Innovation Or Death

OK, I know I have already blogged today but I ran across something that was truly amazing. Therefore I am blogging again. Let me share with you what church life was like back in Colonial America in 1622.

Sermons were regularly more than two hours long and people were FINED for falling asleep in church. It was a requirement that every single person in town attend church weekly. Musical instruments like the organ were considered "worldly" and not allowed in church. Steeples or outdoor crosses were considered inappropriate. If you were caught playing golf or doing some other recreational activity other than church on Sunday you could be thrown into the stockade. If you had differing views on many topics that the local church taught you could be kicked out of the colony.

How times have changed in almost 400 years. Organs are considered sacred, outdoor crosses or steeples are considered a prerequisite for even being called a church. Hymns that are now considered sacred as well were based on bar tunes back in those days. How things have changed.

Now as we try to innovate in ways such as moving Sunday School to home-teams, move church to a movie theater, use high energy lighting, dress in normal clothes, preach sermons that the common man can understand, blog about things we are learning, play rockin' music and become more relevant to the culture we live in to win souls to Christ we are criticized and are even accused of being cult like. The "traditional" church goers are having fits because we are not doing church like church should be done. Then at the same time the North American Continent is the ONLY continent in the world in which Christianity is not growing. The church in the US is dying and all the while the "church goers" are complaining because they got rid of the organ, or the choir members are not wearing robes, or the music is too contemporary, or the Pastor is not wearing a tie. What happened to people are dying and going to hell? Isn't it incumbent on us to do whatever it takes to reach the lost? If that means losing the organ, doing more culturally relevant music, losing the robes, taking church to a theater, etc., then I am all for it.

If I had to choose between innovation or death, I choose innovation. The church in the US needs to wake up and smell the coffee because those are the choices to made. Since Christianity is in decline here in the US it is clear which choice is being made by the majority of churches. C3 chooses innovation over death.