The View From The Pew

Paul Collins A Short Trip Around My World December 26, 2020

I may have titled this piece wrong. Is the church pew still relevant? With the “Covid” and all the other factors (including some “governmental” interference), it seems that we may be in danger of losing a time-honored tradition that goes back nearly two thousand years. But there may be some pictures in your mind of days gone by. I remember a choir, an organ, and a pulpit with a lighted cross on the wall behind the preacher’s head. The light from the cross made it seem he was wearing a halo, and that influenced a young boy to believe that he was, indeed, a man of God.
Too soon we grow old! Too late we grow smarter!
If there is a pew (even chairs in a “church” auditorium), what do you see when you are supposed to be sitting in a worship setting and hearing a speaker? Are you seeing someone who is dressed like a hip hop singer? Do you see someone who is making a visible effort to dress fashionably according to the dictates of pop culture? Do you see young, “wannabe” musicians and singers moving on stage like a rock band?
If you have a view from the pew, you probably also have an ear to hear! Oh my, can you ever hear! The music will be loud enough to cause a mountain to tremble and a river to run backwards trying to get away!
To sum up about the sight and sounds of many of today’s “church services,” it is obvious that times and seasons have changed since I was a boy. I have friends that leave their hearing aids at home before worship. Another friend went into the hearing aid business knowing that a generation is having their ears damaged irreparably. I think I even know a few people making good money selling jeans that are three fourths worn out. Those jeans now bring top dollar because today’s fashion-conscious generation has designed them by using patterns established by pop culture.
So there you have it! I have just presented a small evaluation of the church being an echo of the world. I remember when the world was an echo of the church.
Too soon we get old! Too late we get smart! Jesus is coming!