I watched a service last night from a large mid-western
church. I was appalled enough to actually feel like punching somebody in the face. I rarely feel like punching someone in the face, but Nehemiah did (Nehemiah 13:25), and I did, so let me explain why.
As soon as I saw the sermon series was on how to be happy
as a Christian, my hackles were up. The "text" for the sermon was a
single verse read very quickly and undoubtedly found in an online word search
for "happy." The text was promptly dropped. The other passages referred
to in the sermon were either mentioned and not read, or utterly abused. The
amount of eisegesis was astounding. A couple of theological concepts were
raised, but used in an overtly self-serving and flatly heretical way. Jesus did
not shed his blood on the cross so that you could live a stress-free life.
God's judgment does not precede his mercy (or we would all be gone, including
this "pastor"). The points in the sermon were all lifted from local
daytime talk shows in the segments when Dr. HelpMeGetSkinny arrives and tells
you how to handle your caloric intake during the holidays. I am not joking -
the sermon gave the earth-shaking advice
that you ought to drink more water, exercise, and control your portions. Then
the bulk of the sermon time was devoted to C-grade stand-up comedy.
I have two pieces of advice.
First, if you attended that church or one like it over
the past weekend, you need to run away as quickly as you can. If you hear
sermons like this from week to week you are actually being led away from Christ
and his grace, not brought closer to him. You are being taught how to be more
like the world, not like Christ. And if you think that what I described is a
Christian sermon and is the kind of thing the Bible actually teaches the people
of God, then I suggest you save your tithe, stay home, and just watch TV. You
will get the same ideas with better production value and you don't need to send
in your money.
Second, if you preached this sermon over the past
weekend, shame on you. You need a run-in with a Jeremiah or a Nehemiah. You
need someone to pronounce "false prophet" over your YouTube and Vimeo
accounts. You abused Holy Writ and shamed the Sacred Desk. You took what
precious little time you have with the people who attend your church and
flushed it down the toilet. Your shallow Bible-mangling sermons are part of the
reason the evangelical church is not taken seriously in our culture. How could
it be, when you are incapable or unwilling to plumb the depths of God's Word
and the sacred task of preaching, and connect the Word of God to the lives of
people?
You, pastor, have at your disposal the truths and power
that once turned the world upside down and you have settled for lukewarm
get-alongism. The Word of God, if you can learn how to wield it, is a sword
sharper than any two-step diet program.
The vocation of pastor is serious stuff. The task of
preaching should never be taken lightly. Pastor, you need to either relearn or
learn for the first time how to handle Scripture well. Then you need to learn
again how to communicate to people the depths and the riches of something that
actually has the power to transform lives.
I pray the American church learns how to leave behind
this crass and meaningless consumerism. I am not holding my breath.
