You are right on, my man. In my thinking, there is a new generation of young people that will tire of the excellence model of church. Instead, they will hunger for deep, meaningful, transparent relationships that help mature them in Christ.

How I long for the day that image isn’t everything!

Soli Deo Gloria.

Even a modest step in the “attractional” direction requires huge expenditures and, I would agree, you’d better not skimp on the quality. You can’t build a small rural chapel for less than half a million these days! If a group of Christians decides to compete in the marketplace, they become no different (in many respects) to the country clubs, health spas, shopping malls, and other businesses vying for the public’s attention; and so they MUST have great design, killer acoustics, and comfortable seating. And yes, that costs a bundle!

But I don’t think we can automatically equate spending lots of money with being effective and faithful in our presentation of the Gospel. Heresy can also be pumped through those high-tech mixers and speaker systems; in fact, the Devil himself would surely be at the top of the heap when it comes to using the latest and greatest to spread his lies.

In contrast, Jesus did not book the popular cutting-edge venues of his day: the Greek theaters and Roman stadiums. He could have done so, but rather He chose twelve men to walk with Him among their peers. They spent time with people as they went about their daily lives: buying and selling, walking from place to place, fishing along the shores of Galilee, and enjoying the various dinner parties, weddings, and other celebrations of people they knew. Jesus also joined his friends in times of grief, heartache, and fear.

This is the primary reason I’m moving farther away from the performance-based services of modern religious institutions, advocating instead a more organic approach to our life together as believers. Truth is, I’m as wearied by the “professional” sound that would please even Simon Cowell as I am by the “ringing, clicks, pops” you’ve described as “value engineering.

I wrote about a power outage situation we had at church this weekend. one of my commenters gave us this post as a reference. I’ve linked to it.

Thanks for the great questions!

My thought.

Reliance on technology is the foundation for “self” worship. To rely on “something: to worship, begins us down a path of idol worship or self worship. I am sold on technology in the church, but never for the sake of glorifying technology. It is a wonderful tool, but God is always the project being worked on.

I heard a great quote today,

“Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”

If we are known for something other than our Savior, I think that technology has taken the front seat.

Brent
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I’d like to put out a plea to church leaders everywhere… look at your congregation during a service. Not just the first few rows, but the middle and the back, around the edges and at the door. Do you see small children tugging their ears, or people covering an ear ? Maybe they have sensitive ears or wear a hearing aid and your sound system is blasting their ear drums by amping up certain frequencies. Do you see people worshiping, and then suddenly just stop and stare uncomfortably ? Perhaps they don’t know the lyrics and your worship leader is following the leading of the Holy Spirit, but technology is leaving your congregation behind.