Church visit
I was invited to church recently by a good friend who was getting baptized. Although, it was more of a sad event from my perspective as opposed to it being a quite joyful experience for him, I figured it would be interesting just to get to go to church again. It has been a while, after all.
I ended up being disappointed with the whole experience. It was a new church and very non-traditional. The first thing I noticed upon entering the fellowship hall was that they had rows of individual chairs rather than the traditional pews and the stage was – well it was a stage – like a rock band with rock band equipment set up on it. There was no podium. This room basically looked like a concert hall with a dark open ceiling and big stage lights hanging down.
Service began with the baptism which took about 15 or 20 minutes for several folks then led straight in to a Christian rock band playing some of the most non-inspirational, mediocre Christian rock songs I’ve ever heard. Instead of hymnals, they have projectors on each side of the auditorium projecting the lyrics on the wall. I just kept thinking that I really wish they had a choir and organ.
Finally the band stopped playing and the preacher got up. It took me a while to figure out if it was the preacher because he was wearing the same t-shirt as everyone else at the church. He didn’t give a traditional sermon, just kind of sat down on a stool and talked conversational style to us. I kept my ears open for anything unique that I could blog about but he didn’t give me much to go on. It seems to me that modern Christians are trying to be as vague as they possibly can so as to lure in more gullible folks without alienating those who might think a little about what they are being told. And there is no question about it, they want children! They are well aware that they need those young impressionable minds to peddle their crap. This church was, in my opinion, absolutely targeted at young adults and children.
He did call up a couple with 2 young children to do some kind of dedication to them; I guess it was a way to officially welcome them into the church or something. He gave them each a bible. Then he said that God has a purpose for them, as he does with everyone. This is one idea that I’ve never been able to get a believer to expound upon without getting upset and giving up. I mean, if God has a plan and he has this plan for everyone, does that mean that anyone who does bad things is going against God’s plan? And if you can go against God’s plan then what is the point of his plan in the first place? Does he have to keep changing it to account for those who fuck it up?
Something else he said struck me as odd. He said that God is the giver of every GOOD gift. I wonder if that means, to him, that God is not also the giver of any bad gifts like an infant dying in an automobile accident.
He also said something that made me giggle. He said that Jesus gave us a gift that is simple enough that a child can receive it. I thought to myself that it was simple enough that only a child’s mind could think it was real to begin with. Then he went on to babble about how Jesus paid the highest price. Really, what price did he pay? He gave up a few years on earth to go to heaven and reign as a God. Ouch, the poor guy, I hope therapy helped. And honestly, if he wanted to, couldn’t he come back to earth any time he wanted? It only takes the slightest bit of critical thinking to show what a load of crap this story is.
They also gave communion which I declined to participate in. My friend (not the one getting baptized) almost made me cry laughing when everyone, in unison, drank the “kool-aid.” He looked at me and said “Jim Jones;” it was a struggle for me to keep from laughing out loud.