That's entertainment!

In the world of business and finance, it's the numbers that are important. Numbers can make or break a company. A CEO. An entrepreneur.
Bigger numbers.
Better numbers.
SUCCESS!
Wait a minute.
Is this the way we should look at worship, too?
I've heard people say, "We shouldn't criticize any method that God is blessing." They interpret the "blessing" as that which draws a large crowd. But do large crowds really mean that God is in it?

This is where we have come full circle; we've come back to the start where we talked about better hot dogs, more flavors of ice cream, etc. Let's add in louder praise bands, too, since we talked yesterday about music. (Grin) All of these are things the "purpose driven" churches use to pull in more people. Are they successes?
Think about the prophets of the Old Testament . . . many of them faithfully proclaimed the truth of God their entire lives. Some of them saw little (or no) fruit for their labors. According to the man-centered model of today, the prophets were losers! Failures!
Here's a question for us: is it better to appear successful in the eyes of man, or be faithful in the eyes of God?
Here is another: how much of an influence does the world have on our Sunday morning worship services?
We are unquestionably a culture that loves to be entertained. Like the Roman crowds of old, we flock to (and support with our dollars) entertainment options. Our churches have caught on and pack people into enormous auditoriums. One is reminded of the old phrase, "Lights, camera, action!" as the worship leader and backup singers perform, followed by a skit, and concluded with a short message from a pastor who knows how to help us find our purpose in life.
I'm not attacking anyone who likes these types of services. I'm just pointing out that in an effort to grow their churches, many pastors and their assistants adopt worldly methods.
Many people today love to go to the movies, concerts, sporting events, etc. and many who profess Christ are among them. In some cases, Christians reveling in the same sort of entertainments is revealing . . .

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (I John 1:5-7)

Quite frankly, in this day and age it's extremely rare to find a movie (or a television program) that is fit for Christian consumption! Sexual explicitness, violence and bloodshed, occult themes and bad language, even abuse of God's name . . . have you ever noticed that the Hollywood "elites" go out of their way not to offend ethnic groups, homosexuals, transsexuals, environmentalists, feminists, illegal immigrants and more? But Christians, Catholics, Mormons, and Jewish people are all fair game!
These people consider themselves "liberals" and "tolerant." Pretty much anything goes, right? They view themselves as generous, tolerant, and un-traditional.
They are totally disdainful of conservative people -- especially if they are conservative Christians! Recently a popular quarterback was excoriated for expressing his support of a "take your Bible to school" day. You would have thought he had advocated for mistreatment of animals, the way that they came after him, circling like sharks around a wounded prey.
(As a side note, a statistic that I found from 2005 noted that movies with a strong Christian world view from 2001 through 2005 earned two to seven times more money on average as movies with strong non-Christian world views. Not sure what the statistics are now, but it might be interesting to research.)

All of this to say, why would we want to adopt the "lights, camera, action" mentality in our churches? Why do we equate the drawing in of large numbers with success? It is starting to be obvious that too many followers of the Lord hold a worldview that is more aligned with the world than with the Bible.
And this brings us to an important question about our worship: would Jesus be comfortable in a service such as we attend? Is it a service that is focused on fun? Is the sermon calculated not to offend anyone? Is the gospel told, or left untold? Are the lyrics of the songs Biblical?

Years ago, the "What would Jesus do?" concept was very popular. It encouraged people to ask themselves would I want Jesus to look over my shoulder at what I'm reading? Would He be pleased with what I'm watching on TV, or the movie I'm seeing? Nowadays, we could also include, would He like what I posted on Facebook, or would He be happy with that text I just sent?

In the same way, we can apply this to our church. First of all, there's no perfect church. Anywhere. After all, it's full of sinners. (Grin) But hopefully, they are striving to be more like our Savior. If we are in a church that teaches the Bible, that's an awesome start. If our pastor does more than offer a "feel good" message, but truly teaches from the Word, then we are in a good place. Are the songs focused on Jesus? Do they edify, and encourage our praise to God? Is the congregation coached in how to be welcoming to non-believers? Are we encouraged to witness each and every day of our lives? If these things are true, we can be sure that we are in a worship environment that pleases God, and that helps us to grow more and more like Him.

Lots and lots of people doesn't mean success.  It might just be entertainment.
Christians who are on fire to be all they can be, to tell others about Christ, and to glorify Him -- that's success!