“I’ve come that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

Should Christians have to settle for boring church services? Of course not. But should we pump people up like a politician working a crowd, or like a motivational speaker trying to improve the sales force’s bottom line? Is church intended to be an emotional pep rally where we try to replicate what happened on the Day of Pentecost? Does being filled with the Holy Spirit equate to an emotional experience, where we “feel” God’s divine presence? “Come, Holy Spirit, fill this place,” and we’ll help by adding a smoke machine. Or should the church service be a theology lesson, replete with printed handout notes, like a college lecture?

I remember the days when we used the latest technology of overhead projectors, with acetate transparencies and press-on lettering. We had tools to help with the laborious task of line spacing and letter alignments. As the preacher went on, he would flip over taped-on strips of paper to reveal the next point. Hard to believe now, but that was the leading pedagogical (that is, educational) technique of the day. Today, digital projection has become standard fare, using professionally designed templates with graphics and photos.

Music continues to be a point of contention, powerful as it is to invoke deep emotion and expression of worship—we just can’t understand why that other generation can’t get past their preferences. My guess is that none of us would like the music of David’s day, when monophonic music was most likely the standard fare (polyphonic music in the Western world came much later). Imagine the Levitical choirs all singing without any harmony!

Yes, the Day of Pentecost was exciting, what might be called a sound and light show—three thousand were saved that day. A present-day Christian concert has nothing over that experience. New life exploded! But also, God brought another explosion, using the persecution to spread the Good News of the new life in Christ around the world. Many, many Christians were persecuted and many died, rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer “for the Name” of Jesus (Acts 5:41).

So we worship the Lord on Sunday mornings (hopefully not just then) with our brothers and sisters in Christ, together as one family, with many expressions of the new life, many stages in our growth toward Christlikeness, and a growing capacity to love one another—which includes tolerance for those whose expression of new life in Christ differs from ours. I thank the Lord for new ideas each generation brings to the family for music, communicating the gospel, and experiencing Christian life and fellowship together.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Cor. 5:17)

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. (Ps. 96:1).