Why Be Trendy When You Can Be Timeless?

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I’ve given some thought recently to becoming a television producer. I would like to create a series on ABC called Extreme Makeover: Church Edition. While I confess I’d never watched an episode of the original Extreme Makeover series until researching it, I’ve studied it enough to believe it would be a natural evolution for today’s churches. The series began in 2002 and featured individuals desiring to break free from being “ordinary.” The most drastic metamorphosis would come from restyling key areas like clothing, exercise, and hairstyle. It also centered on one other slightly significant change—plastic surgery. The “Extreme Team” featured mostly plastic surgeons, along with nutrition experts, fashion aficionados, and hairstylists. The key moment for each episode was not focused as much on the individual’s reaction to her makeover as on the gasps and tears from family and friends. I’m assuming at least a few brothers and sisters shed even more tears as it dawned on them their gorgeous little sister was now a more self-centered version of the same brat she always was.

It is interesting to note that even a narcissistic society like ours found enough honesty to criticize the show for placing more emphasis on one’s appearance than on her thoughts or beliefs. Some answered this criticism by pointing out how some people felt empowered by the new lease on life such an external refresher offered them. Obviously, Christians know that until the heart is addressed supernaturally, there will be no true change. Maybe that bit of honesty is why the show soon peaked, then led to a spinoff that was much more successful than the original—Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Since a house doesn’t have a soul, it is a lot easier to produce change that doesn’t feel hypocritical. Even then, would you agree that more than a few families surely learned that a renovated house does not make for a renovated marriage or translate a teen’s spirit from rebellious to respectful?

For several reasons I decided against producing the Church Edition. One was because my top choice for the show’s leading host, Evangelist Dave McCracken, is booked up for the next few years gallivanting around the country preaching the Word. His mother is convinced he has a face for radio, but his personality would have been perfect. A greater challenge, though, was that the field is already so crowded and the candidates seemingly unlimited. Every time I turn around I see another church declaring how tired it is of looking like “church.” It feels so, well, “ordinary.” And ordinary is just one step from being boring. Countless books, blogs, and conferences offer to solve this problem. The original Extreme Makeover could have stuck with a change in exercise regimen and upgraded hairstyles. I researched a few episodes and discovered that, sure enough, some candidates were badly in need of exercise and a comb. I’ve been to churches like that, as well. How many churches are seriously guilty of not getting out much and getting some exercise, evangelistically speaking? And Solomon said you could rightfully judge a man’s propensity for sloth based upon the condition of his property. Why shouldn’t people driving down the street judge what goes on inside a church based on what they see outside? That’s not where the problem lies, though.

Today’s trend is to go beyond a refresher and fully embrace a makeover. We might be seeing something more like plastic surgery. Here’s a list of the leading changes: Don’t let the building look too much like a church. Don’t let the pastor look like a “preacher” (unlike presidents and judges who don’t mind dressing for the importance of their occupation). Don’t let preaching sound so much like preaching. Don’t let the music sound like hymns. Don’t encourage (which is different from demanding) the people to honor the occasion with their best dress. Don’t let holiness come across as standards. Don’t give the Holy Spirit five minutes of time designed to solidify the immediate truth in their hearts simply because it smacks of being an invitation. Don’t design an environment that expects consumers to be reverent just one hour out of the 168 in their week. Don’t choose a name that sounds like a church.

The response to churches that undergo this kind of extreme makeover is predictable. No question it is increasing viewership. But, is it really substantive change? Is it really producing something greater than we had before? While we know the honest answer to that question, churches (especially pastors) have a hard time not being swayed by an applauding culture that even sheds a few tears upon seeing the transformation. While some of the makeover candidates claimed to feel empowered by the transformation, the church Jesus built has never had that luxury. Nor has it needed such a luxury. Our power has never come from man-made forms. The heart and soul of the church haven’t changed in 2,000 years. Any New Testament church looking or feeling long in the tooth won’t find authentic change in cosmetic surgery or fashion overhauls. It will demand a reviving of the core concerns that remain the only true source of power within the local church.

I find that sometimes people take the easy way out and dismiss my position as being against anything new. New music. New technology. New ideas. Nothing could be further from the truth. We love creativity around Bible Baptist Church. Some of the latest songs are sung in our services by those who sing specials. We have a new building. Large screens. LCDs in the foyer. MacBook Pros (with Retina, bless God!). By the time you read this issue, I plan to have the new Mac Pro so I can write these articles faster. We plan to have our own app in 2014. I’m constantly reading new books and the latest blogs (yes, THOSE blogs) to stimulate my creativity. I still believe our one church could change our whole town. I want to get better and more effective at reaching the town God has given us. But, I don’t want to put my confidence in the creativity of a makeover. That’s why I created Still Church.

Still Church was created as a way to say to Stillwater that we refuse to be “trendy” when we have the exclusive divine privilege to offer them “timeless.” We want Stillwater to know that God has entrusted us with something that transcends their trends. All our creativity centers on strengthening those things that have always made church, well, church. New music? Yes! But, not at the expense of hymns. Hymns are biblical, so they are not optional. “Seekers” can go to almost any church and get teary-eyed over a music makeover. Sit them down in a place where there’s new music, as well, but where the whole congregation comprises one big praise team passionately lifting up the distinctive form called the hymn, and that makes a statement that the power wasn’t produced by any mere makeover.

Still Church involves six “Stills” we promote to our community that involve what we find to be timeless methods or ideas: Still Preaching, Still Hymns, Still Reverent, Still Men, Still Family, Still Exciting. “Still” does not equate to “only.” Drama? At times, but not at the expense of the power of preaching. Choruses? Sure! But, not instead of music proven over the last 100 years or more. Shouts and laughter? Absolutely! But, not cherished as much as those moments of silent reverence on our knees when nothing manufactured can get the credit for producing the tears.

Churches should believe in makeovers. Churches that have grown stale and stagnant probably need one. A lot of young pastors (and a few older men who should know better) are embracing extreme makeovers, though, because they have more confidence in the immediate return from trends than the deeper methodical return from the timeless. Everyone is copying someone, meaning you can borrow from the last five years or the last 500 years. Creativity is valuable and definitely in order, but even more so when applied to strengthening the timeless, rather than simply borrowing from the trends. After all, why be trendy when you can be timeless?