Perhaps it's only my dilemma.
The things that originally attracted me to the Seventh-day Adventist Church were it's peculiarity and intensity, it's unflinching non-conformity to the rest of the Christian world- it seemed to me that these people couldn't care less if the world accepted them. They had a unique and distinctive message, one every member fully expected they might die or be tortured for. I did not come in through an evangelistic crusade or radio or TV program. God brought me here supernaturally.
Now the church has changed, and I have changed. The worship style I would have considered ideal when I first joined- simple and austere- is very different from what I prefer now- much more lively and youth-oriented. But at the same time, I am still attracted to very conservative doctrine. And, the reason I am attracted to lively, youth oriented worship style, is not that I like drums in church for example, or guitars more than organ, or pallid, doctrineless praise songs, but only one reason:
Nobody will join a church that appeals to old, conservative people. It seems as if we can't both have the kind of reverence in our services that we used to have, and at the same time obey the Great Commission, to win souls. It also seems that nobody is interested in the doctrines and teachings, or at least in any kind of orthodoxy that is "too different" from the rest of the Christian world.
Here's the double question I put to you all, and this is the dilemma: How can we preserve the "I could die for this" non-conformity and distinctiveness that used to give our movement it's fiery intensity, and yet have the kind of open-minded self examination essential to intellectual honesty, or the pluralistic "nobody's wrong" attitude that of acceptance, without which we will never attract new members? And how can we preserve any kind of decorum and reverence in our services when it seems we have to make them more entertaining and exciting?
I don't want to dumb down our message, or lose the intense, defiant personality of our movement, or lose my sense of reverence in worship- yet I don't want to grow old and die in a dying church of old fuddy-duddies, worshipping all alone because we're so weird, nobody will ever join us.
The things that originally attracted me to the Seventh-day Adventist Church were it's peculiarity and intensity, it's unflinching non-conformity to the rest of the Christian world- it seemed to me that these people couldn't care less if the world accepted them. They had a unique and distinctive message, one every member fully expected they might die or be tortured for. I did not come in through an evangelistic crusade or radio or TV program. God brought me here supernaturally.
Now the church has changed, and I have changed. The worship style I would have considered ideal when I first joined- simple and austere- is very different from what I prefer now- much more lively and youth-oriented. But at the same time, I am still attracted to very conservative doctrine. And, the reason I am attracted to lively, youth oriented worship style, is not that I like drums in church for example, or guitars more than organ, or pallid, doctrineless praise songs, but only one reason:
Nobody will join a church that appeals to old, conservative people. It seems as if we can't both have the kind of reverence in our services that we used to have, and at the same time obey the Great Commission, to win souls. It also seems that nobody is interested in the doctrines and teachings, or at least in any kind of orthodoxy that is "too different" from the rest of the Christian world.
Here's the double question I put to you all, and this is the dilemma: How can we preserve the "I could die for this" non-conformity and distinctiveness that used to give our movement it's fiery intensity, and yet have the kind of open-minded self examination essential to intellectual honesty, or the pluralistic "nobody's wrong" attitude that of acceptance, without which we will never attract new members? And how can we preserve any kind of decorum and reverence in our services when it seems we have to make them more entertaining and exciting?
I don't want to dumb down our message, or lose the intense, defiant personality of our movement, or lose my sense of reverence in worship- yet I don't want to grow old and die in a dying church of old fuddy-duddies, worshipping all alone because we're so weird, nobody will ever join us.
