Today I worshipped at Mecklenburg Community Church. My love had a headache, so I took the three kids out to church. This church has been on the list since the beginning of this spiritual pivot, but Meck (the church's colloquial name) only had its post-COVID opening a couple of weeks ago. Meck was closed between March, 2020 until June, 2021. Several members of Meck joined Freedom House during the time that Meck was shut, so we heard about the church from multiple people who used to go here.
Meck is a big church and it has been around for a long time, by the standards of Charlotte's mega-church ecosystem. They opened in 1992. At one point in time, Meck was the fastest growing congregation in the US. While other churches have since leap-frogged Meck on that metric, this clearly remains a healthy church. Meck has two services in an auditorium that holds about a thousand people.
When we drove up, I saw a huge amount of activity around the property and got a glimpse of a modern building. We were routed to multiple people who guided us through Meck's massive parking lot. We eventually got to the inside of the church and seated ourselves in the dark auditorium.
You can see how great the music was. It was quite solid and that high quality music emanated from a mere three people on the stage! Meck clearly has its musical act together.
During the musical part of the service, I took note of the fact that I now find it odd to spend time in a place where no one is using their bodies in the act of worship. Meck was definitely one of those places. The sanctuary was filled with a crowd of people who were rather reserved as the band sang about adoration, devotion and the lavish love of God. I noticed that I was less reserved than the norm and could not help but show it at one point. During one of the songs, I stood up and lifted my hands up. For that song, I was the only person in the place who was not sitting down.
But, you know... sometimes you just have to show your divine gratitude.
James Emery White came onto the stage to give his sermon after the music was over [link to more about him]. It was great to see this man after hearing a good bit about him over the years.
Of note is that Pastor White was the head of Gordon-Conwell Seminary, a well-known and prestigious seminary that has its roots in New England and now has a presence in Charlotte. Additionally, Pastor White is the author of several books, including The Rise of the Nones, Serious Times and A Search for the Spiritual, After "I Believe", Meet Generation Z and Christianity for Non-Christians.
In addition to the accomplishments he has achieved in growing Meck and writing several books, Pastor White has more recently gained some notoriety by pushing back against resistance to COVID-19 vaccination. Here is a [link] to an article entitled "White Evangelical Resistance" that he wrote on Crosswalk a couple of months ago.
While this article certainly did not endear him to opponents of his perspective, it appears to have done no damage to his congregation, as it is well-attended and filled with white evangelicals.
These are interesting times we live in, there is no question.
Pastor White's sermon was from James, a New Testament book written by Yeshua's brother (if hearing that Jesus had siblings surprises you, read [this]). The sermon was the first in a five-part series entitled "Fleshed Out."
The verses in James are important and they spell out several precepts very succinctly:
Testing of Your Faith
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Hearing and Doing the Word
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:2-25)
Pastor White used the compelling words as imagery of someone who has been driven to their knees by the battering and suffering and deprivation that can come from life... only to put one knee down while praying. His point was that only when we have a full commitment to our faith can we find the full redemption and new life that comes from the Lamb of God.
My experience matches this idea. There are no areas where God is not active in claiming each human life. In actuality, God is involved in claiming that which is already His, namely our personal totality. We are already of and from God, so if we insist on maintaining a degree of autonomy that leaves us unyielded to God, we will likely not know the joy that can come from following God.
Instead, it may be the case that we will only suffer and start to consider it "normal."
In the verses, a person who is subject to the duality of obedience and disobedience to God is described as a "double-minded man." Such double-mindedness is something that is a facet of every searching heart, but we need not think of it as a resting place. We will all struggle with such double-mindedness, until such time that it becomes untenable to do so.
As soon as Pastor White finished his sermon, the lights came on and everyone walked out of the church. It was at exactly the one hour mark. It felt abrupt, to be candid.
The whole service was exactly one hour. I took note of the fact that this seems short to me now. Ninety minutes is a more rich experience.
The visit to Meck was a perfectly contained, timed-to-the-minute and somewhat less passionate church experience - that is how I would describe the visit to Meck.
James Emery White is a brilliant man and a real asset to Charlotte and the believing community throughout the world. His church is a good place and I enjoyed this visit.
Thanks to Mecklenburg Community Church for a nice visit.
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