Pep Rallies For Jesus??

I agree with this very timely note from a very dear friend, Max Taylor who, 40+ years ago, worked faithfully in our church here in South Florida. Max, now living in Spring, Texas, can be reached at his business, building water gardens! http://www.magnoliaponds.com

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I think one of the biggest problems in our churches today (I mean TRUE Bible churches) is they are falling into the trap of being PEP RALLIES FOR JESUS instead of teaching God’s word in a systematic fashion.  They claim trying to be ‘relevant’ in our modern world, but all it has done is make folk dependent on emotional activity instead of the Lord and His wonderful provision.  Emotion is not all bad, God gave it to us. But emotion in the Christian life is only sometimes a result, it should NEVER be the method. And it is not a result in all cases.  And it should NEVER be the goal.  The Apostle Paul said, “…teach things which beome sound doctrine.” Titus 2:1  He did not say ‘get everyone excited with up-beat songs’.  Emotion is appreciation of something and the true emotion that makes a difference in the Christian is the emotion from the appreciation of Bible truth, discovering something new about the greatness of God… the unsearchable riches of Christ.  Or the joy of someone coming to Christ or a believer expanding their faith and trust in the Lord’s provision.

We don’t need ‘Praise Teams’ to lead us to praise God.  Believers need doctrine, truth… so through the better understanding of who Our Lord is, we praise Him because of His majesty, because of His greatness, His justice, mercy, immutability, veracity… not because of the emotional high we get.  I have seen the same emotional response in football huddles, activist meetings on college campuses, and political rallies.

Please let our churches not substitute emotion for the reality of Jesus Christ.