For years I have been appalled by what I have observed in many evangelical circles: an emergence of what I call a cult of celebrity Christianity. That is a sharp indictment and, perhaps, not a completely fair assessment of “believers”. I enclose believers in quotation marks as some of them are merely in name only, while others truly do practice their faith; they walk the talk, so to speak. The latter bears discussion and will be momentarily. For the present, though, I need to return to the phrase cult of celebrity Christianity. What do I mean by it? I am not in favor of casting aspersions on specific, well-known tele-evangelists, as I have my own inner demons with which to deal. Sadly, however, our congregations are falling into a kind of torpor as they fail to recognize a dearth of theological interaction as they nod into oblivion during their Sunday morning services. While the mosh pits are filled and the fog machines are active, the minds of many worshipers are becoming increasingly dulled by the emotion-based mantras they are encouraged to sing. Oddly, though, the “performers” outpace the congregations they are supposed to serve, as their drums and amplifiers drown out the voices of the congregations, encouraged to sing. Usually, the “singing” is followed by a fifteen-minute, feel-good homily, with “Communion” baskets strategically placed so people can grab the prefab plastic encased grape juice/cracker elements, when the spirit moves them. As no words of institution are spoken, a visitor might miss the sacrament altogether. Grab and go communion, followed by a quick swallow of coffee from the disposable cup in its holder provided for every attendee. Meanwhile, arms are raised, and repeated phrases are yelled with ardor. It all feels soooo good! How good is it, and to what does it refer? I refer to worship that appears to center on the self rather than on the LORD. When the English translation from the Hebrew appears in all caps form (check your bibles, folks), the original language is YHWH. The English, Lord, is from the Hebrew word, Adonai. This needs clarification. Check your notes on Lamentations.
Christian worship is serious business. Of course, there is room for joy (as there should be). However, we have lost the sense of reverence in many of our churches. We need to recapture reflection in our congregations. While something new does not make it bad, something old does not make it irrelevant. In our quest to relate to everyone (an impossibility, by the way), we have lost
