The Church...As Entertainment?

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WARNING: The following post includes content full of biting sarcasm. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
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Oy! I just opened some of our church mail, as it was addressed to the children’s ministry, an area over which I am charged with pastoral oversight. Inside were two glossy color pages replete with pictures of carnival inflatables, booths, and even rides. In large bold font at the top, the first page read thus:

“Benefits of Having [XYZ] as Your Church’s Entertainment Vendor.”

Really? The church needs an entertainment vendor? Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!

I read all 23 bulleted “benefits.” NOT ONE was spiritual, or even remotely church-y. They DID include, “highest insurance limits in the Midwest.” Well, NOW we’re getting somewhere!

👏

Just for kicks (personal entertainment) I did a word search in my Bible software: “entertain.” Hmm. Results:

Dt 15:9. Here entertain is a “wicked thought in your heart… [to be] stingy toward your brother and give him nothing.” Next.

Jgs 16:25-27. Oh yeah, the Philistines called for the self-destructive Samson, whom they had captured and blinded, to come entertain them. That’s just sad. And it turned out the Philistines were NOT happy with the product.

Jer 7:31; 19:5; and 32:35. God never entertained the thought of – what? – the people building high places to burn their children in worship of Molech or Baal! Yikes!

How about Dan 6:18. Nope, more negativity. King Darius is so worried about Daniel in the lion’s den he DOESN’T want his usual entertainments.

Well, how about the NT?

Mt 9:4.Entertaining is once again, “thinking evil things in [their] hearts.”

Acts 17:7. Here, entertaining is welcoming Christians who are “turning the world upside down” into your home. Jason is mobbed for it and has to pay a bond to get out of custody. Sounds a little like a carnival…but not in a good way.

1 Tm 5:19. Here we have the potential of accepting an accusation against an elder. Nope, no carnival here either.

Last one. Heb 13:2. The prohibition against failing to show hospitality to other Christians (who might even be ANGELS!). That’s a good one, but it still doesn’t sound like a carnival.

So, a quick survey reveals the Bible is silent on how to discern the best entertainment vendor for one’s local church. Huh. Clearly, the Lord intends to guide us through his Spirit and his gifts. I guess we’ll have to wing it.

I’m sure we’ll do fine.

Powerful and Brilliant Enough

Many teachers (myself included) have used the Egyptian pharaoh of the Exodus as an illustration of the interplay between God's will and ours. It is pointed out that the biblical record states that Pharaoh hardened his heart, and then also that God hardened his heart. That's a great illustration of two realities, both that of the LORD's absolute sovereignty and of our truly free choices.

But the same both/and reality is brilliantly made clear in one compact paragraph earlier in the Genesis narrative, one that involves a Hebrew governing for an earlier pharaoh. Joseph, the eleventh son of Israel (Jacob) was sold into slavery by his brothers, some of whom wanted rather to murder him for his favored status with dad, and for his annoying dreams. Sibling rivalry at its near worst! (They did stop short of actual murder.) And multiplied times ten! (Benjamin, the youngest, wasn't involved.)

Well, read it for yourself, but the short version is that God orchestrated things so that Joseph ended up second only to pharaoh in Egypt during a catastrophic famine that extended to every land. This famine brought Joseph's brothers (who did not recognize him) to Egypt at his mercy to buy food. Their injustice was the first of several that led to this point, and Joseph put it into a perspective befitting a brilliant leader, and one that is appropriate for every Christian.

In Genesis 45:4, first notice that Joseph recognized their actual wrong choice, "I am...the one you sold into Egypt." He didn't pretend they didn't make this choice, or that the action was forced against their will. They wanted it, and some wanted even worse. In the next statement he continues to acknowledge their choice, "...yourselves for selling me here." The brothers' choice was real, and it was freely their own - they OWNED it, and Joseph acknowledges that reality.

But he has a higher perspective, and seeks to draw their own view up to it. He presumes they have been beating themselves up for their horrific action - "don't be grieved or angry with yourselves" - but offers them relief. They can't undo what they've done. But Joseph shows them a greater reality at work. In their own work, they were unwitting agents of God's work: "God sent me ahead of you to preserve life." Joseph amplifies that statement in the following verse, and then in v.8 summarizes, "Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God."

Joseph is not contradicting his earlier statements that the brothers freely made a horrible choice. He is simply offering a perspective that this horrible free choice is swallowed up in a beautiful free choice by One who is more powerful than them. God is so powerful and so brilliant that he can both allow our free choices - even the most horrible ones - and still somehow work things out that they ultimately always accomplish exactly what he wants.

And the same is true for all OUR free choices too, from the best ones to the worst ones. We may beat ourselves up about the latter kind, but that is not the end of the matter. God will accomplish what he wants, even through our worst decisions. But that word "ultimately" above requires our trust. For many times we do not see our bad decisions - or those of others - reach those points where the beauty and brilliance of God's wisdom are evident to us. That often will not happen even in our lifetimes.

We may not be able to see HOW God will work all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Rm 8:28), but we can trust THAT this will hold true. If we will trust in this way and take this perspective, we can be set free of our past riddled with bad choices. They are real choices, and we are responsible for them. But Christ paid for them, and all our Lord requires of us is godly grief. This kind of grief brings a change of direction that leads to salvation without regret (2 Cor 7:10). Anything short of that keeps us stuck in regret and death.

Whenever we struggle with this, let us confess our bad choices and be propelled forward, free of regret, knowing that God is powerful enough and brilliant enough to bring beauty out of our worst moments.