Not long ago I had the honor of leading in a renewal conference hosted by Central Wesleyan Church in Holland, MI.  Paul Hontz, the Sr. Pastor, has served that fellowship for 30 years and led the church to become one of the largest congregations of their denomination in the U.S.  How delightful to see a large and influential congregation so hungry for a fresh movement of spiritual power and impact!

As Pastor Hontz, Leif Aronsen (one of our board members), and I sat in the pastor’s office Sunday morning before the services, I could not help but notice a small quote on the wall.  It read, “To the world you may just be one person, but to one person you may be the world.”  Wow.  I could not get that off my mind. 

Real Impact

So many times we get confused about the nature of real impact in this world.  It seems that our culture is in a mad scramble for the top of the pile.  Notoriety. Fame.  Name recognition.  These are the common pursuits of driven people, both religious and secular. Yet we know all of this can evaporate overnight and ultimately fade so quickly from the radar screen of real significance. 

On the other hand, who can estimate the impact of a life that meaningfully touches just one soul for eternity?  How can we quantify the example of a godly father to his son, or a caring mother to her daughter?  How can we measure the influence of a Christ-like neighbor or work associate who really loves and cares for the folks around him?  Can we really comprehend the loving investment of a Sunday School teacher in the life of a lonely, fatherless child? 

The examples could go on endlessly. The point is that we cannot undermine the value of tuning in to the needs of just one person by becoming caught up in the grandiosity of the bigger and better pursuits in life. 

Our Ultimate Example

Think of Jesus, individually selecting twelve awfully common men to become recipients of His discipleship investment.  Remember His invitation to a single, stubby tax collector in a tree.  Don’t forget the obscure woman with the issue of blood, lost in a crowd of needy people, but singled out to receive heavenly healing power.  Consider His advocacy for a sinful, guilty adulteress about to be stoned by the religious hypocrites.  Feel the wonder of His determination – over and over again – to stop whatever He was doing to touch a broken body, to heed the call of a hurting parent whose child was suffering, and to engage in life-changing conversations with individuals beyond number.

To the world, He was just one person – but to one person, He became the world.  I am among the millions touched by His individual love – and so are you.  How appropriate that He would care so much that we should pass that love on to others – one soul at a time.

Our Necessary Focus

In college, I recorded a collection of songs with a friend.  We selected the songs for the cassette not because they were famous, but because each had a message that had deeply touched our lives.  One tune was originally recorded by Steve Chapman and his band and was titled, “If I Forget the Ones.”  Even now, I can recall every word by memory.  The verses went like this:

I’d love to stand upon a mountain

And look down upon the world and see

A thousand times a thousand people

And tell them all what Jesus did for me

I’d love to visit all the sick and aged

And tell them there’s new life to be

I’d love to visit all the kinds of prisons

And tell each one there He can set them free

And I’d love to travel on the oceans

To all the nations and the seas

And show the wanderer traveling in darkness

The light that shines upon the road for me

Then, the chorus so tenderly and carefully says:

Oh, but Lord, remind me daily of my neighbor

And those who may know me by my name

If I forget the ones and think of millions

It would be much more for me than eternal shame

Just one.  That’s all He asks us to focus on.  Who will it be today?  To the world you may just be one person – but to that person you may be the world.  In that instance, show them Jesus.  Their world will never be the same.

In Part One of this devotion we recognized that recent events surrounding the death and legacy of Michael Jackson gave us a glimpse of our seeming obsession with entertainment in this nation.

One of the observations we made is that many Americans worship those who entertain them.  While “worship” may seem a strong word, it is hard to deny the blatant adulation and willing sacrifice of money, time, and attention given to entertainment icons in our culture.

Many Americans Scorn Those Who Lead Them to Real Worship

The other side of this coin is the reality that many Americans also reject those who call them to true worship.  This is not to say that modern-day believers reject the feelings of contemporary songs or the influence of well-known Christian concert artists.  This part of our modern-day version of Christianity is “entertaining” and enjoyable.

What 21^st century religious folks don’t like is the legitimate and Spirit-filled voices that call them to repent of their idols and bow in absolute surrender and sacrifice before the claims and Lordship of Christ alone.  This produces discomfort, and the crowds soon gravitate to an easier, more entertaining feeding source in our land of many spiritual options.

The Apostle Paul’s words offer relevant commentary: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables (myths or entertaining stories)”  (2 Timothy 4:2-4 – NIV).

Our response should be that of Paul’s next verse: "But you should keep a clear mind in every situation.  Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord.  Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you” (2 Timothy 4:5 – NLT).

Many Christians Have Confused Worship With Entertainment

Our inundation with entertainment and our incorporation thereof into the very fabric of our lives produces a third danger.  Again, Tozer says it so very boldly:

“For centuries the church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was – a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability.  For this, she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle.  She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers.  So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured in the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven.  Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God.  Many churches these days have become little more than poor theatres where fifth-rate ‘producers’ peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency.  And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it."

In so many ways today we see the symptoms of the slow creep of entertainment into the fabric of our “worship.”  In many Sunday services it seems we are more eager to give a standing ovation in response to human talent than we are to do a face plant in response to the presence of God.  Our love for the thrill of visual stimulation seems to outweigh our hunger for the truth of solid teaching.  We can tend to get more excited about the personality of an amusing speaker than the challenge brought to our hearts by the clear, uncompromising teaching of God’s Word.

In Philippians 3, Paul spoke about those who polluted real Christian faith with a reliance on anything else.  In his time, it was circumcision.  Could entertainment be one of those things in our day?  In Paul’s day some proclaimed, “Sure, believe in Jesus – just be circumcised.” Today, our cry could be, “Yes, embrace Jesus – but keep it entertaining.”    In the face of this challenge, Paul wrote, “For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."

Today we need a revival of understanding about what it means to worship God in the Spirit, with or without any of the trappings of entertaining stimulation.  We need a resurgence of joy that is found in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ, not in the widgets of current worship trends.  We need a resolve to place no confidence in the things of the flesh or the things designed for the flesh.  Our great need is an authentic trust in, and passion for, the truth and presence of Jesus Christ as the singular centerpiece of our worship – and the source of all our satisfaction.

Having said all of this, I am very encouraged by what I see in so many places around our nation as pastors and churches are recognizing the failure of an entertainment-oriented approach to truly transform lives.  I see a growing desire among church leaders for a fresh focus on the power of genuine worship and a prayerful passion for the transforming presence of Christ experienced in prayer.  Even though the idols of entertainment loom large in our culture, the greater power of pure and passionate worship is gripping the hearts of a growing army of gospel-oriented souls, who refuse to bow before any other gods.  This is the “renewal army” that will lead the way to a fresh spiritual awakening.  By God’s grace, I want to be part of that company.

In case you did not notice, Michael Jackson died.  His was a sad and tragic story of a hugely famous, immensely talented, and extraordinarily wealthy cultural icon, whose life was very broken and confused.  I am sorry for his family and friends who are legitimately grieving his passing.

However, this e-devotion is not about Michael Jackson.  We have all had our fill of the debates about his music, his morality, and the nuances of his personal life.  I have no compulsion to weigh in on this.  This devotion is about our need to fully grasp this present snapshot of our culture that was captured by the events celebrating Jackson’s entertainment legacy.

Desperate for Entertaining Stimulation

The insightful and prophetic writer and pastor A.W. Tozer wrote about our society’s captivation with entertainment in a chapter titled, “The Great God Entertainment.”  His words say it better than mine do:

 “. . . the more a man has in his own heart the less he will require from the outside; excessive need for support from without is proof of the bankruptcy of the inner man. . . The present inordinate attachment to every form of entertainment is evidence that the inner life of modern man is in serious decline. The average man has no central core of moral assurance, no spring within his own breast, no inner strength to place him above the need for repeated psychological shots to give him the courage to go on living.  He has become a parasite on the world drawing his life from his environment, unable to live a day apart from the stimulation which society affords him."

He goes on to observe, “There are millions who cannot live without amusement; life without some form of entertainment for them is simply intolerable; they look forward to the blessed relief afforded by professional entertainers and other forms of psychological narcotics as a dope addict looks to his daily shot of heroin. Without them they could not summon courage to face existence."

Tozer’s words hardly seem like something written in the mid-50’s.  Think of what he might observe today in our media -dominated, celebrity-crazed, and technology-titillated society.  His article would surely become a book of many chapters.  Once again, we find ourselves worshiping at the altar of “The Great God Entertainment,” cheered on by money-hungry media as we bow in adulation before the latest celebrity icons.

Of course, Tozer quickly adds, as I would, that life is full of legitimate simple pleasures.  There is nothing wrong with harmless forms of entertainment that help us relax, stimulate our minds, and enable us to connect with others.  We need to find time for good reading, wholesome movies, stimulating hobbies, healthy recreation, and fun with friends and family.  If we are burning the candle at both ends we are not as bright as we think we are.

Again, Tozer clarifies, “The all-out devotion to entertainment as a major activity for which and by which men live is definitely something else again.  The abuse of a harmless thing is the essence of sin."

So what is the real concern over our abusive interest with entertainment as was so vividly pictured in the media’s madness over Jackson’s entertainment value in this society?

Many Americans Worship Those who Entertain Them

“Entertain me and I will worship you” almost seems to be the common cry of the empty-souled American.  “Worship” may seem a strong word but it is hard to deny the blatant adulation and willing sacrifice of money, time, and attention given to entertainment icons in our culture.

The Apostle Paul warned of these societal trends in 2 Timothy 3, where he wrote, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves. . .lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."

Tozer again speaks with insight and courage about this very issue when he writes, “It (entertainment) has been built into a multimillion dollar racket with greater power over human minds and human character than any other educational influence on earth.  And the ominous thing is that its power is almost exclusively evil, rotting the inner life, crowding out the long eternal thoughts which would fill the souls of men if they were worthy to entertain them.  And the whole thing has grown into a veritable religion which holds its devotees with strange fascination, and a religion, incidentally, against which it is now dangerous to speak."

Again, recent news stories show us the incredible influence entertainment holds over swooning fans that faint at the sight of a celebrity and spend exorbitant amounts of money for the latest sound, sight, or sensation dished out by famous and talented entertainers.

True Christ-followers must carefully discern this and resist the lure of excessive and unprofitable entertainment, remembering the first two commandments to worship the Lord God alone and refusing the lure of any kind of idolatry (Exodus 20:3-6).  The aged Apostle John appealed to us, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (I John 5: 21).

We should also remember to pray for those we know who are bowing before the god of Entertainment, as we demonstrate the life of Christ and pray for their eyes to be opened to the truth that can fill their souls with life-changing substance and set them free.   We also need to pray for those in the entertainment industry to experience an awakening of grace and truth.  I am grateful for people like Jim and Karen Covell who have decided to light a candle rather than curse the darkness as they lead the Hollywood Prayer Network, interceding for those in the entertainment industry to turn to Christ (check it out at www.hollywoodprayernetwork.org).