Entertainment

Over the last month, Natalee and I have been able to go to a few concerts. It has been great. We have enjoyed The Fray and Coldplay as a couple. Coldplay was ridiculously good as a concert. The visual effects was just as good as the music. And Coldplay are great musos! Nat even got to go to Phantom of the Opera, so she has had a particularly blessed month!

The benefit of going to a concert is that you go to be entertained. Through the melody, and harmony, the music takes us on an emotional journey. We enjoy our favourite songs, singing along with gusto (hoping the stranger next to us isnt put off!) and go home exhausted from the hours of traffic congestion! We talk with our friends about how good it was, and look forward to the next night out.

But the problem is that so many people treat church the same way. It is a show to go to. We expect to be entertained, humoured, and kept engaged. If the show was good we even tell our friends. "So and so is such a great preacher", "this worship CD is just the best"...and I am the first to admit having uttered those phrases.

But the church of Jesus Christ isn't a show. It isn't something that we "go to". It is who we are. We are called to be the people of God. To live in covenental community with each other. Along the way we may put on events, but they are not who we are. It is the beauty of Christ's presence amongst a diverse group of people, with various ages and backgrounds, all magnifently saved by the same cross of Christ. Our joy is found in Him, when we come together. He is the one that I want to talk about. "Look what God did", not "look at how good we can be".

Jesus forgive us for treating your church like a show...