Evangelical Superstition?

I heard a good young preach say the following in his semron on Ac.14:8-20 , and I paraphrase:

1.  The Origin of Superstitution is FEAR, (8-13).
2.  The Objective of Superstitution is to make people feel good, (14-17).
3.  The Outcome of Superstition is, you can't hear the Gospel, (18-20).

I would add that what precedes superstition is PANIC, which in turn leads to FEAR.

How can this message be applied to the contemporary church, including the preacher's own church?

Many churches and church leaders are panicking greatly because of the drift away from the church of the next generation of members; they are losing their young people.  The big question is, What can we do to keep them in the church?  This panic is leading churches and church leaders to a depth of fear, forgetting that God the answer in the Scriptures which are sufficient for all matters of faith and practice.  For fearful and panicking church leaders, Scripture is not enough.  Somewhere along the way they have their confidence in the sufficiency of Scripture for the entire life of the church and for every Christian.  To mis-quote one James Bond 007 title, THE WORD IS NOT ENOUGH.  The fear exhibited by these leaders is palpable.  They just do not know where to turn or what to do.

So what do they do?  They look to the world, to the pop culture of the world, to see what young people are into and what they like and enjoy; they look to see what it is that holds them and keeps them interested and involved.  They see the success of the rock culture and think that might be a good idea for the church.  Then they import that into church life with potentially disastrous long-term results.  In comes the drums, African tom-tom drums associated with occult practices, the heavy beat of the base drum and base guitar, the pounding of piano keys, the theatrical performances by musically gifted young people; and on and on it goes.

But what drives them is fear.  And, according to the preacher, fear originates in superstition.  Wherever there is departure from the teaching of Scripture, there superstition exists and abounds.

But the churches do not see this!  Indeed, were the preacher to apply his own sermon to his own congregation he'd be in serious trouble.  Why?  Because that church is based upon satisfying the whims of adolescent young Christian people who, through no fault of their own, do not have the spiritual maturity to know what constitutes biblical worship.

That brings me nicely to the objective of superstition which is to bring benefits to the recipient and make them feel good.  In this application, the object is to make the young people feel good to be in church and therefore to make the church feel good.  It is an entirely utilitarian policy that drives this.  If young people do not feel good in church they might leave it.  So, the church does whatever it takes to ensure they stay within the fold.

Now, the desire to retain younger members of the congregation is good in itself; but this must be done on sound biblical principles.  To resort to the ways of the world to do this is to go against the clear teaching of the Scriptures.  "Do not love the world or the things of the world," we are taught.  But like so much in church circles, even this is changed to enable the world to infiltrate the church, and then argue that the church is serving Christ alone.  How strange!  Using the world to win the world is plainly wrong.  The world is diametrically opposed to the church and to the things of God. The world is under the rule of the Evil One, so it is not brain science to see that the world's aim is to dilute and then to destroy all Christin witness in the church. 

And this brings me neatly to the outcome of superstition - the inability to hear the Gospel.  Congregations that are being bombarded with the world's music played at the world's decibels become unable to hear the Gospel.  Indeed, it is likely that the true Gospel will have to be modified to suit the new church music.

I have seen it, and sadly experienced it, that when 'worshippers' are subjected to constant physical attack by 'worship groups,' they become intoxicated by both the noise and the beat of the music that they have lost the facility to hear the Gospel.  They become 'brain dead' as a result of such an onslaught.

Further, they then cease to recognise the true Gospel altogether.  If what is being preached does not first pass comfortably through the screening set up by such worldly music, it is rejected.  If the preaching does not gain the approval of 'brain dead' church youths, it is rejected.  If there comes a reaction to the preaching, the preacher is dismissed.  The Gospel is no longer goodnews, but something to be avoided because it divides and challenges and convicts.

Trusting in such things is superstition.  Let the contemporary church beware!