Serious like Jesus

I’m a social media guy.

Facebook is not my jam, but other platforms are a blessing to me and my ministry. I love the church, but can we talk?

S omet imes , ma y be most of the time the church looks weird online. Here’s what I mean: Last time I checked, the church was about Jesus (Acts 2:42-47), and you could throw some other things on the list and you would probably be right but that’s not what I see. I guess a picture of people praying doesn’t get that many “likes?” I follow a BBQ restaurant in Dal las cal led Oak’d on Instagram and the last time we were visiting my favorite barista (our youngest son) we had lunch there. It’s a cool place. The other day they were having some kind of special event and they posted a video of tables lined up with white tablecloths, fancy wine glasses and great tableware. It looked like somewhere I’d like to be. I don’t know about you but that beats a picture of the annual church potluck with plastic forks that break when you dig into your potato salad. That’s after you piled your food onto a thin paper plate that took both hands to keep the food from submitting to gravity.

Is this making sense? My i n - l aws h a v e accused me of being a snob so I’m trying hard to politely say, “Church, we are the bride of Christ. Everything in this world is His, can’t we do better” (Psalm 50:10-12). We used to think we give our best and we do our best for the Lord. Is that still a thing? I’m asking for a friend.

I saw a church posting pictures of an event they had but you know what? I didn’t see any pictures of what the church is about (Jesus). I wonder what the unchurched culture thinks happens behind those big front doors of the church building. Is Jesus behind those doors, and if He is what is He doing? Maybe it’s me but I don’t see Jesus renting a bounce house, getting hit in the face with a whip cream pie after VBS. I may have missed it but the Church at Jerusalem (Acts 2:42-47) never had a youth lock-in that I know of?

Ken, are you saying the church can’t have fun? No, I’m not saying that at all.

Proverbs 17:22 tells us laughter is good medicine and it’s clear God has a sense of humor from Scripture, but is fun different than silly?

Proverbs 14:12 tells us, “There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death.”

What I’m asking is when do we get serious, when do we express sincerity to this holy God, when do we do our best and invite people to experience the good wine that Jesus brought to the wedding in John 2. When do we show the world what the church is really about and how Jesus is a game changer?

I served at a church that was what we used to call “seeker sensitive.” They came in droves, we grew and we grew and we grew numerically. I baptized a ton of people, mostly adults, but we saw very little life change, spiritual growth. No one really ever started following Jesus beyond an hour on Sunday.

What I’m saying is these people seemed to be the same “old creations” on Monday through Saturday. After 12 years the Blonde and I grew weary of “playing church.”

I wished I did fake better but I just don’t. Jesus is the most serious person I know, and I want to be like Jesus so I want to be serious too. Jesus still changes lives, He makes us different, He fixes marriages, repairs families and He still transforms entire communities.

He told me to tell you that.