iPod Churches

I finally finished "The Screwtape Letters" by CS Lewis. What a very thought provoking book it was. One thing that really stuck out to me was where the devil's workers are going to distract believers. Here is just a part of it " Surely you know that if a man can't be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that "suits" him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches."

Now let me explain the blog title. We all know the iPod generation and how we just wait until the new one comes out. I ask myself what is the primary function of the iPod? Or at least what was the first intention for it's use? The answer may seem simple but it needs to be said. Thats right for listening and enjoying music. Although new applications and features are added it was still orginally created to play music. Music will be music forever. Whatever style you like or listen to it will always be there. What has changed is the very thing we listen to it with. We no longer crave the music as much as the new technology in which we can use to play it with.

Applying this to our churches is easier that it seems. People today are craving the latest and greatest everything in our churches. We have to be catered to for us to enjoy and stay in a local assembly of believers. We want the screens, lights, instruments, sound systems, videos and dynamic speakers. If we don't have everything we want and the newest we move on. The focus drifts from worship and relationships to entertainment and warm fuzzy feelings. People the message of Christ hasn't changed. Christ has always been and never has changed. It is ok to have all the above in our churches. But when we begin to worship it rather than our Savior we have fell into Satans trap. CS Lewis wrote years ago in his fictional book and probably never fully realized how spot on it would be.

The above picture is one I found on the internet. It in no way is the reason I wrote this. I am sure this was for an event. I just thought it would be a great picture to call attention to the post. To finish up the post I would like to use another quote from the book about why Satan wants to keep us focused on such things. It continues on saying, " because, being a unity of place and not of likings, it brings people of different classes and psychology together in the kind of unity the Enemy ( Satan calls God his enemy) desires"

Lord help us to set our thoughts on things above and not on earthly things...