The Internet Monk
"Read.Think.React.Write.Live."
A Webjournal edited by Michael Spencer
Christianity: Silly or Serious?
I feel oddly out of place refusing to have fun all the time
by Michael Spencer
Gene
Edward Veith recently wrote a great column called "Stupid Church
Tricks," in which he recounts some of the popular games common
among church youth groups these days. Sanctuary soccer, Twister with
scripture verses and gross out
icebreakers were news to Mr. Veith, but they are not news to me, or
anyone else who has worked with youth and college ministries the last
forty years. This
kind of silliness is a huge part of my past as a youth ministry
professional. While it's been a few years since I indulged, at my peak,
I was a hall of famer in tactics of this sort.
I've made many haunted houses in church educational buildings, including in the baptistery. One gross out haunted house involved a remarkable amount of fresh liver. Another featured a vividly recreated suicide up in the church rafters. I've tossed Frisbees in the sanctuary, had professional wrestling in the fellowship hall and filled a bus with hay for an urban hayride. Humiliation, embarrassment and brazen grotesqueness were all employed in the cause of Christ, and with gusto. I know the pressure of topping the bizarre stunt you did last week, and the terror of thinking you might not keep 'em comin' back, week after week, without a really big show.
Perhaps all this explains why I have repented rather thoroughly of silliness in Christianity in general. I've become a fan of worship services that bear no resemblance to Saturday Night Live. I've decided a boring exposition of the Bible is more to be desired than motorcycles in the sanctuary. I actually don't want my congregation to show up on Sunday morning in shorts and tube top, and munch on Macdonald's during the sermon. I don't want to have fun all the time. I really don't. What is wrong with me?
A couple of years ago, we had a South Korean young student on our campus. He was naturally serious minded, and a very devout Christian who looked forward to growing as a believer at a Christian school. He attended our campus ministry program for a few weeks, became quite disappointed and eventually quit attending. He came to talk with me about it, and his reasons were simple. He didn't like the games, skits and ice breakers used for the first hour, tactics commonly used in youth and college ministries to keep 'em comin' back, week after week. It was confusing to him. He couldn't see what the stunts and embarrassing gags had to do with Jesus. Now that I think of it, neither do I.
Now it is easy to say critical and negative things about such a young man or about the leaders of the program, but I want to say something good. He was absolutely right on target. He saw something many of us are reluctant to see. Our cultural fetish with entertainment pollutes and ruins Biblical Christianity. The proliferation of silliness in youth and college ministries dilutes the Gospel and belittles serious discipleship. Most ministries aren't turning out many Christians of any depth, with love for the Word and a willingness to suffer, because we are being silly instead of serious.
Veith observed the same thing, saying that silly youth ministry tactics will lead bright kids to conclude that Christianity is not serious or worth their commitment, which is clearly what my Korean friend was reading in the "eat the rotten baby food" mixers warming up the Bible study. He didn't abandon the faith, or say we weren't Christians, but as a young man from a culture where Buddhist monks express their faith in a lifetime of discipline and sacrifice and Christians routinely attend hours of prayer meetings before sunrise, he wasn't comfortable with our very un-serious approach. His reaction was free from our evangelical fascination with all things fun fun fun.
American evangelicals are so determined to not be dour faced Puritans that they have utterly abandoned any kind of gravitas. Dress down Fridays prevail on Sunday morning, and reverence has been replaced with undifferentiated enthusiasm. Some churches have become examples of "extreme" evangelism, where a normal, average person would feel highly out of place without a skateboard or a pierced body part. This isn't meant as a criticism of anyone's evangelism. I'm just wondering if anyone is feeling...well...goofy, and wishing for something else? It's my prediction that I'm not alone.
One of my favorite preachers is the Reformed Baptist Pastor Al Martin. Pastor Martin actually trains his preachers to be serious in the pulpit. He talks about gravity, expression, tone, manner and "proper reserve." His standards are a throwback to the days when ministers tried to sound like they were speaking for God, rather than the manner of today's pastors, who sound more like game show hosts or stand-up comics than prophets. Check it out. Martin's preaching seems like something from another age, and the contrast with the average evangelical stand up routine is obvious. Listening to Martin, you realize he sees everything about his presentation as part of the message, and he believes something essential is compromised if the communication of Christian truth is on the level with a circus or The Daily Show. The entertainment mindset is not welcome. That may be corny, but it works.
We've once again let pragmatism lead us into the wilderness. What started innocently enough as simple attention-getters has turned into something else entirely. Now we judge everything by entertainment values: Does it hold our attention? Did we laugh? Was it cute? Was it new? Was it cool? Will it draw a crowd? I once heard a young pastor exposit Acts 2 as a justification for doing whatever we could to draw a crowd. After all, God did it. Bring on the Gospel rodeo next Lord's Day morning.
I think Martin is right in his quest to restore seriousness to the ministry. I think there is a direct correlation between how the truth is presented and how it is practiced. I believe that a massive dose of entertainment values will produce disciples who want to be entertained and are easily bored, not disciples who want to follow no matter what the cost. I don't feel the Bible fared as well alongside callous nonsense as I was led to believe. The Bible was probably made to look foolish, and worldly foolishness made to look sensible. It was a mistake, and I'm repenting of it from now on.
I am determined to promote serious Christianity. I'm through with the nonsense attention grabbers and the need to ask "Did you like it? Did you really like it?" Maybe a few other crotchety old codgers are ready to turn over a new leaf. If so, give me a call.