The Church of Pinterest

Full disclosure:  this is a post about Easter and church and God and stuff.  If you don’t want to be preached at, you might want to wait for a fluffier post, a momma rant or a recipe perhaps….

I watch way too much TV.  I put on my Bluetooth headphones and binge watch dramas and romantic comedies on my iPhone like a complete fool.  I also read too much historical fiction, leaving me with an unnatural obsession with Scotland and also the Amish.  I will also admit to Facebooking way too much and being a Pinterest junky.  So it is from a place of humility that I’m writing this.

It’s fair to say that I’ve plenty of distractions to keep my eyes on, to tug at my heart and imagination rather than real life.  We all do.

What got me thinking about this is the attitude at Church lately.  We’re trying new things, singing new songs and changing our style a bit to be spread the gospel better.  All good things in and of themselves.  Seriously, this is not a rant opposing what’s going on in my church right now, God is bigger than all of that and I trust Him. 

However, sometimes what is meant to engage a church goer or a visitor on Sunday is simply nonsense.  I find this attitude, of change and accommodation ever present everywhere I go and in everything I do but I’m using church as an example, after all Easter is almost upon us!  Easter, a time when we remember than not only did the Son of the Most High God come to a life of humility on earth and die for payment of MY SINS but ROSE AGAIN.  It’s a time we celebrate the resurrection, the conquering of death.  THAT IS HUGE and what the GOOD NEWS is all about!

We have added little things to our services that attempt to make the whole experience more real, to evoke more feeling.  We pin flowers on crosses, write thank-you notes on chalkboards and plenty of other things that are nice and all and I know that a lot of thought went into including them in worship.  For the most part, I realize that they are aids and reminders that help us to acknowledge the important things, the highlights, the take aways; I get it. 

I’m certainly not attacking those efforts but the attitude of our society in general, that we need more.  We need more flourish; we need to MAKE things SPECIAL.  The thing is, they already are. 

Since when does the fact that the creator of the entire universe that stretches in brilliance far beyond our comprehension, who a created a complexly individual you, knows you and has chosen to save you from your own sin and walk with you through this life need to be enhanced with cliché ceremony?  Since when does worshiping God need add-ons and extras?  He’s not a combo meal or a pizza delivery special. 

It is spring and we can see the beauty of God’s creation all around us.  We see it in the frilly lavender petal skirts of the irises blooming, in the tufts of bright green grass; in the rumbling, sky cracking thunderstorm we witness His power and might.  Other than serving to help us celebrate Christ, we don’t need Pinterest projects to make the occasions more important or notable. 

We just need to come and open our eyes and hearts; embrace their importance.

Part of the blessings of being raised in an acapella church is that it requires you to be involved in worship on a very personal and intimate level.  I suppose this has really helped my faith.  It is a very different experience than having someone sing to you or trying to get your voice to line up with an organ or piano. 

I’ve learned that you can have all the fanfare and flourish in the world but you still have to take your heart and put in on the table to really worship.  People do this in different ways.  I, for one, like the personal, intimate experience of praising God with my own voice. 

The point is, it takes action on the part of the individual to get what they need to get out of any situation.  Not every experience you have is simply entertainment for you to witness and then decide how much it affected you.  It’s up to you to throw your heart in there.  No one, no song, no activity, no poignant message can do that for you.  Those things can encourage you along the way, but they are not IT.  We do not worship at the church of Pinterest.

So, I guess my point is keep your eyes on the prize.  If you’re going to church on Sunday to celebrate Easter, and I pray that you do, remember to come to God and put your heart on the table.  That is when the best, most important things happen.  If you don’t, it’s not because the service didn’t touch you or there wasn’t enough flourish or fanfare.  God is enough, more than enough. 

What a joy it is to know Christ and the power of His rising.  You can’t buy that in a store, or recreate it, or even fully describe it. 

Maybe your church is really knocking it out of the park and folks are ON FIRE for the Lord.  Maybe your church is missing the mark as far as you’re concerned and you’re getting rubbed the wrong way.  Regardless, come to God and give Him your heart, he’s bigger than all of that.

If you want a church to go to on Sunday, let me know.  I’d love to sit on a pew with you and worship.