There's a church in our area that puts up signs advertising themselves as a come-as-you-are church especially for people with tattoos, I guess (like the guy in the ad's picture). It causes me to start pondering questions which may not really need to be answered, but just float around in my head anyway. Like do tattooed people really need a separate church? Is this a form of segregation? Isn't the church a body made up of all different kinds of parts?
I must confess I haven't been to this particular church in question, but I've been to different kinds of churches... contemporary, liturgical, charismatic, etc. I realize this particular church is trying to emphasize that God is approachable and loving, both of which are true. But God is very multi-faceted, and I wonder if, in our attempt to know Him and share His love with others, we too easily lose sight of much of His complexity that makes Him so mysterious and beautiful to begin with. Yes, God is approachable, but He is also holy and to be feared/honored/respected. Does that aspect get left out when we try to make God so "cool"? He is like the proverbial elephant described by the blind men, each of whom get to touch a different part of it, and they all describe the elephant in completely different ways, though it is one creature. (Just to be clear, this is not a valid example for arguing that all religions are equally true, it's all the same god, blah, blah, blah...)
Also, I love contemporary worship music, but I wonder at what point in church does it cross the line to become too much like entertainment (a concert or performance)? Perhaps that just depends on how individuals receive it personally... whether it brings them really into worship or creates distance for them and I guess they should go elsewhere. Of course, no church is perfect because we are not perfect, but sometimes I just wonder about things.
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