by Kent Heaton<\/p>\n
Going to church is not like it used to be.<\/strong> Church services have turned into places of entertainment and frolic and high-pitched computer-generated displays of excitement, energy, and temporal feelings of self-worth. Auditoriums are filled with choral groups arrayed in splashing displays of sparkling gowns with sound systems that generate twenty-seven million decibels of sound reverberating through the expanse of overflow crowds riveted with spiritual fervor. Bands fill the sanctuary with guitars, drums, brass, string, and a host of instruments gauged with the onslaught of entertaining the masses. Power enthusiasm is the order of worship.<\/p>\n Going to church is not like it used to be.<\/strong> Church services have turned into places where you can “come as you are.” The dress code for worship is whatever makes one comfortable. Bare feet are now acceptable, as are shorts, tee shirts, and casual apparel. It is as if one is going to the ballpark, fishing, or relaxing around the house. Church services are created to be as “dressed down” as possible.<\/p>\n Going to church is not like it used to be.<\/strong> Church services have turned into places of social fellowship where one can find spaghetti, cake, hamburgers, hotdogs, fried chicken, sweet tea, pies, fruitcakes, and pizza. The incense of coffee wafts through the halls with an enticing appeal to doughnuts and sweet rolls. Crowds are appealed to through the conversion of the stomach with a fork in hand.<\/p>\n Going to church is not like it used to be.<\/strong>\u00a0Church services have turned into places where preaching the Bible is replaced with preaching the “feel good about yourself and no one sins anymore” kind of sophistry lacking conviction and devotion on any level. The grit of scripture is replaced with a veneer of soothing enticements to indulge the peaceful hearts filled to the brim with worldliness and covetousness.<\/p>\n In the days of Jeroboam king of Judah, “the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold and said to them, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem’<\/em>” (I Kings 12:28). What Jeroboam was afraid of was the people of the Northern tribes would go to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, their hearts would turn against him and the people would rise up and kill him. To keep the people under his rule, he set up two calves of gold in Bethel and Dan for them to worship. It became convenient and more appealing to the people. Who wants to trudge all the way to Jerusalem? This religion of ease was to make the people happy and enjoy worshiping “God.” How convenient they would not have to be bothered by anything as tedious as going all the way to Jerusalem. They wanted to enjoy life and have fun and be entertained.<\/p>\n The spirit of Jeroboam abounds today in modern religion. Everyone wants to have things convenient for them. Power enthusiasm, come-as-you-are dress codes, food in abundance, and feel-good religion have turned the Bible into nothing more than a dusty library of sixty-six books out of date and out of time with modern man. Leaving the Bible, modern religion worships at the altars of Bethel and Dan. We need prophets like Ahijah who will declare the pure message of God (I Kings 14). Anything less is rebellion.<\/p>\n “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel<\/em>” (Jeremiah 7:12).<\/p>\n “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 7:21).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Kent Heaton Going to church is not like it used to be. Church services have turned into places of entertainment and frolic and high-pitched computer-generated displays of excitement, energy, and temporal feelings of self-worth. Auditoriums are filled with choral groups arrayed in splashing displays of sparkling gowns with sound systems that generate twenty-seven million…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[448,759,192,152],"class_list":["post-56551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church","tag-entertainment","tag-liberalism","tag-social-activities"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40063,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/worship-as-entertainment\/","url_meta":{"origin":56551,"position":0},"title":"Worship as Entertainment","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Roberts via\u00a0Abundant Life Romans 1 challenges us with its chilling words \"they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man\" (vv. 22-23). Man has the propensity to change God and the worship of God into what he desires. Instead\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Entertainment-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9684,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-there-are-no-sound-churches-in-my-area-should-i-worship-with-a-liberal-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":56551,"position":1},"title":"If there are no sound churches in my area, should I worship with a liberal one?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am disabled and would like to attend an anti-church but there are none nearby and I was wondering if it would be okay to take communion at a liberal church instead of missing communion with the Lord? Answer: All Christians are required to partake of the communion and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8645,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-worship-at-home-because-it-is-more-convenient\/","url_meta":{"origin":56551,"position":2},"title":"Can we worship at home because it is more convenient?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Is home worship acceptable on Sunday by a family if they were unable to get to church? Can it continue for convenience? Answer: If a family wishes to establish a church in an area that doesn't have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25391,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-the-church-isnt-the-building-you-cant-make-rules-about-how-the-building-is-used\/","url_meta":{"origin":56551,"position":3},"title":"Since the church isn’t the building, you can’t make rules about how the building is used","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You are right in that you say the church is not to be an entertainment organization. But the picture you put on that site is not the church! You started out by saying that the church (Did you mean that building in the picture? That isn't the church!) had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19698,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-shouldnt-write-against-having-kitchens-and-fellowship-halls-since-these-arent-important-to-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":56551,"position":4},"title":"You shouldn’t write against having kitchens and fellowship halls since these aren’t important to salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I stumbled across your web site and found some very valuable information that may help me in the future. I disagree, however, with one of your beliefs. Having a kitchen or a potluck at the church building is not wrong. The church building is just that -- a building.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60891,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-have-an-easter-egg-hunt-after-services\/","url_meta":{"origin":56551,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong to have an Easter egg hunt after services?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I was reading one of the articles on your website about Easter. I am a member of the church and studying what has been taking place in a previous congregation I've attended. There was an Easter egg hunt directly after the service. Is that wrong or not since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}