Jesus has left the (church) building...

Last night I (like everyone else in America) was watching the Idol results show. As usual they had a couple of artists perform to stretch five minutes of "results" into an hour long show. Did anyone else notice that everyone was singing about Jesus? The Clark Brothers (video above) did "This little light of mine" and Dolly Parton performed "Jesus and Gravity" (insert your Dolly Parton "gravity" joke here)

How is it that churches (as a whole) all over America are losing membership and "attendership" in relation to our growing population...and the producers of the most watched television show in America thought it would be perfectly acceptable for both of its performing acts last night to sing about Jesus? Is there any explanation other than that people still "like" Jesus just fine...they just don't want to come to church to hear songs about him? Isn't that kind of ironic in the sense that so many churches think that the way to attract a bigger crowd is to add "contemporary" worship music?

As a former "Worship Leader" I think "Worship" music (whether it is hymns or "contemporary worship") is partly to blame for the irrelevance of church in society. So many people have been convinced that singing a few songs on Sunday morning is how we "Worship" God... I don't think so! Here's a little experiment: Next time your boss at work asks you to do a project, happily accept...and then completely ignore the work he has given you. Instead, gather as many of your fellow workers into the break room each week and "worship" the boss... Sing songs with his name in them, memorize his memos, "preach" from the company handbook...be sincere, be reverent and "sober", feel great about your worship. Let me know how the boss feels about it when he comes back for the completed project... Happy Job Hunting! (monster.com)

So what kind of music will "bring" people...and Jesus...back to church? I don't think it matters. I'm looking forward to Clean Slate rocking the new Alterbridge single, a Daughtry tune, and a couple of their originals at actionchurch on Sunday. The Clark Brothers (link for email subscribers) proved last night on Idol that an old "Gospel" song done with great passion and musicianship can bring the house down... Whatever the "style", whatever the "genre" I think that the key to truly "worshipping" and being relevant in our nation are is the same- "A little less talk, and a lot more action"!