I am afraid that church has become big business. Oh, I know that this is not news to most of you but I felt that I needed to add my opinion to the mix.
It is amazing that we (Christians) have allowed the mindsets of the world to influence and conjole us into the business frame of mind in reference to how we "do" church. Let me explain.
Instead of allowing God to bring the increase we do our best to do that for Him. Who needs the power of the Holy Spirit when we have high attendance day, Friend Day, Biker Sunday, Youth sunday, Homecoming and Revival, and etc. We can go and "enroll" people in our Sunday School class at the local Wal-Mart. (Yes, I have seen it done and heard preachers encourage their people to go to Wal-Mart and coerce folks and sign them up.) This is just wrong. We are doing nothing more than making liars out of them. They, in most cases, are saying what you want to hear so that you will leave them alone.
Remember, God does not need you to work for Him. He is self-sufficient and does not need anything. He allows us to serve Him by our work.
Here are some other ideas on the business of church...
Maybe I can sell you some sermons. You know, bundle all of my sermons up and sell them. They even come with the anointing that God had given me when I preached them.
If you allow me to I will come to your church and show you how to turn your meager 50 people on Sunday into 5000 in one week. Of course, there is a nominal fee for me to teach my tricks.
If you bring 10 friends with you to church this week we will turn the baptistry into a mud wrestling pit for the following week's service.
Also, we have turned our baptistry into a firetruck for our youngsters. Just get them to say "yes" to Jesus and they get to take a trip into the firetruck.
This Tuesday night we will be going out and visting people in the community. We will be using the "TWIST" program. This program is simple. You just visit with the people and tell them about Jesus. If they say no, change the way you shared Christ and do it again. If they still say no grab their arm and twist it behind their back. They WILL want to be saved then. This brings amazing results.
Also, we have a "Hot" program for little children. The gist of it is you invite all the children up to the front of church before your sermon. You then proceed to tell that about Hell and how hot it is. The scare factor is crucial here. You have to be dramatic so as to get the desired result. Afterwards, start counting how many want to get saved.
Another great one is the hand raiser. Forget asking anyone to stand up for Christ, just ask them at invitation time to raise their hand. Does "with every head bowed and every eye closed" ring a bell? How about "Yes, I see that hand and that hand..."?
And we must not forget the goldie oldie. If, during invitation time no "movement" is happening, ask folks to come and re-dedicate their lives to the Lord. Don't worry about rededication not being in the Bible, they will never know. Remember, generate movement at any cost. Besides, God needs a little help sometimes.
In the next post, I will elaborate how I know these techniques are true.
Church is big business you know.
