On Self-promotion in Christianity

I’ve always found it curious that Jesus would heal people and then give them strict instructions not to publicize it. But we see that when they ignored his instructions, the crowds grew so great that Jesus could no longer move freely among the people and had to retreat to private places. So there was a legitimate reason to keep things hush-hush. No, Jesus wasn’t a showman like Benny Hinn.

But what about today’s Christianity? I’ve been thinking lately of the tendency I’ve had in times past to promote my church instead of promoting Christ. And I’m beginning to conclude that we need to be Jesus-focused, not ‘ministry’-focused. A local radio station (WMUZ, FM103.5 in Detroit) promotes itself as “the light”, even though Jesus said that he was the light of the world. Jesus also stated that we (Christians) are the light of the world, but what about a Christian-based business? Is it also the light? I think not. WMUZ is definitely not the light – the radio station clearly explains that it is not a ministry, but a business. Their loyalty is first to their advertisers, then to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. (The station’s general manager explained the distinction in person on the Bob Dutko show.) And this is a bit frightening, since Jesus stated that no one can serve two masters.

Sexiness is next to godliness

Since one of my pet peeves is undefined acronyms, please be advised that CCM in this post stands for “Contemporary Christian Music”.

Satire mode on. Today I’m Martin Luther and Paul the Apostle combined.

I’ve finally figured it out! I’ve discovered the key to 21st century Christianity! Yes! I’ve discovered that to be a spiritual role model in the church that Jesus Christ started 1977 years ago, you have to be sexy! That’s right! Just look at all the beautiful Christian music artists out there. Oooh they’re hot! Boy, I could just watch them onstage all day. Forget what they’re singing…I just want to watch them! They are sizz-lin’! You see, we’ve finally discovered that the key to Christianity is outward appearance. The world’s been saying it all along, and we’re finally catching on. To become great in the kingdom of God, you gotta be SEXY!

Christianity vs. convenience…continued

I’d just like to point out that my post from yesterday was intended to portray one side of an issue. As a comment to the post astutely pointed out, using skits etc. can be an effective means to communicate truth. Personally, I am not against using anything that can be an effective tool to evangelize and make disciples of Jesus Christ in our modern culture. (My own sister is part of a Christian mime ministry called Mimeistry.) But I have to qualify that statement. In my mind, when the church of Jesus Christ resorts to Bingo nights, lotteries, 50/50 tickets, serving beer, playing Fear Factor, and Friday night fish frys, we are inadvertently communicating that the gospel of Jesus Christ is irrelevant. Instead we should be communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ as the “hook”. When we have to invite our neighbors to a church-sponsored Super Bowl Bash instead of a Bible study, this implies the Bible is superfluous to Christianity. When we woo non-Christians with fun and games, we’re inadvertently saying it’s more important to have fun than to take Christ’s gospel seriously. When we try to evangelize with T-shirts that are knockoffs of popular secular logos (such as “Reborn” made to look like “Reebok” or “Jesus Christ” in a Coca-Cola font), we’re communicating that Christianity has no original thoughts to add to the world of our day and that Christianity requires the weight of secular muscle to be worth noticing. When we keep attendance rolling in with pony tricks and by constantly “changing things up” to keep it fresh, I agree with the author of Cerulean Sanctum when he observes that we’ve lost our long-term outlook and purpose. What is the church’s raison d’être (reason for existence)? Are we here to entertain, or to take Jesus Christ to the world? Are we to spend our efforts making disciples of recreation and fun, or disciples of Christ?

Christianity vs. convenience

A post at Cerulean Sanctum on “Spiritainment” brings up an interesting topic. A topic that puts me in Martin Luther mode. I’m sorry this is going to be a long post. But this is actually a sore spot for me after weathering a church split a few years ago. I am now of the opinion that the majority of American Christians, though sincere, have very little depth to their roots. Sure, we’re all smiles and hugs and love when the winds are fair. But when adversity comes, we wither, flee, give up, stop attending church, go away, fail to make a stand, and give in to satanic pressure like a wet paper bag.

We live in a modern culture where our god is no longer the God who created the universe. Instead, our god is our own convenience. And the enemy of our souls is no longer the devil and his worldly systems. Instead, the enemy is offending someone. The unpardonable sin of the 21st century is to offend a church-goer in any way. And I’m not talking about the kind of offense that Paul mentioned when he said, “If eating meat offends my brother, I will eat no meat while the world still stands.” (Paul was referring to doing something that conflicted a brother’s conscience.) No, the offense I speak of is the offense of inconvenience – anything that places an imposition upon a person’s fleshly comforts.