Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Denton Mystery Worship Ten: The Passive Performance, Baptist-Style

Denton Mystery Worship Ten: The Passive Performance, Baptist-Style

Last updated on: May 24, 2017 at 3:20 pm by Christy Thomas

Denton Mystery Worship Ten: The Passive Performance, Baptist-Style 2017-05-24T15:20:06-05:00 Christy Thomas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

megaphone

© Alexandr Mitiuc | Dreamstime.com

An hour and 10 minute service, including high-sound Christmas music and a high-speed 40 minute sermon, left me a bit overwhelmed when I emerged from early worship at First Baptist Church, Denton this past Sunday morning.

I had been greeted at the door by the friend of a friend, who happily welcomed and escorted me into the large sanctuary. The green carpet, green pew cushions, brick walls and the simple buff colored pillars set off the Christmas decorations. The stage, lined with poinsettias, fronted the choir loft with the baptismal font covered by a sheet of burlap. On either side of the stage sat the musicians, orchestra left, percussion right.

At 9:28, the 50 person choir entered. Dimming theater lights lowered slightly the level of animated conversation filling the sanctuary and drew attention to the two side screens. A video of a young woman offered announcements, and then eyes moved to stage center. A man invited everyone into the morning fun and to fill out the prayer/registration cards.

We stood to greet one another. A couple previously introduced to me shook my hand, and I turned to the person in the pew behind and initiated a handshake.

A children’s choir began to sing and sign, “It’s Christmas.” The children’s voices, supported by choir and voice track, received robust applause by the audience/congregation.

After congregational singing of “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” I thought about the words, “Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning,” knowing that we are still several weeks from that happy morning actually showing up. Nonetheless the celebration very much present.

A full performance of “Birthday of a King,” followed by more applause and the congregation singing various Christmas Carols led to the first prayer of the morning. A male worship leader asked God’s blessing on the offering and on the performances to take place at the church the next couple of evenings. As the well-dressed male usher team passed the plates, four men sang “Mary Did You Know?”

Loud applause thanked the quartet and greeted the Rev. Dr. Jeff Williams. This energetic preacher rarely stood behind the lucite lectern as he offered the message, “All I want for Christmas is . . . Patience.”

Starting with a projected photo of a young boy missing his two front teeth, Williams, a trim man in a dark suit and green tie, reminded us of that well-known song “All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,” then raced into the current Christmas theme of “what do I want, what am I buying, what am I getting?” After reading a parody of the poem “The Night Before Christmas,” Williams said it is time to “put Christ back in Christmas.”

At that point he told everyone to take their Bibles and turn to Luke, Chapter One. No pew Bibles here–people bring their own.

Williams skillfully sketched the 400 years of prophetic silence that had faced the Israelites before the priest named Zechariah entered the temple one fateful day. During his once-in-a-lifetime service, Zechariah encountered an angel and heard a prophecy that left him without voice for the next nine months. During those months, Elizabeth, his aged wife – Williams noted as an aside that he did not wish to comment on the sex habits of elderly people! – gestated their one and only child, known later as John the Baptist. Zipping through this story, Williams offered to the congregation lesson after lesson, claiming that even the most godly go through difficult times and that while God will punish our unbelief, He will still use us.

About 25 minutes into the sermon, Pastor Williams segued into his main point, the issue of “patience.” He asked the congregation to score their “patience reaction” to such things as irritations, interruptions, and inconveniences, warning us that one moment of impatience can ruin our lives.

Near the end of the message, and mentioning the name of Jesus for the first time, Williams exhorted us with the admonition that God is patient with us even if we have not yet responded to the gospel. He suggested we ask, “Why have I not yet died?” Perhaps it is because God is still being patient, hoping for response before we face eternity and learn it is too late.

At 10:36, we were led in the second prayer of the day, with the entreaty that those who have not done so to receive the gift of Jesus and then speak with the care team after the service. The prayer over, Pastor Williams looked at the congregation, said simply, “Have a great day” and walked off.

A split second later, apparently on cue, everyone stood and headed out, emptying the full sanctuary within minutes. I stood alone, wondering if anyone would introduce themselves and welcome a guest. Once I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I made my way to the rapidly emptying and refilling parking lot, trying not to get hit by impatient drivers.

[Note: This column is slated to run in the December 12, 2014 edition of the Denton Record-Chronicle]

Additional Thoughts

I admit that at this point in my life as a “mystery worshiper,” that, were my faith not solidly built on years of practicing the spiritual disciplines and careful self-reflection, I would have lost it by now. Successful “worship” is now all about fun, performance and celebrity. The idea of liturgy, the work of the people, is slowing falling by the wayside.

Without a coercive theology or a state sanctioned religion that guilts or forces people into churches, what’s the motivation to go? To follow Jesus? Really? Do you know where Jesus ended up? Who wants to go there?

But if the motivation is to get rich, be entertained, see your friends, to create your own enclosed “Christian” world which will safely keep children and youth busy with choirs and action-oriented youth groups, with the occasional vacationary* trip thrown in to make people think they are holy and service oriented, then church attendance might grow.

Will such places actually help shape mature Christians, form the kind of disciples that will turn the world upside down with grace and acts of charity, portray forgiveness and goodness so profound that the kingdom of heaven becomes visible all around us?

I don’t think so.

Now, I do know that many of the performance churches I have visited do offer clothing and food assistance to the indigent. They make sure that some children get Christmas gifts that might not see them otherwise. I’m aware that the Texas Baptist Men’s association has a superb track record of sacrificial service, and I don’t want to ignore that or denigrate what they have done.

But . . . worship is the one thing that the church, and the church alone, can do. While we are about the work of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the imprisoned, we must not lose our core. We, and we alone, can set aside time to focus on God in some sort of disciplined, coherent way that briefly takes us from our self-focused, survival-oriented lives.

Most people are hurting in some major way, and need to know that there is indeed something beyond themselves, something transcendent, something so full of love and grace that hope can rekindle, something that says, “I will not leave you, even as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

That is what we lose with the performance church. It encourages passivity in our faith lives. Passivity will always fail us when the inevitable trials of life land on our doorsteps or when the opportunities arise for radical movement in the footsteps of Jesus.

*vacationary: a term coined to denote those who do short term missions, but it is primarily tourism and often does much damage to the local economies. Read Robert Lupton’s seminal work, “Toxic Charity” for his take on the hard truth about such activities.

Previous Post

December 9, 2014

Deliver Me From Temptation

Next Post

December 17, 2014 Denton Mystery Worship Eleven: Reflections on The Messiah and Methodism

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category " obedience abortion accommodation accountability administration adolescence Advent advice an ordinary death anxiety apology apportionments Ash Wednesday ask thoughtfulpastor baptism betrayal Bible bondage calling certainty change character charity children Christianity Christmas church church as garden clergy clergy credentials closure comfort compassion competition compromise Confirmation conservation conservative conspiracy theories consumer conversion coronavirua corruption courage covenant cultural context death Deconstruction discipleship discord divorce doctrine doing good drugs dysfunctional Easter Easter; Resurrection education election entertainment envy escape evaluation evil exclusive church exercise faith faithfulness family fasting fear feast featured film review finances first world problem food forgiveness fundamentalist garden gay marriage General Conference generosity giving thanks GLBT glory good government grace guilt habit happy harmony hateful acts healing health health care heaven hell hello/goodbye heresy hidden agenda holiness homelessness homosexuality humility hymn hypocrisy Imago Dei In training inclusive church indulgence injustice innocents insurance intolerance itinerancy joy Justice kindness Kingdom of Heave kingdom of heaven language laughter laundry lawsuit leadership Lent LGBTQ liberal life Little Things Matter longform meandering thoughts memories mercy metaphor metrics miracle misfortunes morality Mormon Muslim mystery worship natural disasters New Category Name nutrients older adults oppression pain Paleo paperwork partnered pastor peace pension pharmaceutical placebo politics poverty prayer privilege public schools questions quiet racism rain reason reconciliation religion repentance requirements rescue respect rest resurrection retirement Sabbath sacrament sacred salvation same-sex marriage sanctuary schism schooling science SCOTUS secrecy separation of church and state sexism sexuality short cuts silence sin sleep soil spiritual journey stillness suffering surgery sustainable church teacher technology thank you theology therapy thinking tolerance TOS trust truth Uncategorized welcome Why Easter? wisdom women worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 March 2025 February 2025 December 2024 November 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 October 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 March 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz