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That's a good question, a great question actually. I'll ramble a minute here. I suppose my big concern is when things like concerts and puppet shows and 'big-name' guest speakers are used to fill the building. If church members were doing what they are supposed to be doing - reaching out to others with the gospel message on an individual, personal basis, there would be no need for such things. And I know all about the 'get them in the building first' line of thinking. That's not scriptural. I mean, when churches compete with the world in terms of entertainment, the churches won't fare well. The world does a great job at appealing the flesh. The church is supposed to be concerned with spiritual things - not flashing lights. There are already tons of options for entertainment. We have too much of it already. And then what about transitioning from drawing someone to the building to the gospel? Somewhere along the line Billy the Bible Bunny needs to trade places with the blood of Christ shed for a pitiful sinner. The replacement generation in the churches is getting kind of thin in my neck of the woods and I know it is in part because the young are used to, some would say they are addicted to, being entertained. And when the entertainment goes away and the time to grow up and serve begins or when the preaching against specific sins gets a little too specific, out the door they go.

Yes, I agree we should use our talents for the cause of Christ. But only one thing saves and that seems to receive less and less attention. Entertainers get the attention, and Christ not so much.

Good post. I don’t disagree with you except that I feel that it’s not an entertainment issue. It’s a leadership issue. You can have both Christ centered entertainment with people using their talents AND have Christ centered sermons. One without the other is when problems arise.

A good way to see what the church’s focus is is to imagine it without a building (whether it be a fire, flood, etc). Would it survive? The church building, instruments, drums, organ don’t make up the church. The people do. If you ask the members what would happen if everything was wiped out and they panic and say IDK, then you have an immature church. If the church doesn’t miss a beat and continues meeting (when feasibly possible of course) then you have a mature church. I hope I’m making sense here.

All I’m trying to say is that having entertainment is not the issue that makes a church fail or not be mature.