5/15/2007
Author: Devin Pickard
Title: May 15, 2007
If you have been a member of the Church of Christ very long, you have no doubt heard the “entertainment issue” discussed, pondered, and questioned by those both inside and outside the Church. Just recently, I overheard someone discussing this very thing with a friend. The conversation went something like this: “You know, nowadays most people aren’t going to go to church unless they are entertained, especially the young people. Everywhere they go they have to have something that keeps their attention, and church is certainly no exception.” I think I can safely say that frustration was the root cause of this statement being made. It was said with negative overtones insinuating that the Lord’s Church should have no part in such a thing. I want to go on record as being in agreement with what he said, but not with how he said it.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like being entertained. I dare say that a majority of the homes in Hickman County have either satellite or cable television, and many of those don’t just have the basic channels. Lots of folks have the top of the line packages that have several movie channels, sports programming and anything else you could possibly want. We spend big bucks on sporting events, concerts, movie rentals, vacations, summer camps, and all kinds of other stuff to do what?.....keep us entertained and help us to enjoy ourselves. Somehow though, there are many within the Church who feel that worship should have no entertaining aspects or qualities at all. The crux of this debate really depends on what one’s definition of “church entertainment” is.
I don’t know about you, but I have heard many ministers, yes even some in our brotherhood, who I thought were very entertaining. They could have stood in that pulpit and preached for an hour and it would have seemed like 10 minutes. These are the kind of guys who you hate to see sit down. I would have rather listened to them preach than watch the funniest episode of Andy Griffith. I dare say there were many preachers of yesteryear who had that effect on their audiences. I never had a chance to hear him in person, but I understand that Marshall Keeble was what I would consider to be an entertaining speaker. He could preach the truth to you in a way that would have your toes hurtin’, but make you want to come back the next night for more. I have always enjoyed listening to and watching Bro. Artie Collins. Many of you know what I mean. Bro. Collins is a master of the “flip-chart”. His lessons are just as visual as they are vocal. To me, his messages have some entertaining value. They are thought provoking and easy to remember. Even Jesus realized the need to use stories (parables) and visual illustrations (miracles) to convince people of his heavenly origin and the ultimate need for dependence on him. If you don’t think raising the dead or feeding thousands of people with just a lunch box full of food had at least an ounce or two of entertaining, mesmerizing value, try watching David Copperfield sometime. People pay lots of money to see his illusions, and guess what, they are all fake.....Jesus was no illusionist, he was the real deal; with him there was no slight of hand displayed or “Abracadabra!” uttered. Fame was not the desired end result for the Son of Man. Saved souls were the order of the day. Sometimes book, chapter, and verse would suffice. Sometimes it would take more. As long as our Lord could put another notch in his belt, he didn’t seem to care how it got there.
I know what most well intentioned “anti-entertainment” church members think. “Today, they have a gym and powerpoint. Tomorrow, they’ll have a 5 piece band on stage with a jumbo-tron suspended in the middle of the auditorium. The deacons will be shooting t-shirts into the audience during Sunday morning worship with a gigantic sling-shot and vendors will be walking down the middle aisle hawking cotton candy and popcorn.” Certainly, none of those things are going to happen, at least at Fairfield, but there are some who would say that is the direction that this church and others like us are headed. Our elders have decided that there is more than one way to skin a cat. (sorry cat lovers, it’s just an expression) Whether it be through a power-point presentation or children’s church, a basketball game or a puppet show, we are in the business of getting people’s attention. Don’t fool yourself, we are in a battle with Satan for the souls of our neighbors. He would just as soon us sit idly by and continue doing things in a 19th century way while he wows them with his 21st century technology of pitfalls and sin. He would rather we let our young people fall by the wayside and push them in a corner somewhere than get them involved in activities with other young Christians. He wants us to forget our single members and young married couples and not minister to them through events, functions, and classes geared to their specific needs. These things would make him a happy camper.
The devil is getting exactly what he wants. Most people show up at church once a week, get their card punched, and move on. They do not become involved in the Lord’s work, partly because the “Lord’s work” for most Churches is simply paying the electric bill, supporting a Church somewhere in the world that they will never visit, and paying the preacher for 20 minutes of his time. These are some of the same people who frown on us for trying to be compact disc evangelists rather than being Jule Miller filmstrip evangelists. No doubt, Jule Miller’s messages will never be outdated. They come from the same Bible that we still read. It will never become obsolete. But, filmstrips are from an era that will probably never return. CD’s will soon become extinct and will be replaced by something better. If Satan has his way, Christians will someday become extinct. If the MLEC bill is the only worry we have in our Churches, we are just one step away from being a Guam Flying Fox. Ever seen one? I didn’t think so. Once, you could. Look it up.
Go the extra mile - Devin