megamadness

the loud worship music cloaks the darkened room like a blanket, while bright spotlights ruffle the crowd. thousands of people, mostly strangers, gather to sing and listen and then go their separate ways. the message is good, challenging, the opportunities for service numerous and creative. but a hollowness pervades.

He said love one another as I have loved you. this love goes deeper than an occasional handshake, an impersonal gift. love that transforms digs below the superficial interactions to the place where i must make a choice to love you in spite of the failures, weaknesses, and pain in both our lives.

they--the world--will know we are christians by this love. can a church of over 10,000 strong demonstrate an intimate love, a covenantal love that sticks together through thick and thin? perhaps. but most likely only in pockets, in small groups. and i think the huge size encourages a large group of "hangers-on" who think they are practicing church involvement when in reality they are merely basking in the glow of the few who are truly laying down their lives.

i weep for a culture that has chosen glitz and grandiosity at the price of lasting and meaningful relationship. and i weep for the church that, like a lamb, is following it heedlessly.