What Happened to Church 101?

We used to go to church expecting three points and a poem. And that would follow some girly music and a collection plate being passed by deacons wearing sport coats and ties. The announcements might bring different voices and their people, often costumed, to the main microphone or pulpit.

By the time the sermon was to start, we’d have in front of us a basic outline with fill-in-the-blanks—to make sure we GOT the three points. And if one happened to daydream, he/she could always look at the outline held by the person either to the left or right and belatedly fill in the blanks.

Church 101—freshman level—everyone got it. Everyone passed. In fact, the answers were on the screen at the front. No adult, teen or child was left behind.

This routine was so predictable that one could place a bet on the actual sequence with a 97% odds of winning. Once we got home—the sermon outline would be trashed, and we would check Church off our Sunday To-Do List.

Then we found Maryville Vineyard, and our brains felt like we accidentally got into Church 495. What happened here? Is this what we signed up for? Thinking . . . did I really hear THAT? What’s with this musical climate? Be quiet and meditate on Scripture on the big screen. Stand up and hear the drums and bass guitar blow out your eardrums . . . with strange words and stranger yet tunes. Is that what they call melody now-a-days? OK. We needed to upgrade our repertoire of church/Christian music.

Then there might be some familiar words sung in a revved-up way—getting us ready for communion. Then comes some exercise—walking to a communion station—and then the memory challenge—where was I sitting? Reflection time . . . oh, yes. Thank you, Lord. So glad to do this every Sunday. Really . . . sincerely. We like this . . . a lot!

The announcements are always the same face and voice, but they’re not for people who don’t text and don’t understand W-O-O-T. It all must click with those 40 and younger. In fact, that’s most of the congregation. Oops, I mean crowd or group. And The Box . . . no passing of . . . anything. Just put IT in on your way out. No one even stands at the door to remind you. You’re on your own here too. Definitely NOT Church 101, and we definitely like it.

But the pastor . . . Pastor, Aaron McCarter . . . hold onto your seat! He’s a tall dude . . . cowboy? Or is it just the jeans. He sits down in front of his computer and proceeds to talk to us, after showing us shocking images (Jesus with His lips censored!) on that Scripture/songs/WOOT screen.

And the sermon . . . we listen . . . hard . . . we take notes. How can he know all of this? And Church 495—senior level—really begins. It’s like a lecture. You’re on your own to get the points. Oh, he tells us, once, but it’s way above Church 101. Church 495 isn’t for sissies. It’s ADULTS-ONLY. And Sunday after Sunday we’re stretched, poked, prodded to learn more—to understand more about Jesus.

Maryville Vineyard doesn’t censor Jesus. No. We leave with new insights/understanding of Scripture that we’ve previously read and taken at face value, but never before stretched, poked or prodded. It “forces its way in.” It’s “disruptive and it changes everything.” It’s “simple, but not easy,” says Pastor Aaron. This message of Jesus requires us “to take ourselves out of the center of our lives,” and “to put God on center stage. We exist to applaud God; we are to stop performing.”

And while these concepts buzz around our head, the tall dude in the jeans talks passionately, quietly as if this were as routine as singing Jesus Loves Me. He wants people from Church 101 to understand Church 495. And we do . . . once it all settles in our brain. We do remember handing the stage and the leading role to God. But our minds have been stretched. Maybe this is really a graduate-level course.

And Pastor Aaron is right—it doesn’t count what we’ve already done. It’s all about NOW. Who’s on center stage in my life now?

And I feel the rush. I’ve learned something. I understand Scripture like never before. Maybe I do belong in Church 495. I don’t even want to think about Church 101. That was a hundred years ago, wasn’t it?