- 00:00
- A couple of days ago, I blew up Instagram by posting this. A person who attends the church featured on the
- 00:05
- Holy Nope episode 274 reached out to me about their service in which Miley Cyrus and Garth Brooks was sung, and the
- 00:11
- Bible cover was kicked off the stage. He offered to answer any questions I have, and as you can see, I channeled my inner
- 00:17
- R .C. Sproul and asked, What's wrong with you people? Which is a funny question, but also a serious question.
- 00:23
- I'm serious. In fact, my whole channel is funny and serious. Which is no contradiction, because serious and funny are not opposites.
- 00:32
- As Chesterton put it, funny is the opposite of not funny and nothing else. This was seriously funny.
- 00:37
- Many voiced their reasoned disagreements, and despite me telling you guys that everything's gonna be okay, women of both genders threw a fit in the comments section decrying my lack of niceness and telling me how
- 00:47
- I should have handled it. Assuming that he wouldn't respond to something so not nice, and insisting that I just shut down an opportunity to dialogue,
- 00:53
- I know some of you thought you were taking an opportunity to knock me off the high horse you think I ride and look really spiritual doing it.
- 00:59
- But the guy did end up messaging me back, and we had a whole conversation. He totally got my Sproul reference, so really, you guys need to calm down.
- 01:06
- I asked him to please share the thought behind the service. He responded with pretty much what I expected. They do this sort of thing periodically to make church feel a little less serious and more fun.
- 01:15
- They encourage the people to invite their unchurched friends so that they can experience Jesus in a different way than a typical
- 01:21
- Sunday service, a way that removes the intimidation factor for people coming to a church. For those who are part of the church, it's a day to be silly and have fun.
- 01:30
- I thanked him for sharing, and voiced some of my reasons for disagreeing with this pragmatism and this seeker -sensitive approach, telling him that it seems the question, what is
- 01:39
- God's will for our worship, is not being seriously considered. I then pointed him to my video breakdown and treatment on the regulative principle of worship, which you may have seen, and with which he did not engage in the discussion.
- 01:50
- His response to that was to insist upon the appropriateness of their practice with heart posture being the most important thing, and feeling the
- 01:57
- Holy Spirit as confirmation. We ended with mutual respect and appreciation for the discussion. In fact,
- 02:02
- I have more respect for him for not being offended by my response than I would have otherwise. So everyone freaking out because of how
- 02:08
- I sprolled him need to realize that it's possible for men to engage one another without being nice and without being offended.
- 02:15
- That used to be normal. I have no interest in being nice, nor does Jesus call me to be nice. To quote Zach Gares from his book,
- 02:21
- Masculine Christianity, which you should read, Now regarding his explanation with the pragmatism and appeals to emotional experience, like I said, it's what
- 03:04
- I expected. He never asked me a question, but sought only to state his opinion. He did not support anything he said with scripture.
- 03:11
- He is not someone in leadership or with any influence on the way things operate, but still it was a fine conversation, and I'm sure he's a great guy.
- 03:18
- I do pray that God convict him of the Bible's teaching regarding worship and that this church would fear
- 03:24
- God in their services rather than play games. It is interesting that he said it's a day to be silly and have fun.
- 03:30
- The only time similar language is used in the Bible regarding worship is when Aaron made a golden calf and the people worshipped it and it says they rose up to play.
- 03:38
- Please stop being nice. Please stop equating niceness with love. To quote Gares once more,
- 03:43
- Nice men are yes men in a world that needs to be told no, or nope. No one fears nice men, but nice men are full of fear.
- 03:52
- Niceness avoids conflict and for that reason it can never overcome challenges. Nice men produce nothing of lasting value.
- 03:58
- I will receive. Tom wins the toss, chooses to receive the Bible. Patterson back with the kick.
- 04:10
- Oh my goodness! Is that a touchback? Nope. Mm -mm. I feel like I'm losing my mind.
- 04:18
- Is everybody in the world blind? Please Lord give me a sign, a sign.
