Cheesy Rider and Entertainment-Worship

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” At least if you believe the Byrds, King Solomon, and the Holy Ghost.

We don’t ride in church, and we don’t conduct worship at 65 mpg on Highway 90. In matters of discernment, it just doesn’t seem like rocket science. But there it is.

This little bit of cringy Schadenfreude demonstrates yet again that when the liturgy is removed, a vacuum is created. Something must take its place. This video is symbolically eschatological, illustrating where entertainment-based worship ends up.

And we also see another application of the oft-quoted observation:

Most middle class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play, and to play at their worship. As a result, their meanings and values are distorted. Their relationships disintegrate faster than they can keep them in repair and their lifestyles resemble a cast of characters in search of a plot.

If your church is trying to entertain you - whether the sign on the building says “non-denominational” or “Lutheran” - ask yourself if the miraculous presence of Christ in Word and Sacraments is the touchstone of what happens on a Sunday, or is it something else. And if it is something else, if Christ crucified is not the center of all that happens in the sanctuary - then you are in the wrong place.

It’s time to zip up the leather jacket, don the helmet, and hit the road. Put cheesy, irreverent, blasphemous, and insulting entertainment-worship in the rear-view mirror, and don’t turn into a pillar of salt. Just make sure you know how to ride, unlike Pastor Dingaling in the video.