Foolishness in the Name of Christ?

Like many of you, I read several blogs. In fact, I read several websites with which I do not totally agree. Three sites that I read and from which I benefit are Slice of Laodicea, Apprising Ministries, and Old Truth. Though I read and benefit from them, I find that they tend to a hyper-critical spirit; therefore I read them with a certain amount of caution. Their strength, however, is that they are alert to the errors and excesses of pragmatic, market-driven churchianity.

In a recent article at Old Truth, Jim Bublitz writes a great article about one of the latest examples of tomfoolery in the name of evangelism. He says:

I have to admit, nothing sets me off quite like this kind of
thing.
I'm talking about the way growth-driven churches irreverently
misrepresent God
as being just another one of the guys (Psalm 50:21). It
doesn't stop there
either; the biblically defined office of pastor usually
gets a downgrade as
well. Any dignity that pastors should have (1 Timothy
3:1-7 and Titus 2:7-8)
becomes expendable for the sake of hip and trendy
relevance.

The "kind of thing" he refers to is this video by Gary Lamb of Ridge Stone Church in Canton, GA. (Let me admit up front that I find rap "music" objectionable on spiritual, aesthetic, and cultural grounds.) The video is foolish and pathetic on at least a couple of levels. First, it trivializes outreach to the lost for church attendance to the level of a Saturday Night Live sketch. No, I'm not humor impaired. I'm fine with jokes, comedy, and generally cutting up in the right context. Second, it sends an unwitting message to the lost that we have a lack of fear, awe, and reverence for God...and it's okay if they do, too.

This is not what Paul had in mind when he said, "it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 1:21) The Spirit's emphasis is always on Christ. And Christ's emphasis is on the Word, even to the extent that He identifies Himself as the Living Word. It is the message of the Cross (His sacrificial, substitutionary death and His resurrection with power and authority) that draws men and women and young people to repentance and faith. A flip approach to advertisement and evangelism cannot produce real conversions because it and those who employ it present an incomplete and misleading gospel.