Okay, that title is homage to James MacDonald, who says
congregationalism is from Satan and whom I had the privilege of spending
a couple days with at the recent 9marks @ Southeastern Conference. During the Baptist21 Panel, our moderator stirred up a bit of a hornet’s nest by asking me what I thought about multi-site churches. Why me? I thought. Mark Dever is sitting right there. He loves talking about this stuff. Aww… man. Ask me about basketball.
So, after I finished my pity party, I answered my brother’s question,
stated something like: “Thabiti, what arguments for multi-site have you
found persuasive?” My articulate response: “Uh, none.”
Okay, this should be the end of the post. But because I’m in the
Miami airport and the people-watching has become a bit weird, I think
I’d rather invite you all to my misery and discovery.
Idolatry
At bottom, I think the kind of multi-site churches (realizing there
are a few different approaches) that feature one pastor being beamed
into several sites around a region—and in some cases around the country
or world—is simply idolatry. It’s certainly cult of personality
multiplied and digitized for a consumer audience. As a brilliant young
man remarked to me this morning, “The pastor now becomes the new icon in
the midst of the Protestant worship service.” I think that’s well
said. Video multi-site tends to idolatry, pride, and
self-promotion—even where the ambition of spreading the gospel is
genuine. In other words, the ends do not justify the means because some
of the ends produced will undoubtedly be odious in God’s sight. Keep Reading...
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