One of the reasons my husband choose to visit Jamaica for our honeymoon was that he is a huge reggae fan. We were told by friends who had visited before that the music would permeate our entire trip, that we would encounter native Jamaican music from the time we landed until we went home. I'll admit, I wasn't really relishing the thought of being surrounded by a million songs that all sounded the same, but Andy was, and I was chalking this up to doing things you don't like for people you love.
Imagine our surprise when every where we went in Jamaica we heard not Reggae music, but a familiar, painful noise-Lady Gaga. Literally, every location we visited we heard "telephone", "just dance", and "bad romance". She was repeatedly referenced by Jamaicans we met. Even when we went on our dolphin encounter, where we swam with the dolphins (again, a show of my love for my husband), the trainer claimed the dolphin liked to dance to Gaga music and instructed us to sing one of her tunes.
I realized what they were doing. They were trying to give the Americans what they thought we wanted. The referenced her because they assumed we were fans and wanted what we could get at home. They were wrong. We were expecting something different. I mean, if we wanted to be submerged in American culture, we would've spent less money and stayed in the states. And seriously, if we stayed in the U.S. we could've gotten much better music than being subjected to whatever it is she does. But I digress...
It occurs to me that the Jamaicans were doing something that our churches do on a weekly basis. They were giving us what they thought we wanted, instead of giving us the authentic experience we were seeking. This is what happens in churches that try to pattern themselves after the world. Don't get me wrong, I am all for progress and modernization, but I've sat through enough services that were turned into concerts in churches where a sanctuary was turned into circus tent to watch a preacher behave like a ring master to know that this is a real situation.
We will never be as good at entertaining as the world, that's a fact. So why are we wasting time, money, and energy chasing things of this world? I often hear people say they have to create this type of environment to woo the "secular crowd". Stop kidding yourself. Given a choice between paying a flat rate for a ticket to an over the top experience or attending a church that will look like a second rate version and then being prodded for an offering once, twice, or even three times in a service, any "worldly" person would pick the former.
If they want a show, they will go to a show. If they come to your church it's because they are seeking something different, something authentic. Again, there is nothing wrong with making some changes, but the problem becomes when we forget what the church's purpose is.
We are not entertainers.
We are not rock stars.
We are not magicians.
We are a chosen generation.
We are a peculiar people.
We are God's possession.
Romans 12:2 pleads, "don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is."
If you want a church that knows the voice and will of God, start by having a church that doesn't produce cheap copies of the world, and instead give them the authentic experience they are craving that can be satisfied no where else.
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