Why Church is Not Entertainment

HT: Rev Aaron Koch

Consider the above plea in context with all of the fluff in this video (and frankly, you'll see a lot of the same fluff in many LCMS contexts) over and against traditionalism in doctrine, preaching, and liturgy.

Our pastors in the LCMS were, nearly to a man, trained at one or the other of two of the finest Lutheran seminaries in the world (by brilliant theologians, preachers, and men of pastoral hearts). How can these men who have been so well trained see their calling as to be some kind of entertainers? How can our district and synodical officials seek to move us in the direction of becoming contemporary clowns and parodies of real pastors?

We pastors would do well to soberly remember that each and every time we enter a pulpit or ascend an altar that the sermon we preach and the sacrament we administer may well be the last of someone's life in this fallen world.

There is indeed a time for clowning around - but the Divine Service isn't that time.