Hold onto your hats... we went to a church service for the second week in a row!!! Yesterday we attended City Church (not to be confused with Elevate City Church) just a few minutes from our house.
I wasn't really in the mood to go. I didn't drag myself out of bed until 10-ish, and I'd had a bit too much vodka a little too late into the night before. But I was able to muster enough coherence to at least appear presentable for the 11 am service on the old Taylor/Fort Wayne campus.
We discovered before we even entered the building that this is one of those churches that has read all the books (or, more likely, listened to all the podcasts - on how you're supposed to "do" church). The greeter outside the front door complimented me on my shoes. The old running shoes I've been wearing to work every day for like two years. Nice try. Then, once inside, a bright-white smiling woman picked up on the fact we were visitors and immediately ushered us inside and showed us around. I was a little put off by it, but honestly probably wouldn't have found the worship space if we hadn't been told where it was. Fortunately it was nice and dark inside so no one could see the apprehension on our faces. We quickly found a seat in a back section and began to peruse the room.
I noticed a few familiar faces of people who work out at my Y. One of the lead singers, the guy who gave the video announcements, a woman sitting right in front of us. I also noted there weren't a lot of children there. I don't know if they were somewhere else, or if everyone was simply soooooo young that they didn't yet have any children! We were quite possibly the oldest people there. The 100-150-ish people were all very young, including the staff. And it's not that that is a bad thing, but I felt we stuck out like giant thumbs.
The space started filling up once the music started. It was loud and with a nice heavy bass you could feel. Again, not a bad thing. It was also very well done, though a bit too performancy for me. The lead singer had on a hoodie with his backwards hat on top of the hood, and a giant gold chain. To be fair, that is how he dresses normally. And it didn't appear anyone was being "fake" per se, but I'd describe it as more Tik-Tok culture, and we are MySpace folk.
The music lasted about 30 minutes, and I spent most of the time just standing there totally not engaged. I began to feel bad about all those times I chided people for not "getting into" worship music. I watched people so totally lost in 'passion for God' (or something), and it suddenly seemed very foreign. I didn't even feel guilty for not singing. Mostly I just wanted to sit down, or go for a walk outside!
Finally the pastor came up in his camo shirt and skinny jeans. He spoke for almost an hour on James 3. I do have to say it was a really timely, challenging, biblical and good sermon. I appreciated how there was no finger-pointing, but he didn't hold anything back. It was straight up conviction, and it felt nice for a change. I was glad we came if for no other reason. I still remember the three application points: start with the heart, analyze the data, and season with salt.
So, that was that. A 90-minute service of music, video announcements, and a sermon. Nothing more and nothing less. I don't know that this is the group for us (more due to age than anything), but I would be curious to see how this service compares on average.
Anyway, we don't really have a formal plan for this church-shopping endeavor, but hopefully we will continue to take in some different groups. I can see how it makes a difference having no interaction with other Christians and worship "things." It's something we very much want in our lives. I guess we'll just have to see what happens.
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James 3:9-10
"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be."
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