Is there still room for that “Olde Time Religion?”

We in America face a new battle from within our churches, the battle for our services and worship styles. Some would say it does not matter how you worship as long as you do. To me that is saying the same thing as, “It doesn’t matter what you eat as long as you eat.” Well, we know that is not true. If you eat healthy, you normally are healthier. If you eat fatty foods it can lead one to being, wait for it…fat. So it does matter what you eat. I believe it also matters how we worship.

Too many churches today are chasing the lights of Hollywood. What do I mean by that? They are creating an atmosphere of entertainment, believing that to get people to come to church today, we have to provide them an entertaining hour or two or else they will go to the other megachurch down the road that does have the black stages, smoke machines, and loud rock sounds not to mention the preacher that someone would have to tell you who it is because he (or she now a days) looks like a casual observer with jeans and a t-shirt.

Is that what our worship has become? A big “main event” with all the bells and whistles of a Saturday night out at a show? I hope not, but for many, I am afraid that is the case.

Now, let me say there may not be anything wrong with the activities or the entertainment values these “main events” include. Music style preferences are different for many people, the same is true of methods of worship during a preacher’s message. My concern is in the “real-value” of worship. The purpose of the church is to be a place of equipping the saints to build their faith, to learn His Word, and then provide an opportunity to demonstrate His service to others inside and outside the church. It is not so much the methods used in worship but the purpose of the activity that is alarming to me.

As our traditional churches have modified their worship service, the question has to be, “Why?” Is it so we can better equip the saints? Is it so we can provide better tools to learn His Word? Is it so the church can better provide for the needs of service to those within or without the church? If these are the reasons for change, then they may indeed be justified. If, on the other hand, they are simply to satisfy a worldly crowd that does not lead to great spiritual depth, then maybe we had better stick to that “Olde Time Gospel Way” until it does.