There was a time when all I could do during a worship service was roll my eyes.

Pulsating music?

Check.

Strobing lights?

Check.

Vivid stage design?

Check.

Props, dance numbers, emotional videos?

Check, check, check.

And the preaching?

Well, I’d say it was all very hip and miss. While the pastors managed to touch on sin, hell, grace, and divine mercy, all too often they relied on props, videos, slideshow presentations, jokes, pop culture-referencing sermon titles, and pure emotionalism to get people moved.

That and anecdotes.

LOTS of anecdotes.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the members know more about the head pastor than they do about Christ.

Anyway, so it went. Every Sunday I’d sit in my seat, watch the pastor mount the stage, and wonder to myself, What’s it gonna be this time? What new gimmick is the pastor going to call on to make this sermon more interesting, engaging, and “relevant”?

Once, the pastor had some bread at the lectern (no pulpit in this church). I forgot what point he was trying to make (I think he was talking about Jesus feeding the 5000) but he punctuated that particular moment by making a sandwich and eating it onstage.

Another time he unwrapped a bar of chocolate and started eating it while walking up and down the aisles, again to make some point I’ve long forgotten.

At yet another time he walked on stage wearing a mountaineer jacket, complete with climbing ropes on his shoulder, as if he were ready to scale some mountain. It had something to do with his sermon that morning but, you guessed it, I forgot what it was about.

Numerous other things have happened during the preaching, from one pastor using scissors to shred his shirt (to demonstrate how our good works are only worthless rags) to another using a mock crime scene, complete with police lights and the theme music to CSI playing in the background, as part of an elaborate illustration regarding the “clues” left behind by the Savior proving His resurrection.

I think.

But you get the picture.

So on to my question:

Why not just preach the Word of God?

Why try to spice up Sunday mornings with fleshly gimmicks and theatrical eye candy? Why attempt to buttress a worship service with dance numbers and emotional videos? Why the need for spiffy set design, props, disco lights, and choreographed music?

We, the church, the body of Christ, have no need for clever devices or secular technique in reaching the lost and edifying believers. All we ever need to fulfill these twin goals is the unadulterated Word of God.

Solid, complete, pure, and supremely powerful, the Word of God faithfully preached is like a spiritual cluster bomb, devastating to sin-infested souls, magnificent in its power to shake the heart and discern its thoughts (Hebrews 4:12).

It provides us with all we’ll ever need to teach others, correct error, rebuke wrongdoing, and live holy lives (2 Timothy 3:16).

It is relevant and stands the test of time (Isaiah 40:8; Mark 13:31).

There is no amount of slick production, creative support, or heart-wrenching appeals from the stage that can help or intensify the Truth. The Bible, no matter what we do, will accomplish its purpose (Isaiah 55:11).

Bottom line – we don’t need to get inventive with the Word of God. All we need to do is preach it (2 Timothy 4:2). We can eat all the sandwiches we want on stage but there’s nothing we can do to amplify Scripture. The Holy Spirit Himself will convict people of sin and supernaturally lead believers to an understanding of the Truth (John 14:16-17; 16:13).

I can’t tell you how much I loathe the idea that we need some sort of program or technique to grab people’s attention. That we have to be trendy and look cool so that people will think we’re relevant and lend us an ear.

That the only way to capture our culture is to ape the culture. That if we perhaps look and act like they do they’ll think, “Hey, Christianity doesn’t look that bad after all. It’s something I can follow.”

Dr. John MacArthur had this to say about using worldly technique in building the church:

Christian leaders seem obsessed with promoting church growth through human ingenuity. Often they are more versed in current management theory than in Biblical theology. Yet Scripture says it is the Lord who adds to the church (Acts 2:47), not men. Christ said He would build His church (Matt. 16:18). The means of legitimate church growth are all supernatural, because the church is supernatural. Why should we add human methodology to what our Lord is doing to build the church?

I am convinced that Christians who search beyond Scripture for ministry strategies inevitably end up opposing Christ’s work, albeit unwittingly.” (“Our Sufficiency in Christ” by John MacArthur).

He’s right. Aping the world is not what Jesus had in mind in building the church. Rather, we ought to follow Paul who, when preaching to the decadent Corinthians, “did not come proclaiming to (them) the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom” but “decided to know nothing among (them) except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2, emphasis added).

The Apostle didn’t employ fleshly technique or impressive oratory to win over the crowd. He simply preached the gospel.

Any other attempt at reaching the lost or building up the church will fall flat on its face.

People may respond and “make a decision.” They may even profess to believe in Jesus.

But they won’t be saved.

Why we’d exchange the Bible for human technique in light of this I don’t know.

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PS – I’ve moved church and by all accounts I’m in a much healthier environment. As for my former church, I’m sad that it champions, perhaps unintentionally, a user-friendly philosophy. The leadership is dedicated and passionate; they love Jesus and are serving Him with gladness. It just hurts to see a lot of pragmatism when all that’s needed is the Word.