The Reformation Project: Thesis 13

13. Christian efforts to make God seem relevant to unbelievers must never take a form that promotes irreverence or trivializes matters of supreme importance.  There is no relevance to be found in a trite approach to God.

One of the churches I wrote about in the first section of this study featured as the sermon the preparation of a smoothie in the style of a Food Network program. At another, the minister began his sermon with 15 minutes of jokes.

While it was not a part of this study, I also have seen a large local church create a brochure in which celebrities replaced the apostles in a mock up of Leonardo's Last Supper. The brochure announced a sermon series in which the minister would explain what Jesus would have to say to these famous people.

In another recent trend, some churches are now preceding their "worship experiences" with their praise bands playing rock music -- secular music with no pretense of relevance to worship -- in order to draw a crowd.

The church exists to proclaim the Lord of Glory, the Creator of all things, the Redeemer of the world. One may ask if these techniques give due glory to the one who is being proclaimed.

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