Humble Yourselves Before the Lord

DAVID

When King David murdered a man and took his wife, he hid what he did as well as he could.  But one day his personal prophet told him a parable revealing that what David had done was not secret.  This left David with certain options in how to deal with the issue. 
1.  He could have denied the affair, fired or killed the prophet for blashemy, and told the people around him that Nathan was lying.
2.  He could have admitted the affair and turn to the Law of Moses for the correct response - which would have himself killed for the murder of another man during the time of peace.
3.  He could do something else that was not in the letter of the Law...which he did.

What David did was not given to him through the Law, it was not Biblical in his day, but was a common practice.  When things got out of control, rather than maddly scrambling around, trying to fix what could not be fixed, David humbled himself before God and commited his way to Him.  It was a form of ultimate abandonment of self and self's abilities, and giving complete control to God; seeking and searching for his mercy and his forgiveness.

David knew he stood no chance with the Law.  He was guilty and deserved the death sentance, and yet he desired to be renewed into God's favor.  It was a tall order, but David did what was needed.

Where David Learned It

By David's day, humbling oneself before the Lord was common for any situation that was out of control.

I believe that the practice started with the death of loved ones.  When someone died, the living wailed, wept, and humbled oneself by fasting, throwing dirt on self, wearing sackcloth and even lying in a bed of ashes.  Even today, when someone near to a person dies, that person punishes himself/herself in a gut reaction.  This reaction can and did turn into custom for the people, so that widows wore certain dark/dreary clothing for long periods of time. 

Eventually, such grovelling and throwing self into emotional and physical debasement, became a way of life, not only in the face of death, but in the face of anything that was deathlike, that was out of one's control.  When plague, famine or other uncontrollable events took place, people reacted by refusing to celebrate, denying self-gratification, fun or happiness.

Over 200 years before David ruled, while living in the desert, Israel wept as a nation, when they wanted better food, but couldn't get any.

A few generations before David ruled, Israel had already wept together as united tribes (Judges 21) when they lost a battle against the tribe of Benjamin.  They wept again when they realized that Benjamin lost the war and was in danger of perishing entirely.

When David was faced with his own personal disaster, he broke his heart before God, fasted, prayed and sought the Lord.  Psalm 51 is taken from his own personal journey during this time.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart,

O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:16-17).

THE PROPHETS

Many of the prophets told the people to repent (turn around).  As one studies the reaction of those who did repent, one sees that repentance was more than a simple "O.k. I won't do it any more."  Repentance was defined by more than that.  It was a turning around, but it was also a breaking of the heart and fasting before God.

When Jonah told Nineveh to repent (3:5-9), they and their animals fasted.

The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.  But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.  Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

When Joel (2:12-13) asked the people to turn to God and to repent (during a natural disaster that was not due to anyone's sin) they fasted and with weeping:

“Even now,” declares the LORD,

“return to me with all your heart,

with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

Rend your heart

and not your garments.

Return to the LORD your God,

for he is gracious and compassionate,....

In the days of Isaiah, Jerusalem was facing a disaster.  Every other  city was taken and destroyed in Israel and in Judah except Jerusalem, which was surrounded by the enemy.  There were a lot of animals and people in Jerusalem as people from the countryside brought their livestock and food into the city for hopes of safety.  The people inside the city had a lot of food that would perish in a short time; and they had a lot of sheep and other cattle that would need the same food the people had to survive.

Everyone knew that this siege would last for months if not years, and they knew that there was nowhere to go to refresh their stock of food.  In other words, they knew that if God did not deliver them, they were going to slowly die, bound up in their city without freedom to go out into the fields.

Months after the city walls closed, silence filled the nights with occasional cries as someone in some house was discovered dead from starvation.   But in the early days, right after the walls were closed with an army beginning to surround the city, the nights were filled with the noises of sheep, oxen, goats, and people singing and celebrating.

This is bazaar, but there was food that needed to be eaten or it would be wasted.  And people knew that death was coming soon, so they celebrated while they could.  And during these early days they sang. This is what Isaiah said about all of this in 22:12-13:

The Lord, the LORD Almighty,

called you on that day

to weep and to wail,

to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.

But see, there is joy and revelry,

slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,

eating of meat and drinking of wine!

“Let us eat and drink,” you say,

“for tomorrow we die!”

JAMES AND PETER

Both James and Peter addressed their letters to Christians, telling them that there was too much sin going on.  Both James and Peter told those Christians to turn to God:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.   Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.   Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up (James 4:7-10).

And 1 Peter 5:5-9:

“God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble.”

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

When things are out of control, or when you have utterly made a fool of yourself spiritaully or in any other way, humble yourself before God, and in time He will lift you up.

Entitlement

Before I start, I want to assign "entitlement" not to those who are in the 47% who do not pay federal income tax, but to people of all classes who believe they are entitled to certain rights or rewards.

When I studied and taught Ethics at a local college, I first came across an interesting word called "entitlement".  I found the word fascinating on several levels.  For one, I had never related entitlement to ethics before, for two, it seemed to have a lot more behind it than one first sees.

I think I was intrigued because we live in a society that honors, respects and even promotes entitlement.  T.V. commercials capitalize on how you deserve something - a break, a product, vacation, or whatever needs to be sold. 

The heart of America's story is built around hard work and the reward that is entitled to those who work hard.

I was intrigued because entitlement is usually right and good.  Even the Bible says that "the worker deserves his food".

Because entitlement is so promoted in society and because it is so right in so many areas, entitlement is possibly one of the best covers for unethical behavior that has ever existed.  Entitlement says, "You deserve", or "You earned the right to something".  Entitlement says, 'It is good".  Entitlement beautifully hides every evil it can produce.

THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL

The Old Testament prophets preached that Israel and Judah fell because of their sins.  Most Christians today believe that the sins were sexual sins or sins of rejecting God.  But that is not the case.  Even though these may be sin, they were not the focus of what the prophets preached against.  Sexual sins were not the main reason that Isreal and Judah fell.

Before I go on, I need to spell out that when modern preachers refer to the sin of rejecting God, they are right in doing so.  This is biblical and within the context of Isaiah.  I have no quarrel with this.  What I do have an issue with is their complete ignorance of what the prophets said about the poor and the powerless, and that the same sin permeates our society today with little or nothing said about it from the pulpits.

The prophets who spoke before the fall of Israel and the fall of Judah said very little about sex.  When they did mention adultery, it usually was related to people worshipping other gods.  Idolatry was the adultery that was hurting the God of the prophets.  This is not to say adultery is o.k.  I am just stating a fact - the prophets were not as concerned about sexual sins as they were about other sins that come a lot closer to us than we realize.

Before Israel and Judah fell, prophets preached most of all against idolatry (worshipping other gods) and economic injustice. 

Look at Isaiah.  Thousands of preachers have preached, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Is. 1:18)".   I have never heard any preacher bring in the context of this verse.  Every one I have heard focused on modern sins such as abortion and homosexuality and sexually impure thoughts, anger, or more often than not, just plain old undefined "sin".   I have yet to hear any message that focuses on the real reason that Israel and Judah fell.

When Isaiah preached his sermon about sin and forgiveness in Isaiah 1:18 (quoted above), he was standing before the rulers of Judah telling them that they were judging in favor of the rich and powerful and against the poor and powerless.  They were taking bribes.  This theme is repeated over and over in the first few chapters of Isaiah.

The prophets did not stop with the rulers of Judah and Israel; they also spoke out against the rich who were rich while the poor were getting poorer.  There was a direct correlation between the two in the prophets.  This is contrary to the view of entitlement.

Entitlement says that we deserve what we get and even more.  Entitlement says we deserve what we get and that if others were as brilliant, or as hard working, or as good, or as righteous, then they too would be entitled.

Sometimes there is some truth to this.  In fact, there are enough examples to make this seem to be a very legitimate template.  But it is far from universal.  In other words, entitlement hides behind those few examples that serve its needs.  Entitlement champions itself.

During the prophet's day, the rich (many of who considered their money as a reward for their righteousness) lent money to the poor, to those who had a bad year or two, to those who were facing hard times.  In return they received interest paid on top of their returns.  The lenders were entitled to extra money, just as bankers are today, and when people couldn't pay back, they lost their children to slavery.  Eventually, they were also sold into slavery.

This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back {my wrath}. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals (Amos 2:6).

The rich did not see it the same way that Amos did.  They believed that they were entitled to the interest and that the poor deserved the problems they had.  It is the same today.

NOT ALL ENTITLEMENT IS THE SAME

Entitlement comes in many forms, but always has the same central theme - "I deserve."  Entitlement does not share the whole story with one who is entitled.  It does not enable one to see what it does to others either directly or indirectly.  

There are also different levels of entitlement.  Some are entitled temporarily or for the rest of their life for something they earned, and some believe they are entitled for the rest of their life for being who they are. 

Some grasp for the entitlement they have, fearing its loss; while others grasp for entitlement they believe they deserve, but cannot get.

Some are legitimately entitled to something, but get so used to it, that they expect it, become proud, and/or hold on to it, even when it is time to let go.

JESUS AND ENTITLEMENT

Jesus was entitled to his position in heaven, but emptied himself of all of his entitlement in order to serve us. 

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:5-11)

Jesus set the example that we should abandon self-entitlement for the sake of others.  Whether we are entitled to a way of life, or to certain rewards, we should sacrifice.

CONCLUSION

Is all entitlement evil?  No.

If I deserve to be entitled, can it ever be wrong?  Yes.  Sometimes, we need to sacrifice entitlement for the sake of others just like Jesus did.

Does anybody always see the difference between good and bad entitlement?  No.  Entitlement serves self-interest too much.  But make no mistake, we will be judged on Judgment Day according to how we have followed in Jesus' footsteps and sacrificed what was our due.

Is It Spiritual or Is It Physical?

THE STUDY

A New York Times piece came out yesterday (April 11, 2012) with new findings about addictions.  It seems that exercise opens up the brain to learn new things, and pick up or quit habits - good or bad.

So lets say for example, you want to stop smoking or stop drugs.  If you start exercising when you stop, the exercise will help you learn new behaviors and overcome your addiction more than if you had not been exercising.  The article says its because your brain is producing more new cells when you exercise, and those new cells are connecting to your new life style choices.

On the other had, if you already exercise, and you pick up a bad habit or continue a bad habit, your new brain cells are soaking up all that bad stuff, and you will have a far more difficult time overcoming.

LESSON

If you already exercise, don't pick up a new addiction.
If you don't exercise, pick an addiction to quit and work out while you quit.

THE RELATION BETWEEN PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL

Life is filled with spiritual challenges.  Unfortuneately, the physical and the mental get involved as well.  Sometimes the best thing you can do for your spiritual life is related to what you do for your physical or your mental life.  Addictions and exercise is like this.

As a young Christian I learned very early on that if I didn't get proper sleep and if I didn't sit down and relax occasionally, my stress level went up, and my spiritual life suffered.  The point of all this is that I believe that the spiritual life and the physical life are intertwined more than we realize. 

I have also seen that people who are considered demon possessed have psychological issues that they need to work out with a trained counselor after they get delivered.  In fact, to be honest, the cases I have seen where people have come to me for freedom from some kind of demonic oppression (in one place possession), I have had a hard time differentiating between what was demonic and what was psychological.  I am convinced they work hand in hand. 

The same goes for addicts - the spiritual and the psychological get intertwined.

CONCLUSIONS

For the best spiritual life:

-Eat healthy
-Exercise regularly
-Read your bible daily
-Pray daily
-If your life is a mess, get counseling

Fame and the Bible

In 1970, when I was 17, I was visiting one of my parents' friends who liked to smoke pot and help out kids. One of those kids who was likewise around 17, told me that he was going to be a famous drummer one day - I told him I was going to be a famous guitarist because I was told that while I was on LSD (which is something I did in High School).  Fortunately, I had enough reality to be able to plan for real life besides playing guitar.

I never saw that guy after that, but lately, I have seen a myriad of teens with aspirations of becoming famous. It is so real to them, that they have no other plans in life. 

I have also seen reality T.V. shows where fame is the goal and the only goal for a myriad of untalented (and rarely talented) people.  My sister and her husband are good friends with one of the couples from the show called "The Bachelor".  She tells me that fame is the obsession with the bachelors and bachelorettes. 

From what I see on T.V. and the internet, I would say that fame as a goal in life has become an epidemic in this nation.  Every year, thousands of people move to Hollywood, New York or Nashville in hopes of becoming famous.  The vast majority of these people will never experience their dreams. 

The opportunities have widened since I was younger.  You no longer have to have any skill to be famous. And, you no longer have to be part of the inner circles or in the families of famous people.  If you are in the right place at the right time, you can be a reality T.V. star.  You can put out your own YouTube video and find fame.  You can write your own music and with a common computer produce your own song, and with enough auto tuning even some bad singers can sound pretty good.   You can be one of hundreds of thousands who compete in American Idol or a dozen other music shows.

When I was young there were 3 T.V. channels; now there are hundreds.  Even so,  there is only so much fame to go around.  If everybody is famous, then no one is.  By nature, fame has limited access. 
And to top it off, by nature, fame is short lived.  Many people find temporary or a good shot at fame only to watch it quickly die.  As the saying goes, "Everybody has their 15 minutes of fame". 

CHRISTIAN FAME

There are also Evangelical avenues to fame that are available now that were not as common when I was younger.  Evangelicalism has produced its own subculture which includes its own fame.  Book writers, musicians, speakers, and T.V. preachers are all given opportunity to become famous in the Evangelical world.  Any one of these can pack out a large arena and make loads of money (although, I must warn all fame seekers that many of these famous Christians have a whole lot less money than you would think). 

WHAT DOES BIBLE SAY ABOUT FAME THAT IS GOOD?

In his day, King David was a rock star who was famous not for throwing rock concerts, but for throwing a rock at a big man.  The teenage girls - his fans - lined up in Jerusalem streets to cheer, and to admire him.  The famous people of his day were not in the entertainment industry, they were in the war business - they were warriors and rulers. 

The book of Judges is filled with famous Hebrews who started armies and led into battle.
Joseph, Deberah, Solomon and Daniel were famous beyond Israel for their wisdom.
Esther was celebrated for her beauty and for saving her people from an arrogant attempt to destroy Israelites.  She entered an ancient beauty contest and for winning she married the most powerful man in the world - at that time.

Barnabas found fame, access into the inner circle of the Apostles, and new work when he donated his property to the Apostles for distribution among the believers.

Hebrews 11 mentions a bunch of people who were famous for their faith as well as for their accomplishments.  Some were rejected by the world; but others were famous in both realms.

The Bible celebrates these people, their fame and their accomplishments.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT FAME THAT IS NOT GOOD

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17). 

Fame (the attention this world gives) will pass away and be gone forever.  Good deeds in obedience to God and following God are eternal.  For that reason, we are not to seek after fame, but to seek after God.

For this next example, I need to explain that seeking fame and seeking attention are the same, except in seeking fame, one hopes to get the attention of many rather than a person or two or three.  When people are famous, they get a lot of people's attention.  Fame seekers want a lot of attention.  There are several examples of attention seekers in Genesis.

Reuben slept with his step mom in order to shame his dad who unjustly gave attention to the youngest brothers.  Reuben was the oldest and should have been the brother to receive attntion.  The other brothers sold Joseph into slavery and almost killed him for the same reason.

Cain killed Abel in order to get God's attention.  There is a lot of info that can be gathered from Cain, which could fill books, but I will limit it.  Cain teaches us that:
1.  People can get competitive in the area of spirituality.
2.  When people seek attention, competition can get ruthless.
3.  Abel got God's attention by doing something right and well.
4.  Cain sought God's attention and got it (not in a good way) through murder.

Cain and Abel teach us that there is a good way to get attention and there is a bad way.  The same is true with fame.  There are people who do not seek it but find it because they deserved it.  Then there are those who seek it and do evil to obtain or keep it.  King Saul got fame with humility and action.  Once he had it, he tried so hard to protect it that he became evil and did many evil things.

Even if you get famous in a good way, you can fall into evil (as King Saul did) by trying to hold on to / protecting that fame.  Fame is elusive.  Very few people will become permanently famous.  Most people who are famous will fall out of that fame.  With few exceptions, football and basketball players last a few short years and then the honeymoon is over.  Most actors and actresses have a few good moments, and sometimes years, when the limelight is on them.  Then it is either permanently or temporarily over.  King Saul saw his fame and the hopes for his son were receding while David's was growing.  To protect his own, he tried to kill David and remove his competition.

You can also do evil trying to protect your famous reputation (as King David did when he killed the husband of Bethsheba).  I knew a youth pastor who covered up her pregnancy (she was unmarried) by getting an abortion.  She did this because she wanted to protect her good Christian reputation and witness with the kids.

In the book of Esther, Haman spent a lot of time boasting about his fame, using his fame and his power to further promote his fame.  When Mordecai refused to bow before him, he sought to kill Mordecai and destroy Mordecai's people.  Mordecai is an example of when fame gets to one's head and how evil seeking fame can get.

WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT CHRISTIAN FAME?

We've already seen in Cain that people can get competitive in the realm of faith.  This is no less true in churches and the Christian community.   I believe that many of us equate Evangelical fame with strong spirituality.  The more famous people are in the Evangelical world, the more godly they are.  Even though this is obviously not true, I believe that many Evangelicals wrongly equate Christian fame with deeper spirituality. 

When Barnabas sold his property and gave it to the Apostles (for giving to the poor), he became an instant celebrity.  He entered the circles of the elite, was treated like any other apostle, and he was given the same responsibilities as an apostle.  When Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5) saw this, they too sold land and gave it to the Apostles.  However, they lied to the Apostles, telling them that they gave all the money they had to the Apostles, when in fact they had given only a portion to them.  Ananias and Saphira were trying to buy their way into Christian fame as Barnabas had done.  There was one difference, however.  Barnabas was not seeking fame, he was only following the teachings of Jesus.

After Ananias and Saphira died in trying to become one of the elite, the Bible says that no one dared to join them (the Apostles) after that.  God was warning the people not to seek fame for fame's sake.

MY CONCLUSIONS

I think there is a lot more to say and a lot more Bible to study, but it's all going to point to the same thing.  If you seek fame for fame's sake, it is an evil sin that can cause much damage.  There are also many temptations that come with fame which all boil down to the same thing - protecting the fame you have or seek to have.

Despite the huge pitfalls of fame, if you do what is right and you become famous as a result, it is good.   Fame is not a sin, the things people do to grasp for fame is evil.

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11).

When Paul wrote this, he was referring to his roller coaster ride with life, money and possessions.  He had ups and he had downs.  Paul learned to be content with both . So it is with fame - their are ups and there are downs.  Be content with both.

Mega Churches in the 21st Century

DEFINITION - I consider a mega church anything over 1,000 people in attendance.  I don't care to get into all the terms of meta church and whatever else is out there.

ROOTS - FULLER SEMINARY

Division of the Revivalists

When I went to get my M.A. in Cross Cultural Studies, I met 2 different professors with opposing views of what Christian revival was all about.  Both were in the Missions department.

1.  J. Edwin Orr - I went to Fuller Seminary because I wanted to sit in classes with J. Edwin Orr, who was at the time, the world's foremost expert in the study of Protestant spiritual revivals.  I was able to take 2 or 3 of his classes before his mind was unable to keep up with his duties, due to old age.  He dropped names a lot in his classes.  He talked about hanging with Billy Graham, Bill Bright, F.F. Bruce and a host of other big Christian names of the 1970s and 1980s.  I don't remember most of them, I just remember being mezmerized as I listened to this guy who seemed bigger than life, augmenting his aura more with the name of every person he mentioned.

I loved listening to Orr.  He beamed with knowledge, excitement and charisma.  He taught that revivals were not planned, but sprang up when and where God decided.  Some came as a result of preaching and some came as a result of prayer.  Some were centered on a preacher, some had no preacher.  In every type of revival, churches filled up and God became the center of daily talk in any community.

2.  Donald McGavran - The Father of Church Growth.  Every mega church in the U.S. and throughout the world owes its existence in some degree to McGavran.  Coming from a Missions background, he was the first to break down church growth into something we can measure, define, and build in business like models.  He is not a household name, but his influence has reached worldwide. 

During my first week at Fuller, I had supper with Donald McGavran, not knowing who he was.  In our conversation, I argued Dr. Orr's position that revivals were unpredictable, cannot be planned, and at best we can pray in revivals, but even then, it is only up to God to pour out His spirit - and it happened when and where He chose.  Donald Mcgavran, on the other hand, argued that with the proper tools and study, we can build real spiritual revival.

I am embarassed to say that I argued against Dr. McGavran's point of view, not knowing who he was, or what he  taught.  When he moved on to another table, as was proper for our event (he moved from table to table), a man came up to me and said, "Do you know who that was?"  I didn't know, so he told me, "That was Donald McGavran!"  I hadn't heard of him until then.

As far as I know, Dr. Orr's influence has almost died while Dr. McGavran's has burst into every church in the world that studies how to grow.  As I said before, just about every large church today owes a huge amount of gratitude to Dr. McGavran.

Division Between Church Growth and Theology

Fuller was divided between the Missions Department with its Church Growth emphasis, and the Theology Department with an emphasis in Karl Barth and the Neo-Orthodox theology in Europe.  The students I knew from the Theology Department were very critical of the Church Growth fans. 

The Theology students wanted to make the Bible and Theology the center of the church, and believed the Church Growth students and teachers  were on the wrong track, focusing on business principles, counting numbers, targeting people, graphs, dissecting geography and culture in order to speak the language and address the symbols of the people and in order to focus on one group over another.

Division Among the Pastors

The Church Growth movement spread from Fuller into the nation, so that its influence is seen just about everywhere.   I was a pastor during the 90s and by then the discussion about the Church Growth movement among the pastors was still hot.  New words arose, such as "seeker friendly service", which means a church directs all of its attention on Sunday mornings to reach the unchurched.  "Unchurched" was the new word used to define those who don't go to church, whether Christian or not.  It was a nicer word than "Lost". 

Bill Hybels (Willow Creek Community Church, near Chicago, IL) was at the forefront of this journey, and dozens of churches sought out his wisdom in growing their churches to become the new model of Christianity.

To reach the unchurched crosses and religious symbols were taken out of the church building, religious words were taken out of sermons, church names such as "Baptist" were changed, choirs were removed and rock bands (who until then only played in liberal churches) took over.  Big screens replaced the organs, and plays and/or film replaced rituals.

Churches morphed overnight and pastors either jumped on board or else stood from the sides criticizing the new wave of "seeker friendliness". 

Pluses and Minuses

PLUS

The people they reach:
1.  Non-christian -  Our big church in the Minneapolis area baptise hundreds of new members a year.
2.  Unchurched - People who grew up in some church, but have left for some reason or another.  Unchurched is also the person who has never gone to church.
3.  Church Shoppers - People who live life moving from church to church.
4.  The Burnt Out - People who got overloaded with work at some church and need a break.

The message they preach:
1.  To be as big as they are, these churches have to have preachers that can entertain. 
2.  The message is easy enough for anybody to understand.
3.  Some of these preachers know the Bible and preach amazing sermons.
4.  The Gospel is reaching people who would not get it anywhere else.

The quality and quantity:
1.  There are more choices for small groups and programs.
2.  There are larger youth groups.
3.  There are amazing media, bulletins, monitors, posters, etc.
4.  You can bring coffee into church.
5.  Music quality is far better and more up to date than other churches.

The Ministry:
1.  There's something for everybody,
  a.  Outreaches such as missions trips, and homeless shelters, and singles, addicted, and so on.
  b.  Inreaches such as groups for the addicted, singles, and so on.
2.  Bigger and often times better Youth Groups.  With more resourses available, mega churches can bring bigger and better into the youth groups.  The groups themselves are also bigger, thus leaving the teen with more people to meet or date. 
3.  Awesome children's ministries.  Once again, resources are huge.

The Variety of Involvement:
1.  If you don't want to get involved, you can sit in a chair every Sunday and enjoy the entertainment, worship and listen to a feel good message.  No one knows you and you can sit back and receive.
2.  If you want to get involved, there are plenty of opportunities.

There is so much more to talk about, but I will end it here, lest I bore you.

MINUS

The people they reach:
1.  The church I go to baptises people who have been Christian all their lives as well as those who are recent converts.  Believer's baptism means that if you were baptised as a child, the baptism is no good.  So although it is amazing to see several hundred people get baptised at once, not all those people are new believers.
2.  I have no negative thing to say about bringing the unchurched into the church.
3.  Church shoppers are anywhere in any church.  Shopping is an American past time.  Church shoppers may stay at a church, but don't count on it.  There are different church shoppers, some good and some not so good:
  a.  The wounded who have been hurt in some other church.
  b.  The complainers for whom no church is good enough.
  c.  The tired and weary who need a break from too much involvement.
  d.  The idealists who believe there is some almost perfect church out there where God is doing amazing things.
4.  Many smaller churches complain that their members are leaving for the mega churches.  In other words, a lot of people going to mega churches were not the unsaved, lost, or the unchurched.  They are people who want a different church experience.

The message they preach:
1.  I have seen some awsome Biblical preaching from pastors in megachurches.  For years I listened to Stuart Briscoe in Milwaukee, WI.  I heard Greg Boyd from St. Paul, MN preach a solidly biblical message that captivated the audience.  Although I have never heard him, I am told that John Piper in Minneapolis, MN preaches sermons that go deep into the Word.  But I have also heard preachers who preached more about the latest Christian self help topics and/or prosperity than they did about the Bible.  Bible verses were used as feeble supports to the message, rather than opened up for what they were suppose to say.

2.  At Fuller Seminary, I heard some students complain that Robert Schuller (pastor of the Glass Cathedral) did not preach repentance because it was too negative of a message.  I don't know how true this was, but it seemed that way, and I do see, on T.V. and in some churches, a lack of preaching about the death and resurrection in favor of the latest Christian "how to" books.

Everything the Apostle Paul said or taught was tied to the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Everything the Apostle John taught came from and centered on the incarnation (the life and teachings of Jesus). Neo-orthodox preachers from the mid-Twentieth Century, such as Karl Barth, dug deeply into the Bible centering their writings on the cross and resurrection of Jesus.  Billy Graham who focused only on evangelism likewise centered everything he preached on the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

Quantity and Quality:
My uncle use to be an usher for a small church.  He loved his position, feeling that he was important to the ministry of that church.  As the church grew into a mega church, his ministry to the same amount of people seemed smaller and smaller.   Furthermore, he no longer knew the people he ministered to.  He was always the same, but turned from the big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond.   People like to feel important when they serve.  They like to feel like they are contributing something that few if anybody else can.  In a large church, it is much harder to feel important.

MINISTRIES THAT ONLY A SMALL CHURCH CAN DO

There are ministries that only a small church can do.  When I pastored in MN, a large group of Sudanese refugees settled into our church.   It was hard on the church as a whole, but still half the church got involved in helping them settle into the U.S.  One of them was hired as a pastor for the Sudanese, went on to a local Bible College, and is now a full time missionary for our denomination.

There is little chance that this could have happened in a large church where the focus is far more on bringing in new people and focusing on certain people groups (usually White).

The fact is, and will always remain, that smaller churches are more intimate.  When someone new visits, everybody in the church knows it.  This is both the negative and the positive of a smaller church.