and
choreographers.
The idea is to give the audience what they want. Tailor the church
service to whatever will draw a crowd. As a result, pastors are
more like politicians than shepherds, looking to appeal to the
public rather than leading and building the flock God gave them.
The congregation is served a slick, professional show, where drama,
pop music, and maybe a soft-sell sermon constitute the worship
service. But the emphasis isn't on worship, it's on
entertainment.
Underlying this trend is the notion that the church must sell the
gospel to unbelievers. Churches thus compete for the consumer on
the same level as the latest TV reality show or a major motion
picture. More and more churches are relying on marketing strategy
to sell the church.
That philosophy is the result of bad theology. It assumes that if
you package the gospel right, people will get saved. The whole
approach is rooted in Arminian theology. It views conversion as
fundamentally dependent on an act of the human will. Its goal is an
instantaneous, superficial decision rather than a radical change of
the heart.
Moreover, this whole Madison-Avenue corruption of Christianity
presumes that church services are primarily for recruiting
unbelievers. Many have abandoned worship as such. Others have
relegated conventional preaching to some small-group setting on a
weeknight. But that misses the point of Hebrews 10:24-25: "Let us
consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not
forsaking our own assembling together."
Acts 2:42 shows us the pattern the early church followed when they
met: "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles'
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to
prayer." Note that the early church's priorities clearly were to
worship God and to edify the brethren. The church came together for
worship and edification; it scattered to evangelize the
world.
Our Lord commissioned His disciples for evangelism in this way: "Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations" (Matt. 28:19).
Christ makes it clear that the church is not to wait for or invite
the world to come to its meetings, but to GO to the world. That is
a responsibility for every believer. I fear that an approach
emphasizing a palatable gospel presentation within the walls of the
church excuses the individual believer from his personal obligation
to be a light in the world (Matt. 5:16).
We have a society filled with people who want what they want when
they want it. They are into their own lifestyle, recreation, and
entertainment. When churches appeal to those selfish desires, they
only fuel that fire and hinder true godliness. Some of these
churches are growing exponentially while others that don't
entertain are struggling. Many church leaders want numerical growth
in their churches, so they are buying into the entertainment-first
philosophy.
Consider what this philosophy does to the gospel message itself.
Some will maintain that if biblical principles are presented, the
medium doesn't matter. That is nonsense. Why not have a real
carnival? A tattooed knife thrower who juggles chain saws could do
his thing while a barker shouts Bible verses. That would draw a
crowd. It's a bizarre scenario, but one that illustrates how the
medium can cheapen and corrupt the message.
And sadly, it's not terribly different from what is actually being
done in some churches. Punk-rockers, ventriloquists' dummies,
clowns, magicians, and show-business celebrities have taken the
place of the preacher--and they are depreciating the gospel. I do
believe we can be innovative and creative in how we present the
gospel, but we have to be careful to harmonize our methods with the
profound spiritual truth we are trying to convey. It is too easy to
trivialize the sacred message.
Don't be quick to embrace the trends of the high-tech
superchurches. And don't sneer at conventional worship and
preaching. We don't need clever approaches to get people saved (1
Cor. 1:21). We simply need to get back to preaching the truth and
planting the seed. If we're faithful in that, the soil God has
prepared will bear fruit.
Sad observation: More resources is used to keep people in churches
than getting them saved.
