Some honest people will bluntly tell you a church ( not The Church ) operates as a business. In many aspects, they must.
While marketing a venue is inevitable, sermons mirroring varietal sale techniques should cause us to examine more than mere merchandise. You can't buy or sell a relationship with Christ as if it were a weekly special at your favorite store.
Jesus is the same yesterday and today, God has no limitations and no room for improvement. Consequently, we can serve Him, but never help Him. Even if we could give Him all of ourselves, we can never add anything to Him.
Yet, if you listen closely to the sensationalized sermons, you're bound to hear voices sounding oddly similar to infomercial salespersons declare,
”But wait, there's more!” If you act now, we will throw in a WWJD bracelet absolutely free.
Constantly entertained and instantly gratified we like the Gospel with a side of wow!
Palatable conjecture is easier to deliver than hard truths. Thereby, setting the trend for popular pastors to unveil an exciting new perspective every week. It doesn't have to be doctrinally sound. Never mind if it's biblically inaccurate. So long as it makes an audience gasp with surprise or promotes prosperity, happy thoughts, and book sales, we will buy it.
There's nothing wrong, per se, with excitement or positive thoughts in sermons. Slogans and catch phrases are not necessarily harmful . Selling books is not intrinsically evil. The volume level or light intensity does not communicate anything other than audience preference. When bold definitive statements are made that unintentionally entice conjecture, unworthy of the All-knowing, All-powerful God we serve, we got problems.
Why isn't the Way Wow enough?
The privilege to Worship God, who created everything, who lived, suffered, and died to save us in spirit and truth, should be more than adequate. Why isn't the clear commandments of His Word enough of a challenge for us? The Sword of the Spirit cannot be dulled by the sharpening of man’s senses. Dynamic platitudes aren't equal to simple truths of His Word.
The the inerrancy of God’s Word is as sure as man’s inability to become worthy of opening it. Knowing the impossibility for flawed creatures to handle God’s perfect Word perfectly, means eating the meat and spitting out the bones of most sermons. It is essential to verify the teaching. The wow factor must stand up to the way factor. The teaching must be biblically sound.
Learning to ignore the tones and the nuisances of our imperfections is key for “iron to sharpen iron”. The pulpit, rightfully so, is the most scrutinized place on the planet. Sometimes, you feel as if you are underneath a microscope being dissected by the blind. To stand in the pulpit is to invite criticism, both constructive and destructive, to a mysterious, yet necessary task.
AW Tozer wrote these words,
”What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us...For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.”
Don't take Tozer’s word for it.
What we allow ourselves to be taught matters to God.
Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
In hopes of catching a glimpse of God's supernatural power, two thousand years ago people used to follow Jesus waiting for a miracle. Two thousand years later, while focusing on dynamic teachers, we often forget salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the most supernatural event we can experience. Look out the window or a mirror to see evidence of God's power.
When the rivers of living waters pour from the broken vessels the Almighty has called to carry the Gospel, His people should be refreshed, empowered, and ignited.
We shouldn't allow the conceptual ideas or energy of our favorite preachers or teachers cause us to focus on the mysteries rather than our thankful obedience to our Redeemer. The Way, The Truth, and the Life does the saving. The truth sets you free to live the life. Let the Way wow you.
