Counterfeit Christianity

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from The Pitt News, November 11, 2004, with the headline, “In the Blood Tattoos and Piercings—Anyone can see a historical drama, eat food, and listen to music in the same venue on the south side every Sunday. The crowd comprises all walks of life—tattooed punks, middle-aged couples, bi-racial children—who meet under one roof to laugh, sing, and pray.

At the Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community, the scene does not resemble most churches. There is no formally dressed pastor, no robed choir, no uniformed worshipers, and no ornate altar. In fact, this weekly assembly seeks to redefine spiritual congregation in a new way using arty techniques to communicate with the youth, the counter culture, and anyone interested in Christian worship.

The End Ministry, a community of believers and worshipers, has transformed the Body Bazaar on East Carson Street to fit their new idea. They house a tattoo parlor under the same roof used for their Bible study. Melissa Whitman, one of the six people younger than 25 who founded The End Ministry, chose to keep the tattoo shop and rename it In the Blood Tattoos and Piercings while also adding the new dimension of Bible study.

‘We are seeing not only people who don’t know God come in, but kids that do know God that don’t feel accepted because of the way they look,’ she said, adding that they wanted to reach the counter culture crowd. Although the format of the servers adheres to the formula of a basic Christian program, The Hot Metal Bridge puts a focus on stage drama to show the problems that believers and nonbelievers face in a contemporary Christian context. In other words, Hot Metal Bridge leaders do not mold their services around the traditional Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, or other denominational worship service. ‘It’s a great combining of denominations,’ said Bret Jackson, a junior studying pharmacy at Pitt.”

Tom: The other evening I turned on TBN, and I was watching a program, and this last idea that it’s a great combining of denominations—it was a youth-oriented band—electric guitars, and all that up there—going into worship songs. They had kids coming up, dancing on the stage, and one of the songs and one of the prayers and the prayers and the songs usually end up being screams. I mean it’s really…you know, kind of, sort—it really is jarring!

Dave: As though God is hard of hearing, huh?

Tom: Right. And one of the young girls who was praying was screaming out, “Let the walls come down, let the walls come down.” The whole idea, not only for young people, but for any adults watching, “We want to break down denominations, we want to all be one, and we want to worship in a way culturally that appeals to not just youth but to young people 18 to 30,” and so on.

Dave: Well, Tom, what you said so far about TBN doesn’t sound quite as bad as this. I mean, if people want to dance—David danced before the Lord; go ahead and dance. And electric guitars, you know, I don’t know whether they will have those in heaven or not—I don’t think so. But I think this is getting a little bit beyond that, and I think you probably didn’t describe the bizarre behavior of some of the people…

Tom: No, I could tell you…

Dave: …not only screaming…

Tom: It’s similar to this.

Dave: …but like they’re out of their minds, and it’s not self-control—which we didn’t talk about in our first segment—but there is such a thing as self control, and they’re out of control, these people. And I have a simple rule: you had two rules in your household, two laws; I have a simple rule. If it wouldn’t be appropriate in the presence of God and the holy angels before the throne of God, then you shouldn’t do it. Are we trying to please God, are we offering worship to Him, and are we sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit? Or are we trying to entertain ourselves and work ourselves up into some ecstatic or frenzied state? And I think the latter describes most of such services. But, here we are—you know, the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and I don’t think you should disfigure the body. God made us in His image. Now, it’s not a physical image, so I don’t think you could get God’s blessing on tattoos. What do you want to do, put across your chest, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” or something—tattoo that? I don’t think that’s the kind of advertisement God wants. The piercings—I don’t believe that that’s biblical; that’s mutilating, actually, the body that God gave us.

But what does that have to do with worship? Are we going to try to bring these people into fellowship with God and pleasing Him, or are we going to just let their desires run wild so they can do anything they want, but God has to accept it? We’re back to unconditional love, tolerance, and so forth that we were talking about before. I don’t think this would have gone over well with the early church, with Paul, with Jesus. You know, if this is such good stuff, why didn’t Jesus get involved in this? In fact, Jesus said, “I have called you out of the world.” So, these people are acting like the world in order to attract the world, to somehow—then we’re going to bring them to God just the way they are, there’s going to be no change, no transformation.

I have talked to thousands of people, Tom, who give me their testimony—what happened? They became new creatures in Christ Jesus. They were transformed; their desires conformed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, do you think He would get tattooed? You think He would have nose rings and so forth, all of this piercing…you think He would act in a bizarre manner, and go for this? I don’t think so. But if these people think so, then they should give us some Scripture, and they should tell us that the world is led by the Holy Spirit to act in the bizarre way that it does, and therefore, they are leading the church, and we’re going to follow along.

It’s exactly what I quoted, Bruce Narramore: “Oh, it was the world, it was humanistic psychologists who told us about self-love and self-esteem and so forth.” I don’t think that’s the place you go to find truth. But these people are imitating the world in the name of Jesus. And, Tom, I don’t think it rings true to the conscience or to Scripture.

Tom: Yeah. Dave, also they are trying to redeem the culture and they are making things up about the culture that are right out of the pit, that are not redeemable.

Dave: Well, how do you redeem a culture by acting like it? [chuckles]