Entertainment In Today's Churches
The bold newspaper ad read: "A Touch of Class - Raucous
Comedy - Live Bands - Hot Dance Moves."
Sound like a blurb for a local disco? Not on your life! It
heralded a special rally sponsored by the Youth For Christ in
Auckland, New Zealand. It was an effort, said the director, to
reach young people in a "creative way."
There is a tremendous emphasis on entertainment today in churches
and organizations across the land. We have to provide a
"thrill a minute." Nobody wants to be stuck with the
accusation that their youth program or church service is
"boring" because they simply worship God. Let's do
something, anything, to liven things up and put "spice"
into our services. Let's have fun.
A plethora of gimmicks are being employed today by those craving
to catch the attention of the
multitudes. Rock concerts, laser light shows, and assorted catchy
programs are designed to appeal to the jaded tastes of a
TV-drugged society.
Young preachers are often tempted. "Let's do something to
get a crowd. The church across town is
beating us." Sadly, some of them succumb.
Charles Spurgeon, the great English Baptist, declared with
feeling, "The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than
hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide
entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them...
providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the
Scriptures as a function of the Church...The need is biblical
doctrine, so understood and felt that it sets men of fire."
~ Ernest D. Pickering