The Biggest Church I Attended
In Nashville, which some call the buckle of the Bible Belt, no one will ever argue that God is big business. In addition to being the headquarters for several denominations, Christian book and Bible publishing, and of course, the Christian music industry, Nashville boasts over 1,000 churches. It’s nearly impossible to go anywhere and not pass the biggest church you’ve ever seen.
Step inside one of these behemoths and you’ll be enthusiastically greeted, pointed to the coffee bar, and then welcomed into the sanctuary with music done by some of the town’s best. Please visit the gift shop on the way out where you can purchase the latest book by Pastor Bob, or pick up the new CD from the worship band, led by young hipsters with tattoos and hair gel! It really can be quite overwhelming. I’m guessing you have one of these type of churches near you, as well.
I heard someone say that some pastors in Nashville are just frustrated rock stars. They wanted to be a rock star, but it didn’t work out, so they become a pastor instead, reaping the benefits of having an audience and influence.
I don’t ever want to be a frustrated anything. I’m grateful to finally be working on that.
One thing I don’t understand is why so many people would move to Nashville to start a church in the city where there are more churches per capita than most places in the country.
Regardless of what I think, God still does what God wants to do. Big or small church. Hair gel and smoke machines, or simple crosses and prayer books. No one is doing it completely right.
We are all broken and messed up. We are all just trying to find our way. Trying to do the very best we can with what we’ve been given. I’ve heard my share of input from people who think I should say or do things a certain way...you know, the right way? It all kind of makes me long for the good old days when having a simple faith in God was all I knew.
The Good Old Days
One of the biggest churches I ever went to was on TV. When I was young, I would sit in my beanbag chair in front of the television and watch Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power” and be transfixed. He was an unassuming and approachable, charismatic and positive-thinking preacher—kind of like if Mister Rogers ran a church. He spoke in a way that my elementary school mind could process, and millions of others, as well, since his show was the most popular hour-long church service in the world.
At its peak the church had over 10,000 members. Schuller was the Joel Osteen of his day. He wrote dozens of books, selling millions with titles like Way To The Good Life (1963), Move Ahead With Possibility Thinking (1967), Self-Love (1975), You Can Be The Person You Want To Be (1976), Toughminded Faith for Tenderhearted People (1979), Self-Esteem: The New Reformation (1982), Tough Times Never Last but Tough People Do (1983), Living Positively One Day At A Time (1986).
Schuller opened Garden Grove Community Church in 1955 at an old drive-in movie theater, allowing people to sit in their cars and hear the sermon. He then built a facility where he could preach to 500 cars as well as people sitting inside the church. This eventually turned into the famous Crystal Cathedral, which is everything you’d think it’d be—a grand and glorious testimony to the goodness of God. And I helped build it.
I would regularly send in a portion of my allowance to support his ministry, and in return he’d send me thank you gifts, such as a small ivory cross which was my favorite. It was a great symbol of my belief and a connection to something bigger than myself.
It’s hard to know exactly what I was connecting with during those moments in my beanbag chair. He was unquestionably planting seeds of hope and optimism in my tiny brain, evidence of which can be seen in my music and writing today. He told me that whatever hardship comes your way that it’s possible to make it through without becoming a victim of it. He spoke to the hurting, the struggling, the lonely, those wondering if life was ever going to get better. For some reason, even at that young age—when I felt so different from other kids my age, oftentimes getting beaten up for it—I desired to know that life does get better, that hope is real, and that God loves me. Robert Schuller convinced me of this.
So when my Grandma Bob demonstrated her unbelievable strength in dealing with my Grandpa Kenny’s Alzheimer’s disease, I got it. I knew what she was doing, and I wanted to do that too. She turned her struggle into service to others, gathering other spouses dealing with similar issues and sharing help and hope. She taught me never to give up when times get rough. She encouraged me to not let the bullies win…telling me the worms only eat the best fruit. And while she felt, at times, like a fish on a hook—trapped—if she struggled hard enough it might be possible to break loose.
I don’t understand why I had a fascination with God at such an early age, much less a TV preacher. But I do know for certain that from a very young age, I had the feeling that things could be better than they were. That relationships don’t have to be fractured. Dreams don’t have to be squashed. And that somehow, somehow in the magic seeds of faith, I could catch a glimpse of this better life—a life without pain or hurt or separation or frustration. Robert Schuller, as well as my Grandma Bob, confirmed that for me, and then helped me put words on it.
I still believe things can be better than they are—even though I’m constantly tempted to focus on the way things are broken. How it all hurts more than I think it should. But to me, the fact that I even feel this way, is proof that there is something inside of me that knows what unbroken feels like. Something I believe was placed inside of me from a very early age.
Here’s to HOPE with or without a big church. God is bigger than all of them. 😊