In recent years there has been a growing trend towards entertainment in the church. Church buildings are constructed like theaters. The focus of the building is a stage rather than a pulpit and colored lights and elaborate sound systems are installed.
In some of these churches multi-million dollar screens and closed circuit television pipe the messages of the “star” pastors to far flung satellite churches in differing locales. Behind this trend is the notion that the church must sell the gospel to unbelievers. Churches thus compete for the consumer on the same level as the latest TV reality show or a major motion picture. More and more churches are relying on marketing strategy to sell the church.
I have believed for years that Arminian theology is what drives this approach. If one views conversion as fundamentally dependent on an act of the human will then any method is good if it works.
This whole plan for “doing church” presumes that church services are primarily for the purpose of recruiting unbelievers. But in the New Testament church services are primarily for believers to worship God in spirit and in truth.
Acts 2:42 tells us the pattern the early church followed in their assemblies: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Note that the early church’s priorities clearly were to worship God and to edify the brethren. The church came together for worship and edification; it scattered to evangelize the world.
In Matthew 28:19-20 the Lord Jesus Christ commissioned His disciples to “go into all the world proclaiming the gospel” not to wait for them to come to the church building.
At North Athens Baptist Church it is my desire that everyone feel welcome to meet with us, but unbelievers ought to be a bit uncomfortable. The reason for this is because our services are primarily designed to worship God by the word and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are things that the unbeliever has no frame of reference for until God regenerates them through our gospel witness and the converting power of the Holy Spirit.
