By Teri Ong

Church revitalization ministries are intent on getting churches down to business– the business of getting people in their doors and money in their financial accounts. Some Revitalizers base their theories and their work on the model (or variations of it) propounded in the book To Dream Again. The writer charts the life cycle of the average church through to its ultimate death. In order to put off the inevitable, churches need to have “vitality” and “sustainability.” Those are code words for “people” and “money” by his own admission.

Having a lot of people around provides a social buzz that many find to be “energizing.” Having a lot of money means that a church is able to spend it on slick media presentations, theatrical lighting and sound systems, professional musicians, targeted programs, multiple campuses, etc., in order to get the buzz. It seems pretty obvious that those who have it, have the capacity to get more. And those who don’t have it, will do about anything to get into the club.

One of the top selling approaches is to do Hollywood or Nashville better than the other churches in town. Bringing in Christian concert artists has been around for a long time, but bringing in a concert pianist to play hymn arrangements (so 1960’s!) is a far cry from staging a hip-hop group complete with choreography and revealing apparel (so MTV). In retrospect, sponsoring any kind of entertaining event, even a conservative one, put the church on a dangerous trajectory. Some preachers, like A. W. Tozer, sounded the alarm many years ago. But here we are, sixty years farther along the line of departure than anyone could have imagined.

The median attendance at churches in America was 80 in 2016. Our church has been half that for most of its 38 year history. By all human metrics, we have never been “vital” or “sustainable.” But by the measure of the church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3 by Jesus Christ, we have been both. We sing Psalms and hymns to appropriate tunes. We don’t have a praise band or any solo performances, not even offertories. One pastor who visited our church for a conference wrote us a letter thanking us for the fine hymn texts we sang, but added that he really prefers up-beat music to “energize” him.

This is not a biblically sound way to think; in fact, it is a pagan way to think. Tribal people have always depended on driving rhythms and mesmerizing chants to create a sense of corporate energy, usually before idolatrous worship rites or going into battle. The same thing took place on the top of Mt. Carmel when the prophets of Baal were desperate for a showing from their god. (1 Kings 18) A vestige of this kind of corporate energy is part of American “pop” culture: we experience it in stadium chants used to amp up a team for the battle on the sports field.   

Drummer Georgia Barnes expressed this pagan view when she related being on a dance floor to a “religious experience.”  She told a Billboard interviewer: “The dance floor, or any space which allows for collective energy, is connecting on a deep level to human emotion. It’s almost like going to church and having a religious experience.” Her latest album is called “Seeking Thrills.” The Wall Street Journal reviewer wrote that in it she “channels her obsession with rhythm” and that her songs demonstrate that she is “in search of… euphoric moments.”

Unfortunately, she summarizes many church attenders’ feelings about what they are looking for in church. I say, “unfortunately,” because seeking thrills and euphoria through collective rhythm and dancing are not what New Testament worship is to be about. 

Singing with other members of the body of Christ should be a unifying and perhaps refreshing experience, especially if the words we are singing are infused with Scripture. But we shouldn’t measure its value by how much “energy” we get out of it. Our power (energy) is supposed to come from the Holy Spirit. We should come to our worship of our holy God fully energized, ready to pour “living waters” into our singing, prayer, attention to the Word, and edification of the saints around us.

It is sad that we think we need to do the world to attract the world. It is sad when we think the church can do the world as well as the world does. It is even worse when we actually do.

Reference:Richardson, Mark. “Finding Freedom on the Dance Floor” Wall Street Journal, Thursday, January 9, 2020, A15, column 1.