Relevant? Or Irreverent?
The Dangers of the Modern American Church
On Super Bowl Sunday, pastors at Cincinnati megachurch Crossroads Church decided the message that day should be delivered through a Super Bowl themed show - I mean “sermon.” The highlight of the event? Pastor Alli Patterson kicking a Bible on stage toward Senior Pastor Brian Tome.
You read that right.
A pastor kicked a Bible on stage in front of their congregation, which reportedly is as numerous as 35,000 - 40,000 people. The excuse for such irreverence toward God’s Word?
“No matter what you believe, you might be a little confused at some point, but I believe you will and can experience God and church in a fresh new way…
You might be wondering why on Earth would we do something like this… we believe that church can and should be fun.” - Andy Reider, Community Pastor for Crossroads Church (Giatti, 2024)
But the question many believers have across the nation is this:
When did God say He needed our help making the Gospel “fresh?” When did God say that church needed to be “more fun?”
This incessant desire to make Jesus, worship, or the Gospel somehow “more relatable” to people is running rampant in the modern American church. Sadly, the fact that Patterson kicked a Bible on stage is arguably one of the more tame displays of irreverence by pastors in recent years. During the same service, one of the Crossroads pastors recreated Miley Cyrus’s wrecking ball moment - clothed, of course, because although they consider “anything short of sin to be up for grabs,” nudity is obviously too far over the line.
Where is the line, though?
Apparently the line isn’t drawn at pouring maple syrup and whipped cream on a Bible as Pastor Michael Todd recently did on stage at Transformation Church (Lykins, 2024). Supposedly, such a demonstration was needed to discuss the importance of our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit.
Apparently the line isn’t drawn at pastors driving supercars through the sanctuary. In 2011, megachurch Pastor Ed Young drove a Ferrari right onto the church stage. This was the second time he had used such an illustration in a sermon series on relationships, having driven a Rolls-Royce on stage weeks earlier (Barrick, 2011). He claimed these gross displays demonstrated that we are “made in God’s image.” I’m thinking Young may have missed those verses talking about storing up treasures here on earth.
So, where is the line? It’s quite simple. Church is not for your entertainment.
Is there a time and place for Christian led entertainment? Sure. Movies, plays, musical ensembles, etc. For all of these things there is a time and a place. Sunday morning worship services (the time dedicated to worship of our Lord and Savior) are not that time and place.
Many supporters of these churches and pastors have clapped back at this kind of criticism. They say things like:
“Who are we to judge?!”
“Don’t limit the Holy Spirit!”
“You have no idea how many people they have led to Christ!”
Who are we to judge? We are the body of Christ.
It is our duty to call out false teachers and false teachings. It is our duty to protect and defend the name of Jesus Christ. It is our duty to defend the Truth of the Gospel - not because God needs us. No, He does not need us. He is God. Still He calls us. He invites us into fellowship with Him, and in response to His profound mercy, the least we could do is defend against those who seek to disgrace Him. The least we could do is worship Him and honor His most Holy name.
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” Matthew 7:15-17, NASB
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.” Acts 20:28-30, NASB
The Gospel does not need to be made more relatable or relevant. The Gospel is as relatable now as it was 2000 years ago when Jesus died for the sake of our sins and rose victoriously over the grave. God does not need our assistance with recreating His Truth. In fact, Scripture warns us of the dangers of perverting the Truth of His Word:
“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19, NASB
The Word of God is living and sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). What could we as imperfect human beings prone to sin and destruction ever do to make the living, breathing Word of God better? More relatable? More relevant?
Nothing.
And it should deeply offend us as believers to see people who call themselves pastors desiring to abuse the name of Christ for the sake of their own personal gain. It should deeply offend us when anyone, especially those calling themselves pastors, deem it necessary to disgrace the name of Christ with these theatrical displays. This is something that John Richardson, a pastor from Pennsylvania recently said on a podcast episode regarding the “He Gets Us” Campaign.
“As far as this whole making the Gospel relevant thing - when you look at what the Gospel is and it is something that you study and that is important to you (and it is more than just the information), I think that is something that should be insulting. When it’s like, ‘oh, we have to find a new way to get this message that has been relevant for the last 2,000 years. I have found a new way to make this relevant, and it’s by not talking about who Jesus is.’” John Richardson
On Super Bowl Sunday this year, an ongoing campaign known as “He Gets Us” paid for two advertising spaces dedicated to sharing their mission of “rediscovering” the story of Jesus Christ. While on the surface, the campaign’s mission may seem heart-felt, hoping to bridge gaps between people of varying faith backgrounds and beliefs, the message they are delivering about Jesus appears to be void of what truly set Him apart - the fact that He was (is, rather), the Messiah.
Lack-luster, empty explanations and short blog posts on the He Gets Us website don’t seem to have the impact of people viewing Jesus or Christianity any differently than they already do. The 2024 Super Bowl advertisement about foot washing was met with tremendous backlash from viewers around the country - Christian and non-Christian alike. And don’t even get me started on the foot fetish jokes.
It seems that this attempt at a PR campaign for Jesus (like so many others before it) possibly had good intentions, but missed the mark. And I just can’t help but wonder why people believe it is Jesus who needs a fresh, new face in the first place. It’s not Jesus who needs a PR campaign. It’s not Jesus who needs fixing. It’s the church.
The American church is full of people more interested in entertainment than the Gospel. Suddenly, a story about an Almighty Creator God sending His own Son to die for the sins of humanity despite that humanity choosing itself over its Creator for thousands and thousands of years is somehow not entertaining enough. At some point in our history as a church, the story of Jesus hanging on a cross at calvary, bearing a crown of thorns so that we, lowly and imperfect in comparison, might be washed clean of all of our transgressions became a story that just isn’t enough.
The American church has told Jesus that He isn’t enough. She has forsaken her reverence for her Creator and her Redeemer for the cheap entertainment of wolves.
A harsh reality, and yet, there is still hope.
If there is any hope to rest in given the nature of the American church today, it is that despite our transgressions, none of us are too far beyond God’s hands and redemptive grace (Romans 8:39; Luke 19:10; Ephesians 2:4-5). Even in her current state of rebellion, the American church can find a path to restoration through Jesus Christ.
The calls to accountability seen here and by other believers are not done for the purpose of crushing people with unactionable shame. After all, all of us have been guilty of the irreverence discussed here. We have all, at some point or another, fallen short of recognizing who our God truly is.
Shame that leads to a conclusion of one’s life being without purpose or worth is a work of Satan. That’s not the point of this post. However, it is true that shame may accompany conviction and may be rightly experienced when our actions have so greatly disgraced the One who created us. Renowned author C.S. Lewis had this to say on the subject of shame:
“The emotion of shame has been valued not as an emotion but because of the insight to which it leads. I think that insight should be permanent in each man’s mind: but whether the painful emotions that attend it should also be encouraged, is a technical problem of spiritual direction on which, as a lay-man, I have little call to speak.
…Humility, after the first shock, is a cheerful virtue: it is the high-minded unbeliever, desperately trying in the teeth of repeated disillusions to retain his ‘faith in human nature,’ who is really sad.” (Lewis, 1996)
The point? We (yes, all of us) may find shame on our path toward redemption as we allow the convictions of the Holy Spirit to begin a good work within us. That shame is not something we should hang our identity on, but it is something that should be a driving force toward being better representatives of Christ. That embarrassment over our past actions may simply be a natural consequence of our poor behavior, a necessary component toward our spiritual growth.
And I desperately desire to see that growth. I desperately desire to see the American church redeemed. More than anything in this world, I desire to see people truly saved, truly changed by the love and grace of Jesus Christ. I desire to see people so overwhelmed by the power of His mercy that their only response is reverent, awe-inspired worship. And with God all things are possible. We are not too far gone.
REFERENCES
Giatti, I. M. (2024, February 14). Ohio megachurch Pastor Kicks bible off stage during Super Bowl Sunday service. The Christian Post. https://www.christianpost.com/news/ohio-megachurch-kicks-bible-off-stage-during-super-bowl-sunday-se.html
Lykins, L. (2024, February 8). Pastor Michael Todd pours syrup, sprays whipped cream on Bible as sermon illustration. The Roys Report. https://julieroys.com/pastor-michael-todd-pours-syrup-sprays-whipped-cream-on-bible-as-sermon-illustration/
Barrick, A. (2011, February 28). Pastor drives Ferrari into church for Relationship Series. The Christian Post. https://www.christianpost.com/news/pastor-drives-ferrari-into-church-for-relationship-series.html
Lewis, C. S. (1996). Human Wickedness. In The Problem of Pain (pp. 61–62). (1st HarperCollins paperback edition). New York, NY: HarperOne.