They say, “We’re not anywhere right now. Just kinda shopping around.”
Shopping around? Really? What a great concept. Shopping is different that “searching” or “seeking” or “thirsting” for some truth that makes sense. Shopping is...something else.
Whenever somebody says they’re “shopping around for churches” I always imagine them suckin’ on a big fruit smoothie, walking through a huge mall filled with churches. Each “mall church” has a wall-sized mall store window in the front with signs in them advertising their latest and greatest spiritual feature:
“Try Our Padded Pews! Now With Massage Rollers!”
“Join Now, No Tithing Till 2014!”
“Cool Music, Easy Sermons, Great Food...Why Pray Anywhere Else?!”
Yes, shopping is different from searching or seeking or thirsting...it’s more casual, pickier, more consumer-friendly. Shopping says, “What’dya got? Make me laugh. Entertain me. If I like what I see, maybe we can make a deal. If not, I'll move on till something strikes my fancy.”
But searching, seeking, thirsting...that’s... different.
As together we stand and sing.
BP
Great job, great point: too true for too many of us.
ReplyDeleteThanks buddy!
Gracias, RC
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Brother Preacher! Very helpful. Can you tell me the name of the church that's offering the No Tithing until 2014? My shopping may have just come to an end!!
ReplyDeleteI recently watched Oprah's new show...something about her next chapter and Joel Olsteen was on for an hour...now i fully understand yer comments about him. I'd rather be in a worm-farm church, sittin' on a dirt floor than to watch my preacher on a bigscreen??? Are you serious? People "talk to God" in that kind of arena....i mean environment?
ReplyDeletedon't leave us...
ReplyDeleteplease....just one more funny...
ReplyDeleteok....seriously....we need a christmas sermon....bring it....i know you've got one, just sitting there ready for us...come on...you know you want to...
ReplyDeleteplease...
soooo....guess yer serious about this "no more blogging sermons" thing....one more?
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ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised to see places of worship succumb into becoming a variation of an entertainment commodity McPlace. Especially in the ADD one-stop-shopping world this has become. Complete with espresso bar and CROSS-saint rolls and "He has risen" sweet yeast rolls. Those types of places are to worship is what Curves is to fitness. For those who don't know, Curves is (or was, not sure these days) a non serious workout center where fat chicks can appease their conscience by going to a place that markets itself as a workout center. In reality, it's a few minutes of breezing through powderpuff weights, but you can feel good about yourself by saying you went and did SOMETHING! Right? :-P But, however superficial, opulent and self-centered these McChurches are, one must remember, they only have as much power as their parishioners (or should I say patrons) are willing to give them by following them and returning to do so, sad but true. They're doing something to appeal to the masses, even if it's selling out. Maybe you don't want that kind at your place anyway. Just like those non serious fat chicks who mindlessly swing little to no weight while texting piss ME off and I think they're a waste of space who should be doing something they really WANT to do because they want to do it, NOT merely going through the motions and wasting everyone's time only to satisfy their sense of "should".
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