After coming home from church today in both a state of shock and a state of ‘anger’, I went online and via my typical blog reading schedule came across this article from Ken Silva (see the ‘rebuke’ in the comments section below) Lane Chaplin about “Ronnie”

In the video below, you will hear the story of ‘Ronnie’. A seeker-sensitive Christian who church hops and loves his fifteen minute worship block and his comedy, tragedy, and stories.

The video is labeled as ’satire’ while at the same time gets the point across about the fallacies of the purpose-driven, church growth movement. I fail to see the ‘coincidence’ (reference the 2:26 point of the video between ‘Ronnie” and today’s church people. Instead, I see a pervasive spirit where we value our entertainment over evangelism and our easy-believism over the straight and the narrow road. Even though (referencing the 2:38 point of the video) the makers of this video per their own words…

…are confident that churches across this nation could not possibly have anyone like Ronnie attending

Could they?

I came to the horrid conclusion (after church this morning) that the answer to their question is unfortunately

YES

The church sang a hymn and some worship choruses. The church lit the prophet’s candle to start the Advent season and read the Scriptures in regards to the hope of Jesus’ arrival and quickly talked about Advent. The church took up the offering. However, the church went to a ‘presentation’ that came across like a ’spiritualized 30 minute infomercial’ that talked about their world missions outreach and a yard sale next weekend to raise money for missions, sacks to purchase toiletries, socks, etc. for a local homeless ministry, and small Christmas stockings to stuff with small childrens items for another local branch of a nationally known outreach ministry.

Giving and outreach is not wrong in and of itself. I do not have a problem with any of the three groups that were highlighted this morning. However, the problem came after the presentations when the empty sacks and small Christmas stockings appeared at the front and the “sales pitch” began asking for people who were interested in the sacks and/or stockings to stand up (next time, a countdown clock like they use on the six home shopping channels I have on my cable tv subscription could add to the effect…. being sarcastic here but with a point).

The majority of the people stood up while some remained seated (designed to ‘convict’ those sitting down to stand up). Some people left in disgust of the tasteless sales pitch. I would have joined them in leaving but there was a part of me that was very curious to see what would happen next (and one day, curiosity may eventually kill this cat) while thinking another announcement of going to the fellowship hall to retrieve the sacks and/or stockings after service would have been sufficient. After all the people who were interested received their sacks and/or stockings, the benediction was offered up. The elders took their place to pray for the personal needs of the congregation and the congregation was dismissed. There was no ‘announcement after service’. This was the service…..

I went to the restroom and eventually to my car in a state of anger and disgust because I realized and pondered the thought during that walk to the parking lot …

THE ONLY TIME I OPENED MY BIBLE UP THIS MORNING AT CHURCH WAS WHEN AT THE END OF THE SERVICE, I OPENED UP THE BIBLE TO PLACE MY BULLETIN IN MY BIBLE.

You can be free to interpret both the boldness of that last statement and also the ‘all-capital letters’ of that last statement per the Internet standard of ’shouting’ and ‘anger’.

There was no sermon or I ‘failed’ to ’see the sermon’. I believe the first observation was the correct one. I am wondering if we have crossed the line of Godly conviction being seared to where if the purpose-drive seeker sensitive church was to see the Ronnie video, they would really believe that people like me who are disgusted with the purpose-drivel seeker sinsitive church are the ‘Real-life Ronnies’ instead of the de-sensitized two-dimensional mass produced Christian clones who suffer from both a physical and spiritualized form of attention deficit disorder who leave when the church down the street offers a bigger romper room with new games for the kids and a ‘Gag Gospel’ (they think gag means joke but gag means vomiting to me).

My name is not ‘Ronnie”. My name is not ‘troublemaker’. My name is not ‘obsolete’. My name is not ‘accuser of the brethren’. My name is not ‘Ananias and Sapphira’. My name is not ‘mud’. My name is not ‘dissenter and preventer of progress’. My name is not ‘Luddite in the Spirit’. My name is not ‘Spiritual Baalam’. My name is not ‘Great Satan’……

My name is ‘child of God, eternally secure’…