I had just moved to town and wanted to try a few churches in the area. I met a few people that attended this one church and they invited me the come. The worship was contemporary and the pastor was dynamic they said. To my everlasting shame I took them up on their offer and went to their church.
The next Sunday in the middle of December, I pulled up to the beautiful new church just a little behind schedule. It took a little while to find the place. An usher greeted me at the door with a smile and a firm handshake. He handed me the church junk mail and on I went strolling through the elaborately decorated lobby to the main foyer. 'Nice place' I thought to myself. I could tell I was late as I heard the worship service already in progress.. I snuck in quietly and found a seat in one of back sections undetected. I listened to the music and noted the distinct talent of everyone on stage. The sound was perfect. The careful rehearse of the musicians certainly paid off in this tremendous display. ' hmm...service is pretty full today. This is great for the first service.' I thought The worship ended abruptly as if it too was rehearsed. And the associate pastor came up on stage with a microphone. Standard church protocol. He went on about the announcements, upcoming events and expressed the need for everyone's faithful giving. Ushers lined up and passed out their KFC buckets through the aisles. Then it hit me. The worship service albeit, very talented, had no real expression of love and adoration toward God. It was like an entertaining concert This guy blabbering on stage about the need for their next building phase has not expressed his real expression of love toward God as well. 'Is this Church or entertainment?' The problem had not yet registered in my mind...that is until the Pastor waltzed on stage.
I started to feel a little skeptical but decided to give the pastor a fair shot and lay my thoughts to rest. the ceiling opened slightly. It was just enough to let down a beautiful 15 ft. digital projection screen. A few anecdotes were given to stall the crowd as the screen fell into place. the lights went dark. The screen lit up and illuminated the 5,000 person sanctuary . 'Ohhh, a delightful video message or perhaps maybe even a message from a missionary over sees.' Nope not today. It was a clip from The Polar Express. Okay this is stretching it for me but I suppose a spiritual truth may be found somewhere. I watched as three computer animated characters (really detailed ones I might add) told each other about being lonely at Christmas time. The lights came on and the video stopped. I thought I had missed a line or two in the video because I couldn't imagine this to the foundation of the message.
30 minutes into the service, and God had not been glorified, Christ's name had not been lifted up and the Gospel was absolutely nowhere to be found. 'The service is not over yet man. Don't worry it'll turn around.' I re-assured myself. The message was centered around Christmas time. Not as the traditional birth of Christ but as an event that sometimes triggered loneliness. True pastor, now just tell them about the God in heaven who never leaves nor forsakes, or something to that effect. Anything about Christ would do.
That message started drawing to a dramatic close and the pastor was winding down to an alter call. I literally had ask the old lady next to me for a tissue to wipe away my tears of conviction. 'An alter call for what? the gospel message was not presented, God's unrelenting love for human kind was never brought up. No one honestly thinking of becoming a Christian would ever consider going to the alter after the message. But sure enough the invitation was given, but it was not to accept Christ. It was to come and share with someone at the front about their loneliness at Christmas time. I felt horrified for the pastor when absolutely no one came forward. The five minutes of awkward silence passed and the ushers took to their seats. The service came to a close and I was furious.
