By Dan Krotz – I’m a first-string church goer but don’t attend any single church regularly. If you see an old, tired fat man in the back pew next Sunday it’s probably me. A rough count shows that there are about 135 churches in Carroll County, and I hope to visit them all; it’s a toss up whether I run out of weeks before I get to each one, but I’ll see soon enough who’ s telling the truth – and who isn’t.
I like going to church. In his 1927 novel, Elmer Gantry, Sinclair Lewis described churches as the one place in small towns where you might find the Great Ideas, finer art, and impressive music. That isn’t entirely true anymore because of our better communication systems, but it should be true about the character of our churches whether we live in small towns or big cities.
I’ve found some lovely churches and heard some sermons that caused me to think and reflect, and to some music that was inspiring and humbling. And I’ve attended services that felt like being in the audience of a TV game show; when, I wondered, did religion become a division of the entertainment industry?
The best sermons are unafraid of Johnathan Edwards’ example in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and they debunk the modern nonsense of awarding participation trophies. These sermons correctly identify guilt as a sign of good mental and spiritual health; toss in smidgens of Kierkegaard, William Pope Burt and Karl Barth, and you’ve heard a Jim Dandy sermon.
The worst sermons I’ve heard turn Jesus into a pharmacist or bartender. These sermons tell us that if we feel bad and lowdown, take a dose or a shot of Jesus and everything ailing us is washed away. There is no mention of making amends or taking responsibility for righting wrongs. Everybody gets a participation trophy.
But the very worst sermons are sermons directing congregational fingers towards society’s offenders; they’ve got a little list, and everybody outside the church is on it. They can’t wait to send you to hell and, oh, what a happy day that will be.
Alrighty, then. See you in church.
Nice essay, as always. I must admit, I only attend big elaborate cathedrals, and then only for the art and architecture.