Today I went to New Life Churchin sunny Colorado Springs Colorado. I have never felt so enticed and appalled. There is something distinctively sickly and sweet about those unbelievable massive edifices of Christianity. As I walked in I immediately heard rock music. Rock music that could only come from Christian’s who take their coolness very seriously, and very corporately. As I passed the lingering Rock and Roll I walked into what can only be described as a convention hall. The walls of the church lobby were literally covered with booths. People selling everything: ministries, merchandise, health-food diets, and even anti-aging formulas. I walked to a little coffee shop to the side. They had Starbucks.
As I found a seat in the sanctuary I immediately noticed the lights. They were everywhere, not just for mere illumination, these lights took every conceivable form: neon lights, spotlights, fancy multi-hued discotheque lights. Everything had it’s own special way to be illuminated. The band took the stage. They were all young, and they all wore mousse. They probably had a record out that was selling hundreds of thousands of copies. These were the best rock stars that Christianity had to offer- stylish, but unthreatening, a rebel that you can take home to meet mom.
The pastor had a clear glass pulpit, he read scripture from his palm pilot. And he conveniently prepared Powerpoint slides for his major points. He paced back and forth, spoke loudly, with passion, and preached for less than twenty minutes. He was proud to note that in his church, they had over 1000 small groups.
The basic goal of New Life, as far as I can tell, is to make the church a sufficient provider for everything that any of its members could need for every step of their life. In my mind, I see the successor to New Life being the church that provides a big-box retail strip of all the important retailers, staffed completely with church members, and offering cost merchandise for it’s members. Once that happens, members of these churches only need to build housing in immediate proximity and they will have a completely self-contained tribe. I got the most bothered not by the vacuous worship, the overly-simplistic sermon, or the strange fascination with having a hip church. The scary thing was that I got the sense from being with these people that evangelism was not their primary motivation, that they went to all these extremem efforts at a slick hipness not because they thought it would save the lost, but because it would make them feel as good about themselves as possible. This is not meant to be a judgement on the hearts of their pastor, their staff, or their congregation. It is merely an observation that this church exists for its own sake.
While these particularly sordid details and their out-workings left me feeling sick inside on one level, on the other I was attracted to what New Life had to offer. At it's base I felt like New Life was offering me security in itself. I want this. Immediately I am led to the question, "Is there anything wrong with a church that provides you with a sense of security?" Well no, but if I found myself at a church like New Life I would think that I would find more security in the fact that I went to New Life than I would in Christ being my savior.
Matt, amazing post. New Life sounds like one of the definiative "western" mega-churches, as in, not a southern mega-churhc, not a northeastern mega-church, but a distinctive western (from denver to caliifornia) mega-church. There were quite a few of these where I lived in Cali, and man, I'd just leave stunned. Felt like my brain was fried aftewards. I just couldn't wrap my mind around it all.
Posted by: JosiahQ at May 23, 2004 8:19 PMOne of the worst things about it was the profound alienation I felt. I came in wanting to worship, to praise God corporatly, instead I felt nothing but glitz and glam. There is nothing worse than trying to worship, but being unable to because of your surroundings.
Posted by: matt at May 24, 2004 12:01 AMThis is one of the best comments I've seen on mega-church. I've linked to it at my site, Church of the Acronym, http://churchacronym.blogspot.com. We've just started 2 rock 'n roll services to complement the 3 informal-contemporary. Definitely sensory overload.
Posted by: Norma at June 3, 2004 3:15 PMPC,
You bring up some good questions. I don't have a lot of time, but here's a few quick reflections.
Churches need to be organized around a community, not a single leader. Making this mistake often leads to Mega-churches that sputter out after their leader has moved on.
Second, churches ought to exist ultimately for a purpose that is extrinsic to their own personal piety needs. In other words it's great to be part of a church community where you leave each Sunday refreshed by the power of the Gospel. However, if this is all your church experience (as it has been for me) I would suggest that something is also wrong.
This second point is much larger than I give it credit for with these few words; however I will say that both these criteria could be fulfilled in a church of any size. The question is then, what size is the most likely. I'm not entirely sure on that. I'm inclined to say that rather than shooting for a size, a church that shoots for a vision that looks something like my second point is on the right track.
I just want to know what would 'church' or worship this side of heaven, bibilically, look like minus the culture that all peoples bring to it, all over the world. What would the non-negotiables be. Then when we add our 'culture' to it, when does it be come opposed to God, vs. for God. I long for what may be a romantically charged notion, to worship w.others from around the world and let go of the vestiges of our homeland and find our common ground in Christ alone.....though I know even then we bring something of our culture to it,,, not implying all of our culture would be miserably corupt.
Posted by: aunt robin at September 5, 2004 5:44 PM