I haven’t been to a very large church since I was around 5 years old. I am now 55 and ventured in to Crossroads on Sunday. It was a little bit in awe of the grandeur of the foyer, yet it wasn’t until I...
Read MoreI haven’t been to a very large church since I was around 5 years old. I am now 55 and ventured in to Crossroads on Sunday. It was a little bit in awe of the grandeur of the foyer, yet it wasn’t until I was headed out after the service that I noticed the big fountain which made the opulence even more pronounced. As I entered into the sanctuary I felt a calm hush. The lights were dim and the acoustics were spot on for dampening noise. I immediately noticed all of the technology. This is the world we live in, right? This is the world in which we relate to.
I asked so many questions in my mind and heart about this church’s use of technology and fine structure as it all unfolded bit by bit throughout the service. One person had commented in a review of this church that if Jesus were in physical form on earth again he would walk into Crossroads and throw over ‘money-changer’s’ tables. I would clarify that it is not the temple itself that Jesus was upset with, it was the hearts and evil practices of those in the temple.
What I witnessed at Crossroads was not a money table situation, but a leadership who is using present day practices to best relate and reach a perishing people for Jesus. What I perceived in my short visit is a fine tuned organization that comes to play in clearly and skillfully presenting the message and then allowing for the redemptive process to take place by warm invitation (alter call), prayer and then a really great follow up by not just having people raise their hands and then turned loose to try to make sense of what just happened. (I have seen less and less and less of any kind of call to come to Jesus in present day services across many denominations and it is heartbreaking.) Crossroads is practicing its call to Jesus, care in relationship, discipleship and instructing on the importance of people using their gifts from the get-go. I couldn’t say amen enough to this.
Some feel technology is from the devil, some feel that we cannot be viable as witnesses in this world without it. Others feel that it is a necessary ‘evil’ to promote the Kingdom of God. These arguments often bring me back to Jeremiah 29 and God’s word to the Israelites in exile in Babylon. He does not want them to act as exiles but rather to build their homes, have marriages, birth babies and pray for the peace and prosperity of Babylon, so that they (Israel) may reap the benefits of that prosperity and peace.
It must have been so hard to assimilate comfortably into the Babylonian culture- ‘act normal’; ‘carry on’. This empire that aggressively plucked the Israelis out of the comfort of their homes, practices and country and forced them to dwell in the middle of values and practices that were abhorrent to the Israeli faith. They were commanded by God to pray for their enemies peace and prosperity. The point I make with this is: We must not don ashes and sackcloth and wail about being victims of Babylon. We should not act as if we are poor lost pilgrims. Where God leads you, do not act as victims or people of exile- bring your light and faith and establish there. Pray for those around you, for their salvation, for their peace, for their prosperity so it will be well with you.
Romans 14:3 “Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.” Judgement of particular practices and nuances that a church or person uses to lead others to Christ can bring dissension and destructiveness to God’s work. If there is not blatant disregard for God’s Word going on, we should always bring our peace, light and good witness through the support of one another. We must sing hallelujah for the mysterious and awesome ways God leads people to himself.
I see Crossroads as a place that is not only establishing it’s place in the center of Babylon, it is reaching and growing its family in the ways that God commands. It has found the languages to use in Babylon to be able to convey the message of Christ in a relevant and life giving way.
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