The Church Of The Cool And Groovy (A Worldy Christian View)

[LindaR]

The Church Of The Cool And Groovy (A Worldy Christian View)

Posted: 05/12/2008

Hey, our church is cool -- you'll love the Starbucks!
Come visit our youth group; it's cool!
Hey, you'll like our church - the music is so cool!
Our pastor is cool, you ought to see his Elvis impersonation
Our youth pastor is cool! He's awesome on Guitar Hero and listens to Led Zeppelin!

Webster's Dictionary defines "cool" as slang for fashionable & hip.

Fashionable

1: conforming to the custom, fashion, or established mode

Hip

1: a: having or showing awareness of or involvement in the newest developments or styles

http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/3498/By_Craig_Gleason

An eye opener---the world has come into the Church. The last paragraph sums it up:

As a church body it's past time to clean house. There's way too much cool and groovy and not enough cross and repentance. Now for those of you reading this who agree with its content, don't just amen the article. Start speaking up in your churches and pray for change and holiness and for God to bring us to our knees for His sake. Be bold, Church, and remember to love God with all of your being and your neighbor as yourselves.

[tired]

I just read that yesterday, excellent

[John81]

"Entertainment Christianity" seems to be everywhere these days and it's a problem on so many levels.

One aspect that I've had to deal with is those who say this or that has to be okay because "those Christians do it/say it/have it/play it".

This can be difficult to deal with when talking to non-Christians, baby Christians or professing Christians you may not be sure of whether they are saved or not. The pull and attaction all the worldly "coolness" offers and puts forth really distracts them and since they are not that familiar with Scripture, and often not really open to getting into the Scripture deeply, this can really lead them astray.

[PreacherBen]

But you know, brothers and sisters, this "coolness" goes beyond entertainment and such. It is a prevailing attitude. Honestly, we can recall from our younger days, and I think it still carries on somewhat, namely, we still want to be thought of as "cool." No one want to be out of touch, we want to be "hip," "with it," "narley," (that's one we never used in my generation.) If we are not careful, we will succomb to this attitude. I know of a "goin and a blowin" IFB church in the area, and they had "Cool Sun Glasses Sunday." This was somekind of program and they had pictures with the pastor, Sunday School teachers, bus workers, kids, etc., all wearing these, Blues Brothers type glasses. They were making "cool" gestures, and tough looks on their faces.

I don't think this reflects the gentle nature of Christ. I know we all have different personalities, and we have to be somewhat forebearing in regards to that, but I really think we should leave "coolness" to the world and work harder on "godliness." I sure do. Jesus said:

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Mat 11:29

If we are not careful, we too, will find ourselves caving to the prevailing cultural attitude and becoming "cool," ourselves. May God help us to walk like Christ and still be relevant to those around us (without having to be cool.)

Ben

[Ashlee]

:amen:

[war_eagle]

Later this month, our church will be two years old. In that short time, we've gone from 24 members to more than 200. So I think we've shown that you don't have to be "relevant" or sacrifice sound doctrine and practice to grow.

We go against all of the things the church growth/seeker sensitive/emergent people say we should.

We don't have rock music. We have hymns.

We don't have a "worship team" (ie. rock band). We have a piano and, on occasion, an organ.

We don't have power point. We use hymnals.

We don't have motivational speaking. We have honest to goodness, rock solid expository preaching.

"Worst" of all, we make prospective members sign a covenant that states that (a) they will submit to accountability and, if need be, church discipline, and ( that they understand that church is not a spectator sport and they are expected to be involved in the ministry of the church.

Yes, a lot of people decide that isn't for them, but the folks who decide to stay are unbelievable. If we go out to share the Gospel, we don't have to beg people to go. They can't wait.



When we have a new class, we have to turn people away because they fill up so quickly.

So I just don't believe that we have to be "hip" to attract people.

In fact, one of the reasons our church has grown so is the large number of Christians who've gotten tired of the "MTV church" attitude so prevalent in our area.

A good rule of thumb is that, if you feel like you've got to make the Gospel "hip", then you're probably not preaching the Biblical Gospel.

[OLD fashioned preacher]

I've noticed over the years that when the music goes hip-hop just about 10 yrs or less the KJV goes out the window. By the same token, when they leave for other versions they later pick up the world's "grooving" tunes.

[JAHinton]

Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Deu 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

The problem in the church today is that not enough Christians are willing to be the "peculiar" people that they are called to be. If we can just be cool and not peculiar, people will like us better. We are not called to be liked but to be a light. Light makes a difference. You can not make a difference unless you are different. Be cool if you like just realize you will make no difference and will never be a light but adokimos.

[war_eagle]

Was watching "Wretched" tonight and they showed this video. This is truly awesome and I hope it's a good lesson against trying to entice people into church through UNbiblical means:

http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.239

[IM4given]

very good movie! thanks for posting that!

[war_eagle]

Yeah, I saw that on "Wretched" last night and immediately ran to my office to email it to a bunch of people.

Since I found it last night, I've been going through a lot of the material on it and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite websites.