Posted on 06/12/2009 3:31:04 PM PDT by NYer
Evangelical Protestants – born-again, Bible-believing and ever-ready to spread the Word – make up the country's biggest religious group, with 26 percent of all U.S. adults.
Marching under that banner are some of America's most prominent figures of faith, from Rick Warren to Franklin Graham.
And who is most closely identified with mega-churches, contemporary Christian music, mass-rally evangelism and best-selling, purpose-driven Christian books? That's right: Evangelicals.
Sounds like a golden age for the evangelical church, right?
Wrong, says Warren Cole Smith, an evangelical journalist and longtime editor of The Charlotte World.
In his new book, an insider critique called “A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church” (Authentic Books, $16.99), Smith argues that many, if not most, evangelical churches have lost their way. Instead of sticking with core biblical principles, rich traditions and church-as-community, he says, they promote feel-goodism, technological fads and church-as-entertainment.
During a recent interview, he laid out his criticisms – as well as some of his solutions.
Among his more provocative charges: “For the sake of money and power and status and celebrity … we've made ‘church' easy. We've made being a card-carrying member of the evangelical movement easy. But being a disciple of Jesus in the early 21st century is hard and, for the most part, the evangelical church doesn't teach us how to do that.”
Smith, who attends Presbyterian Church in America-affiliated StoneBridge Church, told me he's not in favor of destroying the evangelical movement, just reforming it. Call him an Orthodox evangelical.
For starters, he's put off by what he calls the sterile look of modern evangelical churches.
“You see PowerPoint presentations, projection systems. You've got to spend an hour looking in the cubbies to find a cross or an altar,” he said. “We have, in the space of 20 years, almost completely discarded the historic symbols of Christianity.”
Smith is also no fan of the latest practice in some churches: Twittering. Typing a mini-message into your BlackBerry may give the pastor feedback on his sermon, Smith said, but it also turns the congregation into an audience. He'd prefer his fellow evangelicals join in the recitation of the Apostles Creed or extend a handshake of peace to a pew-mate.
“The liturgy understands that humans need to actively participate and not be spectators,” Smith said.
Contemporary Christian music?
He'll take the time-tested hymns of yesteryear any day. When evangelical churches sing spiritually shallow “Jesus is my boyfriend” songs, Smith said, they are following the lead of today's Christian radio listeners, rather than the theologically astute composers of old.
“Music in church is not meant to make us feel good. It's to bring glory to God and be part of the teaching ministry of the church,” Smith said. “Those (hymns) have been vetted by the best theological minds of the last 200 years.”
OK, I know what you're thinking: Smith sure sounds cranky. What's so bad about feeling good about ourselves?
Plenty, said Smith. He calls it “the triumph of sentimentality,” recasting the world as we would like it to be (humans are basically pretty good) rather than what it really is (we are sinful creatures who need a divine savior).
In our hourlong talk, Smith saved his sharpest jab for smiling televangelist Joel Osteen, a Houston mega-pastor who fills auditoriums, goes on “ LarryKing Live,” and sells millions of books with his upbeat message.
“Joel Osteen has a view of the world that you can have your best life now,” Smith said. “If I were going to rewrite Genesis and put (modern) words into the mouth of Satan … I'd put Joel Osteen's words there: ‘You're not so bad. You're so close to being God now. Just a little tweak, a little tune-up, a little bit better. Just follow these 7 rules.'”
So how would Smith save evangelicalism?
Among his answers: Make pastors accountable to deacon or elder boards. Urge churchgoers to discover the vocation God is calling them to. Recover face-to-face community. Develop a stronger sense of history. Plant new churches. And avoid easy answers.
“I'm not saying that I've got all the answers,” Smith concluded. “But I am saying we have a rich biblical Christian tradition that has given us many, many good answers. We've forgotten them. Let's try to recover them.”
Is there a PCA ping list?
Our church seats 840. Fortunately, not everybody shows up for Mass at the same time.
Um, my parish can challenge that. Beautiful music transcends age. We have plenty of young people in a choir that is REALLY good for a parish. And they love the challenge of Renaissance and Baroque pieces.
Another handful: http://www.freenorthchurch.org/psalms.htm
Enjoy.
Close enough -- thanks!
So. how far are you from Los Angeles? I’ll be over. We have ‘Captain Ahab’ on the organ upstairs — my son and I cannot sit together, because if either of us dares to take a peek at him, we roll our eyes. But the no music mass is, of course, wonderful.
I did politely talk to the organist once, thanking him for playing/ singing How Great Thou Art, requesting could we maybe do other of the Great Old Hymns. He obstinately replied that there were some very good NEW hymns in the OCP book too. Not really.
We are so content and thankful, however, to have good, solid orthodoxy that we don’t complain.
I never heard the Nicene Creed spoken in a Protestant Church.
When you do the pieces from another time when all people did was study, you appreciate the musicianship that we've somewhat lost.
We do Sacred Harp from time to time, but as we are the Cathedral Choir, it's not all that often.
Seven rules?
And here I thought there were TEN.
The Mass parts from the Missa di Angeles are in the OCP book. Ask for them sometime. Chant is really very easy.
OCP took out "Praise God in His Holy Dwelling" and that was the end for me. That was one of the few decent "new" hymns in there.
I never heard the Nicene Creed spoken in a Protestant Church.
I have. Probably depends where you've been. Your basic "mutt evangelical" church, unlikely.
***ummmmm . . . hate to be the near occasion of sin, but OF COURSE we do. Whenever we do a motet, we always do the chant first, then our music director does a little filigree on the organ if necessary to change keys, then off we go.
Our music director has even taught us to read Gregorian notation. THAT was a first for me, coming from the Episcopal church. “Chant” in our former life meant four- and six- part Anglican chant. Which is cool stuff, but quite different from Gregorian.
Here is a spoof recording of the British Highway Code pertaining to pedestrians, done by The Master Singers in three or four different Anglican chant settings - The Highway Code. But it gives you an idea of the Anglican sound — the part that begins with “always use subways, footbridges, pedestrian crossing or central refuges” is the traditional setting for Psalm 22 and my favorite Anglican chant.***
You are a child of God - this is brilliant. Thank you. Just to pay you back (heh heh), try Not the Nine O’Clock News taking on the Apostles’ Creed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUQcCvX2MKk&feature=related
Rowan Atkinson is brilliant (we named our youngest daughter Rowan).
Good music can attract people to the church. I loved singing in the choir growing up in the church. We put on a lovely cantata one Palm Sunday, but we don’t have a choir anymore. I do miss that. I sang in a number of choral groups in the past, too. They were lots of fun and the music was varied and wonderful. I especially liked the Messiah.
Does anyone believe in the Inerrant Word of God anymore? Modern day evangelicals have moved so far away from scriptural concepts that the greats like B.B Warfield, and even modern day Martin Lloyd-Jones are probably turning over in their graves
See Luke 5:37-39
I prefer the anonymous setting of Rejoice in the Lord Alway too.
This article is right on target!!!
The Problem of Wineskins: Church Structure in Technological Age
I'll have to look for that one. In my abundant free time, of course.
T. David Gordon lectures on “Reformed Worship in the Electronic Age”. "Media ecology" stuff. The first two have the meat, the third kind-a wanders and the fourth is a recap. Method is not irrelevant.
I do.
1Ki 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
"Our Father or Mother, who art in Heaven, Mecca, or Salt Lake City . . . "
Longtime Blackadder fan here.
***LOLROTF here . . .
“Our Father or Mother, who art in Heaven, Mecca, or Salt Lake City . . . “
Longtime Blackadder fan here.***
Oh bless you, bless you. My darling bride, impeccable in every other possible and imaginable way, detests Blackadder. For a while at Kweznuz we always watched Blackadder’s Christmas then the tape mysteriously disappeared...
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