From Why The Church Doesn’t Need More Coffee Bars at the Pulpit and The Pen.
The following is written by Gideon Knox, who lost her husband to cancer and her response to the trend that churches seem to be more interested in coffee bars, trendy pastors and lighting than the widow and fatherless children. Read the entire article here.
When church leaders sit around and discuss how they can reach people, I don’t think they have the widow in mind. I don’t think they have the cancer patient in mind. I don’t think they have the children who are growing up without a parent in mind. I am not paying attention to the church décor when I walk through the doors. I don’t want to smell fresh brewed coffee in the lobby. I don’t want to see a trendy pastor on the platform. I don’t care about the graphics or the props on the platform. I am hurting in a way that is almost indescribable. My days are spent working full time. My nights are spent homeschooling and taking care of two young children. I don’t have shared duties with a spouse anymore everything is on my plate. And when I go to church I desperately want to hear the Word of God.
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Because there are days I am running on empty and a coffee bar in the lobby isn’t filling me up. There are days when the pain is so brutal and a concert like setting is not providing healing. There are days when the tears won’t stop and a trendsetting church is not what I need. I need Jesus. There are days I wonder if the pain is ever going to end and a couch on the platform is not providing answers._The lighting, coffee bars, relevant messages, graphics and other things are secondary and serve no assistance to me during the darkest hour of my life. This is in no way a criticism of churches that have coffee bars, nice lighting and catchy sermon titles. However, in everything that is done, we need to make sure that Jesus is at the center. It is a also a reminder that there are hurting people sitting in your congregation. There are people whose marriages are crumbling, people whose finances are deteriorating, people whose children are rebelling and people like me, whose husband has passed away after a brutal fight with cancer. And these people are not impressed with the stage lighting. They could care less about the coffee flavor. They don’t need to be pumped or hyped. They need and are desperate for Jesus. And they may actually be turned off by all that they consider gimmicks to get people to go to church.
“Uh, would you guys stand with us . . . and . . . worship?”
same lame song, or is this a familiar sounding new song?
same fatigued tempo, vague, weak words
just sing them OVER and over . . . and over . . . with feeling
(meaning and precision are so overrated, so outdated)
now that things are acceptably blurry
let’s meander, let’s scurry
and make everyone feel all warm and furry
HIM???
please pardon my astonished expression
for a moment I thought you said “hymn.”
no need to worry about THEM
we decided to blend
and then pretend
that God moves best with the current trend
where the purpose is to make everyone
fit in
lift your hands to the projected image overhead
HOW DARE THEY SAY THAT GOD IS DEAD
he must be around here . . . somewhere
and the light continues to dim
as the praise band plays on and on and on . . .
(marc jonathan haney 2/29/16)
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Marc, I love it! Spot on and made me laugh. Thanks for sharing that with us.
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“Trendy” caught my eye and I was inspired to share those observations from the field. Somewhere between the extremes of “The Every Wind of Doctrine Church of the Current Trend” and the cathedral of “Our Lady of Perpetual Negativity” I am still hoping to find a local fellowship where “life, liberty and the pursuit of godliness” as taught through the Scriptures still exists. I am glad that I’ve connected here. Thanks!
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I’ve tried explaining this to many people. Let’s keep praying that churches bring forward Christ into their community, rather than trends, funny church signs, and colorful children’s programs. Let us pray that we do not exchange the truth for a tickling of our ears.
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