Church Visit Goes Poorly

I visited a new church today. The pastor talked about people coming to his church and then going home and rating them on the Internet. Well, here I am.

I went to Kingdom Revival Church in Ocala. It occupies a strange building which may have been a movie theater at one time. It’s set up very well for a church. Lots of room, a stage, and real auditorium seating that rises toward the back.

I had high hopes for this place, because it looked good on Youtube. They believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and they’re serious about praise and worship.

Today’s experience was odd. The music team did a good job, considering the fact that there were no musicians. There were instruments set up, but no one played. All they had were vocalists. Don’t know what that’s all about.

The music was a little too loud, but it wasn’t clearly unsafe. I decided not to use my ear plugs.

The music people praised and prayed and did all they could to help us enter the presence of God, and then the pastor came out. He got on his knees in the middle of the stage and called out to God and so on.

It was nice to see Christians trying to get close to God instead of putting on a slick show that didn’t help anyone.

Things looked pretty good, but when the pastor started talking, it was obvious that something was restraining the presence of God. The air felt dry. I felt like the pastor was talking to himself or trying to wake people up. Even though some people were hollering in response, I felt like the message was bouncing off the congregation.

For some reason, I got the feeling that hypocrisy was walling them off from God. I don’t know any of the people in the church, and they didn’t do anything that looked out of the ordinary, but I kept feeling that hypocrisy was their problem.

Maybe that’s correct. The church is mostly black. I am a veteran of minority churches, and hypocrisy is a huge issue they face.

White people do not like church. A white person who has no use for God will generally stay home on Sundays. There isn’t much else at church that we like. Minorities, especially black people, are different. Black people love church whether they like God or not. It’s a place to socialize. Black strippers to go church. Black drug dealers go to church. Black people who aren’t Christians go to church. I can name names. I’m not making it up.

Beyonce, Luther Campbell, and Kanye West are way out of God’s will, but they go to church. Lady Gaga, Eminem, and Justin Timberlake probably don’t go. Just a guess.

I’ve known black people who went to church and even took on major roles in spite of a total lack of interest in knowing God. Some preached. Some pretended to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit. At home, and even in the parking lot, they were different people. They lived pretty much like people who didn’t go to church.

Maybe Kingdom Revival Church has this problem. The pastor might not be aware of it, because he wouldn’t get to see the way the hypocrites behaved out of his presence. He would only get to see the acting and fawning.

Sure, white churches have hypocrites, but black churches expect and tolerate hypocrisy. They’re used to it. They know they have a lot of people who are just playing roles, and they live with it.

Whatever the fundamental cause was, God’s presence was limited, and I don’t want to deal with that every time I visit. I probably won’t go back.