My wife is reading the book Forgotten God:  Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit, by Francis Chan with Danae Yankoski.  In it, the author discusses the lack of attention to the Holy Spirit by Evangelical preachers and churches.  There was one quote, in particular, that she read to me and caught my attention.  And it was on the second page of the book.

From the Introduction:

“The benchmark of success in church services has become more about attendance than the movement of the Holy Spirit.  The ‘entertainment’ model of church was largely adopted in the 1980s and ‘90s, and while it alleviated some of our boredom for a couple of hours a week, it filled our churches with self-focused consumers rather than self-sacrificing servants attuned to the Holy Spirit.”

I may have to borrow this book from her when she’s finished.  Consumers…that’s a word to think about the next time you’re in church.  And that’s not referring to the consumption of the Lord’s Supper, or taking in the Gospel of Christ.

I find this quote especially intriguing after reading a post over at Gottesdienst Online, entitled “Bait and Switch.”  The link in the post is something to take a look at, if you listened to Contemporary Christian Music in the ’80s and 90’s.