Albeit late in the week, I’d like to briefly share the experience we had this past Sunday. From what I understand (please correct me if I’m wrong), New Pointe Community Church began in Dover, Ohio, and has since spread across Stark County to multiple campuses. We attended the Canton site this past week, where we were able to worship comfortably with three or four hundred other members of the body of Christ.
It’s a unique experience sitting in an auditorium watching a video screen, knowing that, somewhere, the speaker, Pastor Dwight Mason, was not only addressing a congregation directly in front of him, but three other congregations via similar video screens. Initially, it’s a weird feeling; I can get the same experience sitting in my underwear on the couch at home. And I’m certain this argument has been raised at board meetings and in critical reviews across the nation since this multi-campus church movement has taken off. However, the wonders of modern technology now allow for a multi-thousand member church to be ‘one,’ hearing the same vision, same teaching, from the same man simultaneously.
I would love to end my experience there, but, once again, I feel compelled to portray my experience and observations in its entirety, which has not always taken the form of positive niceties. As I shared after our first experience at a local megachurch, there seems to be a lack of biblical depth and foundation to the teaching. I’m concerned, personally, about what seems to be a trend in churches like this; we have begun watering down Sunday morning messages to appeal to those who might find biblical fundamentals too intimidating or overwhelming. The current series at New Pointe is Five Emotions That Will Destroy Your Life. This past week we learned about grief, and how improperly dealing with grief and loss will imminently erode your faith, your personal well-being, and your relationships. This is true, without question. But these kinds of psycho-emotional therapy lessons mirror the kind of well-being lessons taught by Dr. Phil and Oprah. Since we have stapled some Bible references to them, we can call it a ‘sermon’ (or ‘message,’ for those who find the word ‘sermon’ unpalatable).
Adding parenthetical Bible references to the outline of a college course on “Grief and Loss” doesn’t by default imply Biblical depth. I don’t at all want to imply that every sermon ever taught should be verse-by-verse exegesis, but there are certainly ways to approach issues like this from the Bible, instead of supplementing someone else’s material with God’s two-cents.
There tends to be quite a few of these churches that I have run across, and I have had the same experience. They tend to have AWESOME worship services, a lot of them open with a secular song to catch people's attention, and then they continue with some very talented musicians/singers leading us into worship (sort of) as they go from guitar solos, drum solos, vocal solos, etc...as if it were an audition for American Idol/America's Got Talent/etc. The sermons tend to be very "fluffy", "warm and fuzzy" and don't dig deep into the Word like you said. I don't know where the line is crossed, or if these churches have crossed the line, but we are to be in this world and not of it, to set ourselves apart. There are many arguments that tend to happen with this Scripture, and I am not a theologian nor a Greek/Hebrew scholar so I can't dig deep into the greater meaning of this passage, however, if we are making our churches out to cater more to the world we live in, are we becoming of this world?
ReplyDeleteThis may be a stretch for some as well, but what about music as well? It can be a powerful tool to bring one to Christ, however, are we imitating what is of this world? Is that how we are supposed to witness? Take for instance the heavy metal scene. There are plenty of Christian bands that are of this genre, including "Devil Wears Prada" and "For Today". These bands are very talented, grant it, however, they scream, grunt, and yes, oink, etc. and sound just like a secular heavy metal band. Their lyrics are different, but you wouldn't be able to decipher this unless you paid special attention. During their concerts (I've been to one) everyone just moshes and slams up against each other. All that to say, are we to imitate people of the world? I thought we were called to be imitators of Christ....?
I just came across this blog and I am finding it very interesting. I enjoy reading about Timothys experience at different churches. However I think that in Timothys reviews He really misses one major part of the story that could really change his opinion of his experiences. The part he is missing is called “a ministry model”. I can tell that Timothy does not understand some of the differences in ministry models of the churches that He visits. I can tell this especially when He talks about megachurches. Many megachurches have taken on a different approach to ministry in a effort to lead people to Christ who have never stepped in a church in their life time or those who have been hurt by the church in the past. This often involves designing a Sunday morning experience that is setup for the unchurched. Sunday morning is a spring board to start relationships with unbelievers. Most megachurches with then focus on small groups, and other types of groups that will meet people where they are at spiritually instead of shoving stuff down there throat from day one. For us who have gone to church our whole lives we may think that this approach is “watering down” the gospel to attract the mass but the honest truth is that churches with this model are reaching people and creating life change in people that would never be open the traditional church model. Its really about leading people to Christ and helping them grow in their relationship with Christ.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you so much for your feedback "anonymous". I completely agree that church should be all about leading people to Christ and helping them grow in their relationship with Christ. That is something that I've tried to convey throughout this entire journey. While the ministry courses I took during my undergrad had provided me with a general understanding of the concepts you described, they were neither the driving force nor the original intention of this experience. It was not my intent to employ theological and scholarly perspectives though they have their appropriate time and place. I am a laymen and my goal was simply to portray as accurate a picture of my brief interaction with each church as possible. The opinions included should be taken as simply that: opinion. Thanks for reading, and thanks again for your feedback.
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