I can't keep up with current church trends. I don't know why, but it seems like things are changing faster than I can manage. Maybe I'm old ... or maybe there is something wrong.
Take most church services these days. When I was younger it was completely different. Families went to church. Kids learned valuable lessons in church, like "There are times to be quiet" and "Sit still and don't disturb the people around you" and, most of all, "You are not the center of the universe." Today those kids are often banned from services. "I'm sorry, but those little ones will have to go to the Children's Church." Sure, there are variations. They might sit through the song service and be dismissed. Some churches even have a mini-sermon for the kids before they kick them out. But more and more churches seem to think that kids cannot be managed and must be removed from adult sermons. Sorry, kids.
It used to be that the music in church wasn't about the music. It was about God. The musicians (a pianist or an organist or both) sat off to the side because, frankly, they weren't performers -- they were accompanists. The "performers" were the people singing in the congregation and the "audience" was God. Churches didn't need fancy video displays or clever drama acts. Church wasn't a competition for your entertainment time. The church service, in fact, wasn't about you. It was about God. Now we have praise bands, the more skillful the better. Music leaders are not trained in theology; they're musicians. We applaud the performance (performance???) and complain if they weren't contemporary enough because, after all, a religion that began at the start of time and became "Christianity" 2000 years ago must be "contemporary." So we're entertained and amused and ... shortchanged too often.
I remember a different sort of "Bible Study" when I was younger. There used to be a group of people who would gather and there would be a teacher who would tell us what the passage we were reading meant. He would unfold it for us, explaining the nuances and interconnections with the rest of Scripture. He taught us. Now we have "home studies" and "cell groups" who do not have "teachers." Instead they have "hosts" or "facilitators" who "lead." I suppose it's more realistic not to call them "Bible studies" because they more often study a book someone wrote or watch a video from someone or maybe even study the pastor's sermon. And the "facilitator" doesn't teach us anything. He or she just "facilitates." I went to a "study" like this once. We read a passage of Scripture (good start) and then the "facilitator" said, "So ... what do you think it means?" What do you think it means??? When did the meaning of Scripture become a product of democracy? When did it become personal opinion? I mean, did God mean something when He inspired it or not? I wonder if we haven't taken James a bit too far when he wrote, "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment" (James 3:1). "Oh, good idea, James. So ... no one should be teachers so no one incurs judgment." Besides, isn't it arrogant for someone to call himself a teacher? This is much more caring, much more humble, much more PC.
There are too many changes in my humble opinion. We have "emerging churches" that are, I don't know, emerging? From what? When they have emerged, what are they then? We have "liberal churches" who have decided that none of the Bible is particularly true or relevant and Jesus was a nice guy but that's about it. In what sense is that "Christian"? We have churches who believe that God needs to compete with satellite TV for your entertainment attention and the only way to get people in is to be more entertaining than TV. It seems to me that there's something wrong here. I somehow can't seem to put my finger on it ...
5 comments:
Sometimes I agree with the Chinese Christians and pray that the American church will receive some persecution. That would weed out the luke warm and bring us back to the Bible.
You identified exactly the reason I've been rather reticent to lead Bible studies since leaving college. The whole "what do you think it means?" motif tends to really irk me, but I also tend to slip into that myself.
For the question, "What do you think it means?", I think there is a difference between asking it with no idea what the correct answer is, and asking it with a goal toward encouraging your students toward the right interpretation and application of Scripture. The key is whether the teacher or "facilitator" is willing to say, "Well no, I think perhaps you're confused by this...but if you look here in the passage or here at this cross-reference in this other part of the Bible, you'll see that it really says X."
The key component is reading the Bible, not just some feel-good book that interprets the Bible for you. The Bible is the ultimate cross-reference and interpretation guide for itself--and only by studying the Bible can you become a better student of Biblical interpretation and application. It's all about the Word!
Perhaps a better question in a Bible Study is, "What has the Holy Spirit impressed on your mind as you read this portion of Scripture in preparation for class today?" ~10km
Science PhD Mom, the entire purpose of changing the name from "teacher" to "facilitator" seems to be to preclude the idea that someone would claim to know or understand the Bible. Sad, very sad.
10km, it might be a better question, but how is it different. Scripture has meaning. My concern is that too often we're perfectly happy to allow that it has no real meaning. Instead, it simply means what you think it means. I can't tell you that. And you'll find people who will tell you that the Holy Spirit has impressed on them that this passage means things that are completely contrary to other passages of Scripture and completely without merit from the passage itself. (Seriously, I have been in studies where people have used the very words, "The Holy Spirit has impressed on me that it means ..." followed by utter nonsense. If I were to argue against the nonsense, I'd be arguing against the Holy Spirit.)
Scripture has meaning. God intended to say something when He spoke. The Holy Spirit will certainly have varying applications to varying people, but the meanings of the Scripture are limited. God has given us teachers for that purpose.
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