LRC, Houston - the weekends-free church in Houston, Texas

You probably know where I’ll land on this issue if you know me at all. I’ll wind up on And-Also! So, now back to the beginning. In America today churches feel that they have to compete with the entertainment industry to attract a crowd- and it’s working for many of the large churches that can afford the dollars to do the dance. And while people come away feeling good, having been entertained, where’s the transformation? It’s as though transformation isn’t even a consideration.

Religion in America, particularly Christianity, is facing a loss of values and purpose primarily because we’ve become a materialistic and hedonistic society. We really are. Just spend a few days in any other country and you’ll easy see the differences. Can I say that we’re spoiled and even that’s not enough. As Robert Muholland put it, “The Christian community which should have been a clear voice for liberation and wholeness in the wilderness of human bondage and brokenness, has too often merely been an echo of the culture.”

Some of the largest mega churches in America can definitely compete with the culture! But, is that the goal?

Those that can’t spend tens of thousands on a Sunday show, unfortunately revert to “quick-fixes, which aren’t. Kenneth Leech said it this way, “In the years since the 1960’s, we have seen the popular unfolding of an authentically spiritual quest. Yet linked with this search, there has been a narrowing of vision, a desire for instant ecstasy, instant salvation. It is a quest for the correct method, the right mantra, the short cut which brings insight, which has marked so much of the recent spiritual undergrowth.”

We are not in control of our relationship with God!

Say that to yourself, “I am not in control of my relationship with God”. God is in control and we need to work with Him. It’s His show, this is His world, and we are His: and that’s great news. I mean look at mans’ track record of handling things. More personally, all I have to do is look at how “I” have done things and it’s pathetic.

We need to consider style because it is always changing, needing to change to attract the diversity that exists now in America. The stand up and preach from the pulpit for forty five minutes doesn’t work very well. Just preaching the Word alone doesn’t garner many listeners. But, the razzle-dazzle Sunday entertainment show that packs them in, leaves them void of any transformation isn’t doing them any favors either. One can find cheaper entertainment you know- unless you’re paying nothing to sit in a pew or a row of chairs. Bottom line, we need to seek God for His direction lest American Christianity gives way to other spiritual journeys.

It can happen! It’s not like Christianity has no competition these days, especially in America!