This weekend I worshiped at 2 different churches. On Saturday night, Erica and I attended Church of the Resurrection, a United Methodist mega-church in neighboring Leawood, Kansas. The music was excellent, the atmosphere was Spirit-filled and relaxed and a bit subdued. Adam Hamilton preached a clear evangelistic message in which he shared his reasons for why he believes in God- it was intellectual (lots of Stephen Hawking references) but also emotional and personal.
On Sunday morning I attended LifeQuest Church, a thriving multi-service, multi-site church in neighboring Belton, Missouri lead by a friend of mine, Chris Pinion. They worship in a remodeled Harley Davidson dealership (what a perfect fit for a church in Belton). The music was energetic and loud and the crowd was not subdued. Pastor Chris preached the first message in a series aimed at speaking specifically to men. The service included arm wrestling, straight talk, and a clear call to follow Christ.
On the surface, these 2 churches are very different. COR ministers to five to ten thousand a weekend (there were probably 800 people at the Saturday night service with us). LQ ministers to maybe 500 per weekend (there were 120 chairs in the worship space). COR's sanctuary is big, bright, kind of quiet, with no food or drink allowed (I had to finish my $1-suggested-donation-coffee in the lobby). LQ is smaller, dark, loud, and coffee-friendly (& free). The sermons were very different in content and delivery, but both perfectly fit the crowd and the message. Both preachers were heard by their audiences. And both were explicitly evangelistic. These pastors are both doing a great job of reaching the people they are intending to reach.
Which did I like better? I can't really say. Personally, I would take my friends at New Vision any day. They are just the best. But I guess I am a little biased.
"But Jason, what if . . ." Okay, okay. I liked the rockin' music at LifeQuest. I liked the intimate feel- and the passion, friendship, and excitement. But the production and flow was better at the Resurrection. I struggled often to sing at both churches. I would have preferred more Bible content teaching at both. So I can't really say which I would prefer . . . I liked them both.
Listen to me- these are the things I liked and didn't like. In the end, who cares about what I like. I don't God does. But these 2 pastors and their churches are reaching people and working hard to lead their people to be 24-7 Christ-followers. Adam and Chris- you guys rock! Thanks for what you do for the kingdom. Sometimes it feels like you are the competition, but I am glad the three of us know we are all on the same team.
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