Real Seekers Long For God (February 22, 2004)

I received a flier the other day from a church that is putting on a production of "Arsenic and Old Lace," a classic comedy about two old lady serial killers. Cary Grant and Peter Lawford starred in the movie version - you'll find it in the classics section of video stores.

I read the flier carefully to see if there was anything about the Lord, or the Bible, or just anything remotely connected to our faith. There wasn't. I did see that the church's drama ministry is “known state-wide” and that the church's senior minister (director of the play) "has been hailed as having the ability to charm everyone he meets and bring out the best in them all." Also, this "highly-respected drama ensemble will present a wonderful comedy filled with mystery and joy. It is an event not to be missed!"

I called the number listed for more information and asked, "Does the play have anything to do with God or Jesus?" I was told no, it was just a play.

I'll be blunt. This strategy of "Let's do something fun to attract seekers!" is a reason why we're losing real seekers to false religions. People who long to connect with God, or who mourn their sin, or who despair over life's trivialities, or who desire to grasp the eternal, are utterly turned off by skits and chuckles and vaudevillian banter. When they see that we are trying to bait them to God with frivolity, and that we seem embarrassed about holy things, then it should not surprise us when they run to religions like Buddhism for spirituality or Islam for discipline. I'm beginning to fear that the public face of Christianity in "seeker-sensitive" churches looks an awful lot like an invitation to be shallow.

Listen to the world. In an episode of The Simpsons, Lisa converted to Buddhism not because she had anything against Jesus but because her family's church had become disgustingly commercial - a mirror of profane culture rather than a refuge from it. Even unbelievers, if they are spiritually sensitive, can discern a church's spiritual descent. A non-Christian friend of my son reacted to a Starbucks-clone coffee shop in a church she visited by saying, "That isn't right." She was correct, and Christians who know the story of Jesus evicting moneychangers from the temple should know better than to accommodate "seekers" by turning their church into a mall.

We gather at church to worship God. That is not to say we can't do other things there too - share a meal, have some fellowship, delight in one another's company. But let it be clear to any visitor, to any seeker, that if he comes to our assembly what he will find mainly is people composing their hearts to worship God and receive grace to be conformed to the image of Christ. We are not ashamed of that. We put it right out there in front, and take care to let nothing distract us from that holy purpose.