Is the church just another playground?

Several blogs and articles have addressed this issue. You can read about it on www.founders.org/blog (see blogs entitled Losing the Gospel in the Quest for Relevance and also Of Fire Engine Baptistries and Blasphemy), as well as Baptist Press News and Christianity Today (Fall 2000 issue).

Apparently the man who has been nominated to be the next president of the SBC (Ronnie Floyd) is the pastor of a church which has a special baptistry for children. Here is a quote from that article, describing the need for the use of technology within the church, and their baptistry, “That includes a special baptistry which is built around a fire engine. When a child is baptized, the sirens sound and confetti is fired out of cannons.”

The rest of the article talks about the need for technology to reach kids, the need to be relevant to the culture and visually stimulating for kids who are immersed in the culture. It even speaks of how when the children enter the room they play “non-violent” video games (which replaces the craft time with the teachers).

I find these things troubling. Let me explain why.

A church should reach out to children, and try to make things on their level, fun, and interesting. Yet we must ask ourselves, are we trusting in the video games, the fire engines, etc. to keep the children there? Because if that is what brings them then that must be what keeps them. Except for when the culture brings up something else new that the church will be forced to incorporate into their services and teaching ministries all in the name of trying to keep the kids coming to church. This enforces an incorrect mindset that allows for the secular to designate what is held important in the sacred. This should not be.

I have a higher view of Scripture and of God. I hold that the Bible is sufficient and efficient enough to be used of God through godly mothers and fathers, preachers and Sunday School teachers to reach this up and coming generation. We must hold to It as the standard to reach children, and God to save children. We do not want to have the culture influence our worship patterns but instead we should be influencing culture. I hold that God through His purposes and power can bring children to Himself and can hold them there. It does not rely upon our abilities to entertain.

Yet still we see so many churches doing such a thing…turning the church into just another playground.