The Entertainment Driven Church

C. Michael Patton has a great post called "The Entertainment Driven Church". He outlines his experience visiting different churches from different traditions. It's a pretty interesting read. There is much quotable material, but just read it for yourself. I believer it's worth your time to think through these issues.

iMonk has a commentary on Michael's post as well. He might be a bit more doom and gloom than I would prefer, but I certainly lean towards what he is saying. He sums up:

This isn’t about kickin’ worship bands or big screens. Take them, take them. I don’t care. What I want to know is if we recognize that the disease is overtaking the evangelical body, and the time has come to think like people upon whom an evangelical dark age has come? The barbarians aren’t at the gates. They are running the city. We can’t shut the gates. We have to find places to survive. We can debate how big the hole in the side of the ship is all we want. The fact is: this ship is going down.

Christ’s church will survive and triumph. But in America and the West, the entertainment driven “church” is going to dominate. For those who will not be absorbed, for whom resistance is not futile, there are choices to be made.

Yes Michael, it was entertaining. But be afraid. Be very afraid.

The bus to Rome is leaving now, and it seems that every seat is filled. Oh…what’s that? Seems that a much larger bus to Atheism is pulling into the lot, and there are plenty of seats available.