Posted on 05/15/2019 8:35:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, recently criticized the amusement-driven church and encouraged Christians to participate in the Body of Christ for the purposes of discipleship and community — not entertainment.
In a sermon delivered May 12, Chandler shared how, shortly after he began his ministry at The Village Church, his congregation grew from several hundred to several thousand.
“My passion has not changed. I do not want to be a conference speaker. That is not what we’re doing,” he said.
“You and I are so overstimulated, you and I are so overwhelmed with fast-paced, energized entertainment that we have developed a real idealized sense of life with a real low pain tolerance. The Church herself no longer is about discipleship, no longer is about being shaped, no longer is it about being formed. It’s about being entertained in the gathering.”
While The Village Church continues to expand, the pastor emphasized that his plan is “not to ever develop an arena culture.”
An “arena culture” expects everything to be “put together when we arrive,” Chandler explained, adding: “This is family. This isn’t showing up with a swag bag under our chair and everything done for us. This is us serving one another that shows that our personal preferences are secondary to the manifold wisdom of God being made visible among us.”
“I’m not interested in it (arena culture),” he said. “I want to grow together and that doesn’t happen by preaching sermons. That happens when we’re on the ground together.”
“I want to reorient your mind around what it means to belong to a church,” he continued, gesturing to his congregation. “It’s not this. This is breathing in, being nourished, so that we can get back out and do the work of ministry.”
Citing Ephesians 3:7-10, Chandler declared, “You have been uniquely wired by God and gifted by the Holy Spirit.”
“My job, and the job of vocational ministers, is not to do the work of ministry, but rather help you see, spot, be trained in your giftedness and then unleash that giftedness on the world around us so that you have been called to ministry,” he said.
“We’ve got it all backwards. Y’all think we have been called to ministry and that’s why the manifold wisdom of God isn’t seen globally, because it’s not that The Village Church has 50 ministers, it’s that The Village Church has 6,000 ministers. That’s how the manifold wisdom of God is seen.”
Christians are called to image the Creator God wherever they are, Chandler said, and that begins with the home and workplace.
“It’s not that you’ve got a job and you’ve got a ministry,” he said. “No, your ministry is your job. You can’t separate those out ... God’s call on your life is to faithfully work where you are doing, doing the work of reconciliation and being an ambassador of Christ ... the eternal weight behind everything you’re doing is crazy significant.”
Chandler pointed out that in Acts, Paul warns the Ephesians, “After I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.”
“How do you fight that? You walk with one another in community, you encourage one another in your giftedness, and you embrace that you’ve been called a minister of reconciliation and an ambassador of Christ for the building up of the body,” he said.
Far too many people, Chandler warned, are interested in the more external elements of ministry — such as impressive light shows and worship bands — instead of actually growing the Kingdom of God.
“If you just like what we do, all of it’s online for free,” he emphasized. “Listen to it on Tuesday and go where there are fireworks. Because I don’t want to turn away people who don’t know Jesus so that you can come and listen to the music you like, or because you think occasionally I’m funny.”
“I don’t want to not have seats for those who say, ‘I want to grow in my gift, I want to know what it’s like to live for Jesus 24/7.’ There is more in you than you think there is. That’s one of my favorite things as a pastor, is watching that come alive.”
A Fuller Youth Institute study of 250 congregations found that youth and young adults want substance rather than style, hip pastors, or big budgets.
Pastors and church leaders have long warned of the dangers of the entertainment and amusement-driven church.
During a sermon delivered at the National Religious Broadcasters’ International Christian Media Convention, H.B. Charles Jr., pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, said that the biblical instruction to “rejoice with trembling” in Psalm 2 is “one of the most succinct definitions of worship in Scripture.”
“When we worship God together, it shouldn’t be like a funeral or sitting in the doctor’s office or being stuck in traffic. We should rejoice,” he said.
“As we rejoice, our worship should not be an emotional response to man-centered entertainment masquerading as worship. As we rejoice, we should recognize the holiness and the sovereignty and the majesty of Almighty God.”
Its also a great place for dudes to meet other dudes, and chicks to get free abortions
For me, church is about fellowship and some high level teaching, Sunday school is about fellowship and deeper teaching, and Wednesday “at home” gatherings are about fellowship and teaching.
YMMV.
Nobody “needs” to go to church to be a Christian.
Churches are feminized:
“Jesus is your boyfriend.”
Guys need something and they’re not getting it.
Lyrics PROJECTED cuz people don’t like books.
Man, that is SAD.
“ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?”
Where the hell did you come up with that? I doubt either of those activities are condoned at that particular church.
“Nobody “needs” to go to church to be a Christian.”
I have many tell me the opposite. I don’t feel that I am any different if I don’t attend on Sunday’s. The Bible is my guide.
Most of the churches are now “feel good” or “keep them entertained” and I don’t want any part of that.
I don’t care for this myself.
Well, I did put “need” in quotes. I think church is very valuable, mostly for the fellowship. I can pray at home, read at home, study at home and even take communion at home.
However, Church gets me into the christian community in a lot of useful ways. I often say, “I go to church to bless others and be blessed by others.” It’s a communal thing.
It is a grammatical use of hyperbole to point out that slowly but surely liberals are infiltrating churches world wide to the point that anybody who attended church 50 or a hundred years ago would be absolutely horrified to see what is becoming normal today. I often speak in exaggeration and hyperbole to highlight absurdity, it is most peoples least favorite trait of mine (Trump speaks like this too, it is also the reason some people despise Trump and accuse him of lying. I am old enough that I no longer care if it annoys people. Same reason why I don’t own any curtains.
Hebrews 10:25 (NASB) ... not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging [one another;] and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
A sort of “spiritual cruise ship”
Hebrews 10:25 (NASB) ... not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging [one another;] and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
That is why I think gathering with other believers is important, but not a requirement. And you’re better off if you do it.
You personally may not feel the need to go to church, but that may only be one side of the story. There may be that one lost or searching individual who will be blessed and assured by your presence at just the precise moment you are at church. Fellowship at church is a necessity to guard against the ravages and attacks by the ungodly world.
ptsal
???
Entertainment? Isn’t THAT wtf Media is all about?
Gubmint?
Politicians?
CopRayDhuns?
On and on!
Keep da sheeple up to hear on it!
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GunnyG@PlanetWTF?
+++++++++++++++++++++
???
Entertainment? Isn’t THAT wtf Media is all about?
Gubmint?
Politicians?
CopRayDhuns?
On and on!
Keep da sheeple up to hear on it!
*************************
GunnyG@PlanetWTF?
+++++++++++++++++++++
I belong to a small church, just under 300 members.
I run the video board that displays scriptures and music lyrics. Music can be considered entertainment, we call it “Praise”. Music is what got me thru the door the 1st time, and had me return the 2nd time. By the 3rd time the way the pastor delivered the message had me going back after that. I am not a fan of the “Fire & Brimstone” style. I prefer you tell me a story and break it down so I understand it and fully grasp the meaning.
Down the road is a mega church with more that 20x our members. I tried them, I prefer the smaller group where you know everyone’s name. We do things together outside of Sundays.
House Church is our key, we have gatherings in several different member houses and that is where you get the true fellowship, you have people there that will walk with you while you are on your walk. We call the Sunday gatherings a meeting of House Churches, which it really is.
Now, the mega church down the road, they also do House Churches. I have nothing against them. I have friends that belong to them. I guess we all have our own tastes.
What about Hebrews 10:25: “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”?
Fellowship breeds strength, accountability and service. We are weaker when we aren’t actively a part of the Body. Does it make you “not a Christian”? Of course not, but it strips you of support, armor and fellowship.
Well said.
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