This analysis by Tozer in his day is no less true in ours.  The acceptance of trite entertainment and showmanship in church is surely the result of a shallowness that has resulted from frenetic activity.

The idea of cultivation and exercise, so dear to the saints of old, has now no place in our total religious picture.  It is too slow, too common. We now demand glamour and fast flowing dramatic action. A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God.”

The tragic results of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit: these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul. (The Pursuit of God)

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)

I have commented here from time to time on the value of proper imagination in interpreting and proclaiming Scripture.  I was pleased today to come across a quote along this line from A. T. Robertson.  Robertson was certainly not one to minimize close attention to the text.  In fact this quote comes from his famous book urging pastors to use Greek and from a chapter on fine nuances of Greek negative particles! Robertson believed we ought to pay close attention to the particulars of Scripture and that we must be attuned to the realities of the human situation.

“Preachers become metaphysical hairsplitters in the explanation of a passage of Scripture because they fail to read between the lines and to visualize properly the atmosphere of the saying.  The historical imagination is essential to correct interpretation and to effective preaching.  The preacher who sees men as trees walking will speak to an audience that does not see them at all.”

(A.T.  Robertson, The Minister and His Greek New Testament, 71)

This is a good exhortation from Doug Wilson as we prepare to preach the Word tomorrow.

Speaking of Heb 4:12-13, Wilson writes:

“…preachers need to learn to preach as though this is what is happening.  First, we must handle the Word like a sword.  And secondly, we must learn to handle the Word as though it were alive and has a mind of its own- because it does.” (from the chapter, “Thundering the Word,” in A Primer on Worship and Reformation, p. 41)

Here is another good section from Doyle’s The White Company.  In this section a young lady criticizes a young man who grew up in an abbey, calling for monks to do the world good by entering everyday life rather than remaining cloistered away. Doyle was no orthodox believer but this is a good presentation of the sacredness of daily life.

“And to what end?” she asked sharply. “If you are, as I understand, to shut yourself forever in your cell within the four walls of an abbey, then of what use would it be were your prayer to be answered?”

“The use of my own salvation.”

She turned from him with a pretty shrug and wave. “Is that all?” she said. “Then you are no better than Father Christopher and the rest of them. Your own, your own, ever your own! My father is the king’s man, and when he rides into the press of fight he is not thinking ever of the saving of his own poor body; he recks little enough if he leave it on the field. Why then should you, who are soldiers of the Spirit, be ever moping or hiding in cell or in cave, with minds full of your own concerns, while the world, which you should be mending, is going on its way, and neither sees nor hears you? Were ye all as thoughtless of your own souls as the soldier is of his body, ye would be of more avail to the souls of others.”

“There is sooth in what you say, lady,” Alleyne answered; “and yet I scarce can see what you would have the clergy and the church to do.”

“I would have them live as others and do men’s work in the world, preaching by their lives rather than their words. I would have them come forth from their lonely places, mix with the borel folks, feel the pains and the pleasures, the cares and the rewards, the temptings and the stirrings of the common people. Let them toil and swinken [archaic; synonym for labor], and labor, and plough the land, and take wives to themselves”

“Alas! alas!” cried Alleyne aghast, “you have surely sucked this poison from the man Wicliffe, of whom I have heard such evil things.”

“Nay, I know him not. I have learned it by looking from my own chamber window and marking these poor monks of the priory, their weary life, their profitless round. I have asked myself if the best which can be done with virtue is to shut it within high walls as though it were some savage creature. If the good will lock themselves up, and if the wicked will still wander free, then alas for the world!”

(Chapter 11)

The American church’s fascination with gimmicks and shows is well documented as well as deeply distressing.  Too much effort is given to having the biggest/greatest/neatest show and too little is given to actually living out the gospel in healthy relationships where people know one another and hold one another accountable under the word of God.

This all comes back to mind with some of the things that will take place this weekend.  One church’s plans for “special shows” this weekend illustrate this well. The site states:

During the five performances of the Independence Day Celebration at Cornerstone Church, thousands will gather to celebrate America’s freedom with Nashville’s largest indoor fireworks display, state-of-the-art laser light show, and–new this year–an IPRA-sanctioned professional rodeo… all held within the confines of the church sanctuary!

There are two videos on this webpage.

Here is the first one with the basic info:

4th of July Rodeo Commercial from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

Is it appropriate to describe your church as “the most dynamic” in your city? Is this verifiable? Is it intended to a factual statement about this church in contrasts to hundreds of others in the city or is it just promotional jargon?

Here is the second video giving a little more background:

This video refers to these performances as shows but then lists as one of the shows the meeting at 10am on Sunday.  This “show” taking place during the time of corporate worship will be a gathering “to celebrate America’s freedom.”  The promotional poster says this will be “a legendary salute to the greatest Country in the World.”

We need to give up on the flashy shows and embrace simple gospel ministry.  We also need to be clear about the distinction between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man.