"Entertain Me!" by David McLister
(Reprinted from The Palmetto Reminder, http://home1.gte.net/david1mc/sep2-99.htm)
We have become a society infected with an insatiable desire for
entertainment. By far one of the largest and most profitable industries
in this country is filmmaking - story-telling on the big screen.
Music and professional sports are big business and apparently
will be for a long time to come. Television sets are more common
in many homes than Bibles. Local broadcast TV is no longer good
enough for most people; you've got to have cable TV (more channels,
more entertainment). The Internet, as informational as it can
be, is geared toward entertainment. This need for amusement has
even infected the once purely informational business of news reporting.
The news is now geared towards entertainment (when's the last
time you heard a news story on TV that had any substance to it?).
The docudramas - which had no place on TV just a few years ago
- are replacing standard news services. Now instead of just a
report about what happened, we get a reenactment of it. Why? Because
showing a recreation of the event is much more entertaining! And
talk shows - how outrageous can they get? No longer are talk shows
about contemporary substantial issues. Instead they are places
for their producers to display the weirdest people in society
for us to gawk at them. Even a place as dedicated to seriousness
as the college classroom has felt the pressure from the public's
desire to be entertained. Student surveys indicate that students
today want class to be entertaining and fun, they want a professor
who will occupy their attention spans. Professors across the country
are having to defend the fact that their classes are about learning
and not primarily about having fun.
The problem is not just that our society has ignored what is
truly substantial intellectually. The problem is that people also
expect the church to cater to their desire for entertainment.
The modern cry from prospective church-goers is: "Give us
good music, a preacher with a sparkling, outgoing personality,
sermons that make us feel good, a marvelously decorated church
building, lights, and the works. Don't get all caught up trying
to explain the atonement, the significance of the OT sacrificial
system, or exactly where the churches of Asia Minor were located.
Give us a reason to come back."
There will always be some groups in the religious world out there
who are more than willing to cater to the present demands of society.
"Give them what they want" is the philosophy of these
churches. The modern "with-it" church is thus supposed
to be "seeker-sensitive," meaning that it understands
what people want from religion and gives it to them. Such churches
rely heavily upon marketing techniques that were once used only
by secular businesses. What's important to these churches is numbers.
Maintain a high retention rate, work on minimizing the dropout
or turnover. These churches are run more like businesses than
anything else. Advertising, name recognition, location in the
community, diversity of services and programs offered - these
are all the kinds of things many modern churches emphasize. Why?
Because offering entertainment makes for bigger crowds (and bigger
contributions).
You may ask, should we not be concerned about reaching as many
people as we can? Should we not want to have a location that is
conducive to attracting visitors? Would it not be a good thing
for many in the community to know our name and where we are? And
should we not make a good and positive impression on visitors?
Sure, these are all good things. However, we must make sure that
our motives are correct. It is possible to do the right things
for all the wrong reasons. It is possible to want to reach hundreds
of people because we are interested in bolstering our pride and
not truly concerned with saving souls from hell. The reason we
do something is an important consideration to the Lord. Doing
the right thing for the wrong reason makes the whole thing unacceptable
to the Lord (see Matt 6:1ff).
The basic problem, you see, is that catering to a public's desire
to be entertained, and offering the church as entertainment, is
nothing other than a simple appeal to the flesh. It is trying
to appeal to the flesh on behalf of spiritual things. But the
flesh and the spirit war against each other (Gal 5:16-17; Rom
8:7), and the only thing that comes from such an attempt is a
debasing of Christianity and the Lord's church. It takes the spirit
out of Christianity and replaces it with a cheap and shallow fleshly
imitation.
It is entirely possible, however, to serve the Lord and do the
work He has given us without being concerned with the entertainment
value we offer to others. This does not mean that we should remove
our emotions from our worship. That would be just as wrong as
making emotions the guide for our worship. The Lord wants our
hearts and souls to be engaged in the work and worship we give
him (John 4:24; 1 Cor 14:15). We should not let entertainment
be the goal of what we do, but neither should we hinder sincere
emotional experience and expression. The way to achieve the proper
result is to do what the Lord says in a whole-hearted, sincere
way. If some people do not find that entertaining enough, so be
it.
What is it that brings us to the Lord in the first place? What
is it that keeps us coming to worship him week after week? Well,
the answers to those questions ought to be that it is our love
for and faith in Him, and our love for the truth (2 Thes 2:10)
that frees us from sin (John 8:32), that draws us to Him. We come
to Him as a response to His great love for us (John 12:32; Rom
2:4). If one comes only because he gets some kind of emotional
kick out of it, then perhaps he should reexamine his relationship
with the Lord. There were people who followed Jesus because He
fed them, but they turned away from Him when He demanded commitment
from them (John 6). There are some who are interested in "church"
because they tend to jump on anything that is popular or appealing,
and when the things of the world call they leave Christ to follow
them (Matt 13:22). It is a weak faith indeed that follows the
Lord because of the purely outward aspects of Christianity.
Jesus was not an entertainer (although many people were certainly
amazed at His miracles), nor did He teach His disciples to go
out into the world and entertain all the nations. He warned them
that their message would not make everyone "feel good"
and that they would be persecuted for it. You see, it is the truth
that is important, and the truth is more important than entertainment.
We must never forget that.
The Quiz - Author Unknown
(Contributed by L. Dillinger)
Now I see why powerful people often wear sunglasses. The spotlight
blinds them to reality. They suffer from a delusion that power
means something. They suffer from the misconception that titles
make a difference. They are under the impression that earthly
authority will make a heavenly difference. Take this quiz.
· Name the ten wealthiest people in the world.
· Name the last ten Heisman trophy winners.
· Name the last ten winners of the Miss America contest.
· Name eight people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer
Prize.
· How about the last ten Academy Award winners for best
picture, or
· The last decade's worth of World Series winners?
How did you do? I didn't do well either. With the exception
of you trivia hounds, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday
too well. Surprising how quickly we forget, isn't it? And what
I've mentioned above are no second-rate achievements. These are
the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish.
Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried
with their owners. Here's another quiz. See how you do on this
one:
· Think of three people you enjoy spending time with.
· Name ten people who have taught you something worthwhile.
· Name five friends who have helped you in a difficult
time.
· List a few teachers who have aided your journey through
school.
· Name half-a-dozen heroes whose stories have inspired
you.
Easier? It was for me, too. The lesson? The people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones with the concern.
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PARTING THOUGHT
Eternity to the Godly is a day that has no sunset;
Eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise ---Thomas
Watson