Posted on 06/11/2012 6:32:24 AM PDT by marshmallow
We're all adolescents now.
The house lights go down. Spinning, multicolored lights sweep the auditorium. A rock band launches into a rousing opening song. "Ignore everyone else, this time is just about you and Jesus," proclaims the lead singer. The music changes to a slow dance tune, and the people sing about falling in love with Jesus. A guitarist sporting skinny jeans and a soul patch closes the worship set with a prayer, beginning, "Hey God …" The spotlight then falls on the speaker, who tells entertaining stories, cracks a few jokes, and assures everyone that "God is not mad at you. He loves you unconditionally."
After worship, some members of the church sign up for the next mission trip, while others decide to join a small group where they can receive support on their faith journey. If you ask the people here why they go to church or what they value about their faith, they'll say something like, "Having faith helps me deal with my problems."
Fifty or sixty years ago, these now-commonplace elements of American church life were regularly found in youth groups but rarely in worship services and adult activities. What happened? Beginning in the 1930s and '40s, Christian teenagers and youth leaders staged a quiet revolution in American church life that led to what can properly be called the juvenilization of American Christianity. Juvenilization is the process by which the religious beliefs, practices, and developmental characteristics of adolescents become accepted as appropriate for adults. It began with the praiseworthy goal of adapting the faith to appeal to the young, which in fact revitalized American Christianity. But it has sometimes ended with both youth and adults embracing immature versions of the faith. In any case, white evangelicals led the way.
Saving the World
Juvenilization happened when no one....
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
This was exactly what lead to a split in our church. Under the seeming need to express their musical talents some insisted in a radical new way of worship that most did not want or deem necessary to worship the Lord. Instead of considering the good of our church and the leadership they started a schism that eventually split the church. Division in the body is NOT a sign of the Spirit. Nothing hindered true worship without the type of musical expression foisted upon the body by those insisting on "using their talents" come hell or high water.
I think we agree.
The issue can be defined in loose terms as the rise of seeker-centered worship.
When worship becomes about about what’s good for us rather than about serving God, that’s when we lose focus. A good deal of this philosophy can be found in contemporary worship, especially in music. Not all of it, of course, but when worship becomes an exercise in marketing it loses its focus.
Immature, indeed.
The reason no man stood up is because they are not expected to. In fact, in my experience, if you do stand up you will be told to leave.
As I have. Which in the end was a good thing.
Glad you made a stand.
THE No. 1 thing wrong with all strains of Chrisitanity that I see is REPENTANCE! Sure, there is lots of Jesus loves you know matter what, He can help you and all that, which is good. But is is the genuine act of repentance that is most missing. If you don’t have that, you don’t have the Spirit within you.
That’s frustrating to see. And very sad. That’s where leadership is important to make tough decisions regarding style of music/worship service order/etc. It’s important for leadership to make correct decisions and Godly led decisions regarding such topics. Also asking for leadership discerning which direction to lead the church. Change is hard in a lot of circumstances. In the past 5 years our chuched has switched from pews to chairs. A few people left, but now the whole church is thankful for the change.
Were I put in charge of revising the Methodist hymnal, I would throw out
Our daughter attends such a church. The place is packed with 20’s to 40’s age people.
Win the secular war on God first and worry about the vehicle to worship later.
>>Seriously - when people began ‘shopping’ for church, I knew it was getting bad. People look to see what’s in it for them, not for a scripturally sound assembly where they can serve.<<
That’s precisely why I’ve been ‘shopping’ for the last few years. It’s taken an awful long time to find a scripturally-sound, Bible-based church, that actually understands the concept of reverence. I’d probably drop dead if I found one that actually embraced those ‘old and tired’ theological teachings about sanctification, holiness, effectual calling, etc. I’d burst into flames if one of them actually preached from the Old Testament...
And that’s here, in the South - the supposed ‘Bible-Belt’. Nope...instead there’s ‘Worshiptainment’ centers on every corner.
What is funny is that the youth were hungry for real food, but the youth director demanded they only get milk. Many drifted to a small group set up by the pastor.
There is nothing wrong with adjusting the message to reach the audience, my three year old will not be able to follow the fine points of Christology, but at the same time she knows that Jesus was God, and He died for our sins.
I would say the message and scriptural basis the church stands on would have more to do with this then a style of worship music. Which is what I’m trying to say. You can do rock music, even hardcore rock and still preach real Godliness. Same as you can play an organ and have a conservative traditional service and preach Godlessness.
Just making sure. I know what you mean about watered down youth groups though. My youth leader didn’t, and I’m very thankful. Youth are looking for something real, not something that caters to their “beliefs”. They might think that, but deep down, they want something real.
I also find it true what you say. My belief about Christianity these days is that we're expecting God to ease our situations, cure our ails, and just generally make our life somewhat comfortable. That is not God, nor is it what He does. Jesus Himself said that those that follow Him will suffer for it.
Philippians 1:29 (ESV) For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake...
We've conveniently fogotten that.
I also think Christians today have gotten far away from the notion of just how big and mighty and powerful God really is. That, coupled with His unwavering holiness and purity, make Him Someone not to be trifled with.
I saw a video of a preacher named Louis Giglio entitled "How Great Is Our God". In this video, he starts off on a 'journey of scale'. He begins with us, normal humans. He then continues up the scale, comparing our size to our planet, then our planet to the Sun, then our Sun to more massively-sized stars until he gets to the biggest known star, CG Canus Majoris (literally, "Big Dog"), which is sized several million times that of our own Sun. And what's more, like the late Carl Sagan said, there are "billions and billions" of these stars out there.
Our God made ALL of them.
As someone pondering this mind-bendingly massive evidence of just how BIG He is, wouldn't you want to...no, wouldn't you need to alter your behavior accordingly?
Except for the undeserved love of Christ, we stand no chance before a God of that magnitude.
You know, I like to think that God wants a personal relationship with us, and might be even more pleased if we are comfortable enough to be informal when we talk to Him. After all, would your earthly father like it better if you called him “father” and held him at arm’s length, or called him “dad” and treated him as a friend? Still, I don’t think it’s wise to drop all the formality in a worship service.
The problem is that, will the believers listen, I doubt it.
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