Chris’ Thoughts

Easter has always been a day of celebration and remembrance.  As a church planter i also know it is the one day when many will attend a worship service for the only time this year. It shows a problem with the condition of Christianity. I do not have specific answers to solve the problem, but I am a little uncomfortable with what some churches are doing.

Our local papers (article here) have identified a few South Florida churches that are trying to change the trend of once-a-year attenders by dropping candy from a helicopter, offering starbuck’s gift certificates, and even adapting an egyptian play into an easter play.

There is no doubt that some will be attracted by this. It is reported that Flamingo Road’s (starbuck’s gift certificates) weekend services topped 8,500 in attendance. It was a huge jump in attendance.

I try not to be too critical about mega churches because many people find faith in Jesus through thier ministries. However, I wonder what Jesus would say about such marketing schemes.

What are your thoughts?

Last night I had the great privelage to speak at an older, established church. It was a great time of fellowship and also a very challenging time. We talked about our human desire to centralize and God’s desire for us to decentralize or spread out. The question I posed was a difficult one for most people in attendance. I believe some were not willing to even entertain the idea. The question was this: “What would happen to this church if all of its property was taken?”

There is no doubt that most of the people thought it would be a crushing blow. They said that there would be no place for them to gather and worship. They said that relationships would be strained. They said they would loose thier witness in the community and the ability to use combined finances and man-power to do ministry.

We then looked at a couple of passages in scripture (Gen 9:1; 11 Acts 1:7-8; 8:1-7) that show that one of our goals as the people of God is to multiply and fill the earth. In both of these passages God’s people were trying to centralize, but God did not allow it to happen. In Genesis he confused thier language and in Acts he allowed persecution to spread his witness out.

After working through these passages it was like light bulbs were turning on. People were starting to see how they had allowed a building to change thier mindset. And it is not that buildings are evil. Buildings are neutral. However, the ownership and maintenance of a building can shift the mindset and strategy of God’s people. Most churches that own buildings allow themselves to be preoccupied with what takes place inside the four walls instead of how much the world outside needs a viable, loving witness of Jesus.

Don’t misunderstand me, buildings are not evil nor are churches that own buildings. It is the mental trap most western churches have bought into that is dangerous.