There may be a plague in the land. Consider this…
- If I were to secure a popular Christian musician to be present at a Wednesday night at Eastside Baptist Church (the going price to do so is a minimum of $10,000.00) I suspect we would have to rent a facility to house the number of people who would come.
- If I were to secure a popular Christian athlete to be present at a Wednesday night prayer meeting at Eastside Baptist Church, I suspect we would have to turn people away.
- If I were to secure a popular Christian actor to be present at a Wednesday night gathering, I suspect we would gather more than just Christians.
- If I were to secure a popular preacher we could fill the Lord’s house and would talk about that gathering for months to come.
thus showing us at least two problems…
- The current atmosphere among the “Christian” community is plagued with an attraction for the popular, the rich, the talented, the attractive, the comfortable and is completely naive of the opportunity that is before them to be in the manifest presence of Holy God.
- What pastor’s (myself included) are calling “worship services”, “prayer meetings”, “bible study” etc, may not be genuinely Christian in nature and more a product of his imagination.
It is my observation that both may be part of the problem. Christian, you have before you an opportunity to gather with the Lord’s people for perhaps the most uniquely compelling reason you could imagine. Can you imagine a worship service where the presence of the Lord God Almighty is so obviously present? Can you imagine a prayer meeting where those present experienced a pouring out of the Holy Spirit that all present were radically changed?
- Put that moment up against the last episode of American Idol or Dancing with the Stars.
- Put that gathering up against the opening night of the long anticipated movie blockbuster.
- Put that time of prayer up against a date night with your spouse.
Our casual approach to worship, prayer, bible study exposes a serious issue. And pastor (I’m preaching to me again) your casual approach to preparing shows you have little knowledge as to who you are representing.
There is no celebrity guest appearance showing up at 204 Eastland Drive North in Twin Falls, Idaho, tonight. There is no celebrity interesting enough to take the stage as the opener. We will humbly ask for the Lord’s manifest presence to be present. May He visit us tonight.
