Church as theater

[spinbaby]

I went to a wedding for a relative at one of those extremely born-again cult-like churches. The church service was short and unremarkable--lots of Jesus, bible quotes, and apparently God was just thrilled with this particular wedding.

But I was struck by the very appearance of the inside of a church. If I hadn't known and been told it was a church, I would have taken it for a theater. Plush seats, a curtained stage flanked by two large video screens, theater lighting, a sound system with controls like the space shuttle...it's as if they see religion as a theater production, as something to be carefully staged for an audience.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

1. Welcome to the MegaChurch

an abmomination in the eyes of God, where the politics of social control is practiced far more than anything approaching the teachings of Yeshua.

[Warpy]

2. Last summer Harper's did a series on the Megachurch

and it's really worth loooking for at your public library.

That it looks like a theater with little or nothing to indicate that it's connected to ole time religion is no coincidence. Showbiz is how they get the folks in there, and showbiz is what keeps them coming back.

It's also no mistake that these places are calculated to make the average person feel like an ant in a shoebox, as opposed to the old neighborhood churches and their relative intimacy. It's all calculated to make people feel unimportant until they join the group effort of singing, waving their arms, and voting for the Antichrist along with all the other folks who've been sucked into that sort of thing.

Plus, there's no longer that uncomfortable mess of having a minister who actually knows who you are and what your problems in life might be. Gone are the temperance lectures and all the other uncomfortable spiritual counseling that would take place in a small church. Welcome to the church of total lack of responsibility! Do what you want on your own time! They'll NEVER KNOW!

I have no idea how long this phenomenon will last, but I do know that eventually people run into problems and miss the intimacy of the old churches. I know several people who have left local megachurches and gone back to little, mainstream churches and told me it felt like they'd gone home again. I just hope this translates into a gradual turning away from showbiz as religion.

[spinbaby]

4. I had no idea such things existed

There was nothing in this place to even show it was a church--no altar, no religious symbols. They sold travel mugs with the church logo in the lobby.

[shenmue]

3. A megachurch is being built not far from me

I kid you not, it's the size of a civic center or small college.

I have a feeling they won't be preaching about "sell all you have and come follow me" or "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle..." very often.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Welcome to the world of the megachurch

Even back in the olden days, the fundamentalist churches put on a kitschy show.

One of my violin teachers earned extra money playing the violin in the orchestra of one of the fundie churches in Minneapolis, which televised its services on a mainstream station. Not only were the musicians in evening dress, but behind them were fountains of colored water shooting up to emphasize loud passages of music.

They appeal to people who know nothing but pop culture.

[ktowntennesseedem]

6. Soren Kierkegaard had a great analogy.

Unlike so many churches today, where the "performers" on the platform seek to "entertain" the "audience," Kierkegaard felt that the performers are actually those in the pews (or chairs, as the case may be), while those leading worship on the platform are merely "prompters." The "audience?" The audience is God, because true worship is done for God's glory.

If I want to go to a concert, I go to a concert. But when I want to worship, there aren't many churches left where that still happens, IMHO anyway.