If Jesus Could Value (parts of) Judaism, then Can I Value (parts of) Evangelicalism?

Recently I went to a worship service at an evangelical mega church here in town. I was rather shocked at my own internal reaction.

One Sunday morning back in December I craved the experience of singing Christmas hymns... in church.

Up until we closed down our church in late 2022, I had gone a solid 25 years of singing, producing, and leading Christmas music.

It was my fav time of year and fav kind of songs.

But the past two seasons of Advent? They mostly came and went without so much as an Oh Holy Night.

So on this particular Sunday morning in question I decided to head to a buddy of mine’s church (that I hadn’t yet attended) so that I could both A) support him, and 2) sing some Christmas music! Unfortunately, upon arrival, I learned that he was sick and wasn’t going to be there. I stuck around anyway, still looking forward to singing Christmas music.

To my great disappointment the worship band didn’t do one stinking Christmas song. They opted for generic, run of the mill worship-y congregational songs instead of, oh I don’t know, Angels We Have Heard on High, or even Joy to the World. 😤

Bummed—but not yet deterred—I slipped out at halftime (aka, the greeting portion of the service) because I figured I could still make it down the street to a service at The Rock—one of San Diego’s most well known evangelical megachurches.

Surely, I thought to myself, a church this big and this popular will sing Christmas songs, right?!

Wrong. Yet again I was subjected to basic, vanilla, loud rock band style worship-y songs.

No Silent Night.
No O Come Come Emmanuel.

Epic fail.

Dejected, I at least figured I’d sit through the message and finally hear the uber popular Miles McPherson. The lights went down, I turned to a screen near me to watch a quick intro video, then the video transitioned to a shot of the stage where Miles emerged.

I turn my head from looking at the screen to looking at center stage and see… nothing. Turns out, they were just replaying a message from earlier in the day. Miles wasn’t actually preaching live. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Well I certainly didn’t drag my butt across town to watch TV for 30 minutes, so for the second time in just under an hour I slipped out of yet another church service. 🫣

What a fun morning.

Surprised at How I Felt During Worship

BUT… I have a point here (other than just telling you that story).

There was a moment during the service at The Rock when the band was in high gear, the lights were flashing, the energy in the room was poppin’, and I looked all around me and saw a couple thousand people really engaged in the moment.

It’s been a while since I’ve really lost myself in a worship service, but I remember the feeling well. As I watched people—eyes closed, swaying, hands raised… you know the scene—two thoughts crossed my mind.

1. This whole thing is really not where I’m at anymore. Theologically the songs they were singing were littered with lyrics that I couldn’t sing in good conscience even if I tried. And of course, the church itself is (in some regards) pretty opposite to my current value system—especially as it relates to LGBTQ inclusion, of which The Rock is very much not.

2. Even though this isn’t my scene, I’m really really happy for the people in the room for whom this is a meaningful, inspiring experience.

Wait… 😳

That second thought surprised me.

In the past, as I’ve visited (or even just thought about) evangelical megachurches, it’s been accompanied by, well, TBH a bit of eye rolling 🙄. Sometimes even disgust 🤢.

I’ve often noticed that I can look down upon those who (in my estimation) are “still” mired in evangelical-ly ladened religious ideologies. I’m not proud of it, but I can get arrogant and high-minded, convinced that I’m more evolved or enlightened or whatever.

Which, to state the obvious: if you think you’re more evolved and enlightened than others, then that’s a pretty surefire sign that you’re probably not.

But as I sat there on that Sunday morning, bummed at going 0 for 2 in my search for Christmas music, I let myself fill with appreciation and gratitude for what I was witnessing. I could feel how much this space to meant to so many people. Sure, it didn’t mean a whole lot to me (anymore), but that suddenly was far less interesting.

Instead, I felt great appreciation for, and valued how, churches like this create opportunities for people to pursue God (in whatever way they currently need to or try to).

And that leads me to the final thing I want to share from this story from Mark 1:21-27.

Jesus Values the Evil Spirit

If you forgot (or are new here), here’s the passage again:

21 Jesus and his followers went into Capernaum. Immediately on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and started teaching.

22 The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts.

23 Suddenly, there in the synagogue, a person with an evil spirit screamed,

24 "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God."

25 " Silence!" Jesus said, speaking harshly (epitimao) to the demon. " Come out of him!"

26 The unclean spirit shook him and screamed, then it came out.

27 Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, "What's this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands unclean spirits and they obey him!"

28 Right away the news about him spread throughout the entire region of Galilee.

In this series we’ve talked about:

1. How Jesus’ first public act was a sermon, and why it blew people’s minds

2. Why I propose the “unclean” spirit in the story is more akin to an ideology than a demon

3. What the word “rebuke” means in this story

4. Five suggestions for how to rebuke better

5. Why the “demons” (spirit of uncleanliness) feared Jesus

If in part five I shared why I think the unclean spirits feared Jesus, then today I’ll respond to the question,

“Why did Jesus value/respect/honor the unclean spirit?”

Because recall, the word for rebuke (epitimao), means that you’ve ascribed something worth or value and then speak your truth to it.

So if Jesus “rebuked” the spirit that embodied the man in verse 24 above, how do we make sense of the implication that he, what, valued it??

Weird, right?

Well no, not really. And here’s why…