Worship this instead? - updated 4:07 PM; 5:52 PM

I grew up (was reared) in a traditional Southern Baptist background. There were sins a-plenty, but drinking alcohol was obviously the worst.

In hindsight "lesser sins" like anger, gossip, self-righteousness, worrying and idolatry were somehow swept aside or completely overlooked ... sins like those weren't what folks were used to hearing about in church.

Seems like committees and conditional requirements were in; Christ's unqualified love, patience and forgiveness were out.

Whoa, did I say idolatry? I did, but not because our church sold gold cow statues in the vestibule, and not because members drove around in cars with bobbing apostle statues glued to their dashboards.

But it seemed pretty clear that "church" had to be THIS WAY, with Sunday School starting at 9:15 and not any other way. THIS WAY meant stained glass windows, a steeple, organ preludes from the 1700s and an Invocation and Doxology starting each service... and of course a dress code with suits and ties was an unspoken mandatory requirement to reveal how God had materially rewarded each person according to their faith.

When it came to reading from scripture, let thyself possess King Jimmy in great abundance henceforth ... because "Jesus himself talked that way."

Only no, he didn't. Maybe the word I shoulda used instead of idolatry is I-dolatry: only Our Way is The Way church is done correctly because we like it That WAY. You see.

The church where I'm a member now does not have stained glass windows, a choir or a steeple (maybe they spend every penny trying to reach people for Christ instead).

There is no Sunday School, no church bulletin, no business meetings and no Christmas Contata. There are no deacons, no hymnals and there are no pews. We don't do "revivals" every third quarter either.

I can't recall our pastor ever teaching from the King James translation but I do remember that every Sunday he does teach about Jesus, Jesus and Jesus.

Yet critics of our church claim the message is somehow watered-down because it's presented in a comprehensible, clear and relevant way. Visitors from traditional church backgrounds may walk away thinking, "But there's no pulpit, no baptistry and no paintings of Jesus ... so I just don't feel the same way that I do in a real church."

I gotta ask, Do you think a church is just an ugly building unless it's got all the traditional symbols and adornments? Does having a building with a steeple or stained glass windows make a statement to the world about your church's adherence to sharing the Gospel?

Or is a building's steeple supposed to alert nearby sinners to be aware and take notice of the congregation's holiness?

Is how satisfied you feel as a member when you settle down in the pew with your name attached to it really what's important about your church?

Are you more focused on how your church satisfies your expectations than you are with how your church is satisfying Christ's?

Some critics think "breaking the rules" to reach people means somehow wandering away from scripture and pussyfooting around the message. That's probably what the Pharisees thought when Jesus turned water into wine, fed the 5000 and told Peter to pull the coin from the fish's mouth to pay the temple tax [Mathhew 17:24].

No one had ever pulled stunts like that before, and the Pharisees found fault even when Christ performed miracles to prove he was the messiah. In fact, the traditionalists tried to mis-use Christ's miracles against him for breaking their rules concerning the Sabbath.

Because Christ wasn't doing exactly what they were accustomed to seeing.

Christ's creativity drove the traditionalists nuts because they'd never seen anything like it ... and because they had no rules to tell them what Christ was all about or what they should think.

Even Jesus's own family sometimes thought he was nuts [Mark 3:20-21], and the apostle Paul described himself as "out of his mind" for the sake of God [2 Corinthians 5:13].

Is your pastor out of his mind for the sake of God? Or is he committed to "not rocking the boat" and keeping the big contributors happy?

Is your church more focused on Wednesday night dress codes, what videos are acceptable for viewing and which candidate to vote for in this year's election .. instead of reaching unsaved people with the Gospel?

Here's the problem with being a traditionalist: It's too easy to substitute rules and sentimental traditions for Faith and ignore that we worship the resurrected, living Christ.

Church rules and traditions too easily supercede faith, and stagnant self-righteousness puts Christ in second place behind I-dolatry.

Traditions are easy and comforting in a crisis... but faith takes prayer, submission and hard work.

Finding comfort in rules, traditions, boundaries and legalisms means staying indoors on Sunday mornings, hiding in holy huddles behind hymns and stained glass windows, building a reliance on archectectural entrapments and focusing on what's comfortable and familiar instead of rolling up our sleeves, bearing witness to the living God, living life as followers of Christ and professing our faith 24x7.

Christ told the apostles to tell others about him (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21).

He didn't say "Put me in a box till Sunday morning and worship me according to what you find familiar and comforting" or to "Make me into an idol of your convenience, self-righteousness and superiority over sinners."

We profess faith in a Living God, not faith in rules and empty traditions constructed to separate believers from the very people Christ commissioned us to reach.