Visited a church today but apparently made a wrong turn into a rock concert featuring a stand-up comic.

Visited a church today but apparently made a wrong turn into a rock concert featuring a stand-up comic. It seemed that the people in the warehouse-style, blackened interior building love God and are doing good works. And the church reaches many people, including many who arguably might not attend a traditional church. But in the long run, and considering the universal mission of the Church for every believer, it seems a grave mistake to shed the inheritance of millennia of Christianity and instead adopt a contemporary culture-conforming style that smacks of niche marketing (i.e., to 18-35 y-o casuals raised on videos). A rock concert performance featured mantra-like, emotional choruses. Some songs inspired while other insipid lyrics betrayed the shallowness of experience and theology from which they sprang. The music required enthusiasm, ear protection and standing longer than anyone outside the target young market likely can endure. Eventually the passionate performance yielded the stage to a young pastor. He dressed casually, as if the Sabbath were the same as Saturday, deliberately shunning any vestige of symbol or tradition. Modernity rules this church. The affable pastor, hip and clever, sprinkled his entertainment-laden message with biblical truths that would ably (preferably) stand by themselves, but instead he insisted on translating those truths into trite maxims. He repeated these aphorisms several times, pausing for emphasis. But the commercial-style phrases did not seem especially worthy of memorization and certainly not of canonization. This seeker-friendly, culture-accommodating production was arguably well-intentioned. But the whole approach reeks of human concoction. It seems to disdain following biblical patterns and arrogantly eschews the rich lessons and contributions of church history. In the end, though its leaders doubtless seek to raise up Christ and honor God, the very nature of the service neglects the vital elements of reverence, holiness and sanctity that serve to remind us that God is in heaven and we are on earth. He is our loving Father, yes, but He is also, as Scripture reminds us, a "consuming fire."

Consider that God chose John the Baptist and a stark call to repentance to prepare the way for the Christ. Would today's sensitive, non-offending church welcome the Baptist to preach?

God does not need our marketing savvy to reach the lost. Our cleverest strategy is no substitute for the Holy Spirit's power.

All of our smooth and soothing efforts to lower people's resistance can fail to reveal the One who draws all men to Himself. Our feverish stirrings of energy and enthusiasm can function as a cacophany, drowning out the quiet strains of real Christianity that resonate with anyone truly seeking Christ. Can we please reconsider this path and return to our biblical and historical roots? Can we forego all the clever and "persuasive words of wisdom" and return to the "demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God"1( Corinthians 2:4-5)?For more about that, see ​my new and brief devotional, Walking on Water.