The level of online chatter over the Sunday's Coming video satire is impressive. It seems to fall into two camps.There are those who are offended that North Point Media would use time and money to make fun of the church's good intentions. Most people, however, rave about how convictingly accurate it is.
There is something missing, though. I have not yet seen anyone say, "Ya know, we now see how silly we look and shallow we are. We're going to stop doing that kind of thing."
No one seems to be saying, "I'm going to talk with our church leaders to see if we can figure out a way to start worshiping with more substance and less cheesy glitz."
Has anyone sent a Sunday's Coming link to their church leaders and asked them what they think of it? How are the pastors and "worship leaders" responding to these theses nailed to the church door?
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I would argue that a lot of us have been having that discussion for years. I can't count the number of discussions I've had with my dad about how people grow, how to be a community and avoid the consumer mentality, etc. But, by definition, the movement against flashy movements wouldn't be a flashy movement, right? :) There's not really any problem with being "relevant," but there needs to be substance under it. Hmmm.... The really bright side is I laughed so hard I almost cried.
Just recently, two men came walking into the shop on a Sunday morning, thinking we were open for “business” (we’re closed on Sunday but have an open participation gathering from 10:30 – Noon). They wanted some tea and then asked about who we were since they had dropped in on Friday night during our live music. When I told them we were “a church disguised as a coffee shop” they became intrigued. It was sort of like the woman at the well, where conversation naturally flowed from basic need to spiritual matters. They wanted to talk about "Spirituality, energy and Jesus." We willingly shook off the tension of closing the conversation with them so we could commence our own group gathering. Both of them had been raised in a church environment, but felt that the church was too narrow and judgmental. We were able to have free flowing 45 minute discussion about the teachings and message of Jesus without historic tension. Prior to leaving, one said, "I'm a New York cynic (about organized religion), but this place is a good place. We'll be back."
You asked if anyone has sent the link to their pastor - well - my pastor posted the link on fb and our worship leader noted it too! We don't do the glitzy service - but I've attended enough churches that do that ... and that's been the reason I left. I just hope more church leaders out there understand the idea behind this video and start reaching for authentic, truthful worship.
The number of churches that fqall into the category that the video satires is really small, less than 2% of congregations. They are simply the ones that get the press. Oh there are 350,000 congregation in the USA, and nor more than 2000 mega churches, and of those with attendance and budgets to support what is shown - you get no more than 4000 total. So it is not even 2%.
Kent, since we've returned to the States and have not been tied down on Sunday mornings, we have visited dozens of churches, only one of which was a "megachurch". We've been trying to get a feel for the current landscape.
I would say that only a few of the churches we have visited are signifcantly different than the video. Although they don't have bookstores to sell the latest CD they all seem to follow the same shallow liturgical pattern, with the same style of music, and the same speeches. It's almost as though everyone has bought the same scripts, sermon outlines, and PowerPoint slides from the same distributors. I'm only exaggerating a little.
Are you suggesting that this is primarily a Western US phenomena?
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