My father is a Vietnam veteran. He told me a few stories from his time in that country. One of his favorite things to talk about was the c-rats. I later found out he was talking about was what the US military called C-rations. This was food ready for combat when fresh food was unavailable. My father told me that he ate c-rats that were dated from World War II. In the later 1970’s, the military began to use what soldiers know as MRE’s. That is an acronym for Military, Ready-to-Eat.
After seminary, my wife and kids moved to South Mississippi. This was mid-2006 and that was less than one year after Hurricane Katrina devastated that area. When we arrived, the coastal areas looked like they had been bombed out. The government had trucked in a lot of MRE’s for people who had no other way of getting food. During our time there, we often had MRE’s on hikes or camping trips. People had boxes of them years after the disaster thanks to FEMA.
One of the things I have noticed over my years in ministry is a temptation among church leaders to have their own version of an MRE. I am speaking of a manufactured religious experience. What do I mean by that? Lots of money, time, talent, and other resources are invested in churches all across our nation that will provide people a spiritual or religious experience. Read old books and what you discover is people talked about worship services. Now many speak of the worship experience. Church leaders want to know if people enjoyed worship when they attended church.
Let me get a little more into the weeds. There is a formula today used in many churches that will result in people attending and sometimes even staying. This formula has little or nothing to do with what Scripture teaches nor does it rely upon the work of the Holy Spirit. Church leaders use media, screens, lighting, certain types of music, pads playing during the prayers, and a relevant talk to help produce this manufactured religious experience that they believe people need. Much of the music is emotion driven rather than truth driven. Much of the preaching relies on humor and so called relevance usually divorced from the text of Scripture. Doctrine is not usually mentioned. Emotion is a powerful part of our humanity and can be used in very negative ways. Emotion is not always negative so do not misunderstand me. But if we need all these things to worship God, I think it is correct to ask if we are truly worshiping. If we cannot worship except to songs that are highly emotion driven and in a particular key, then something might be wrong. If we prefer the TED Talk over the consistent preaching of Scripture, then again we might want to examine our hearts.
Could it be that instead of what God has promised in Scripture we are settling for a poor substitute? Could it be that instead of trusting Jesus to do what He has promised and that is to build His church that we have taken that load upon ourselves and see ourselves as a savior? There are churches all over the world that will meet in various places other than America, many without electricity, many with no musical instruments or professional singers, and some with minimal portions of Scripture. And yet they are able to worship. Would you be able to? Or do you need another MRE?
Joe Tolin pastors the Kingman Presbyterian Church.
