27 April 2015

No phones, no selfie sticks, and a dress code - should our churches look more like major sporting events?

A few weeks ago I asked if golf was more sacred than church when the Augusta National banned cell phones at the golf tournament. 

Three years ago I asked a similar question about tennis when Wimbledon introduced a dress code for its members. Today I learned that Wimbledon has now joined the growing list of places where selfie sticks - a.k.a. wands of idiocy or narcisticks - are banned:
The ticketholders' guide said: "In common with many other major sports and entertainment events and cultural attractions, the championships will not allow selfie sticks into the grounds."

The devices have already been banned at some museums and sports grounds.

A spokesman for the club told the Sunday Times the move was brought in partly because of the "nuisance value" but "primarily so it doesn't interfere with spectators' enjoyment" [more].
I've long been a critic of the great devotion that so many people give to sports. How many of your friends can rattle off the roster of their favorite team going back decades, but cannot list even the Twelve Apostles? It isn't so much that sports are bad, but they people too much importance on them and devote too little to what really matters. It won't matter in eternity who won, say, the World Series in 1953, to pick a random year, but it might help to be able to recognize the brother of Simon Peter.

Even so, I'm beginning to wish more of our churches looked more like a major sporting event, at least those seeking to bring back a sense of public decency and respect for others, if not for God.

Before anyone objects to churches instituting dress codes and claiming that Jesus only cares that I'm there, I've answered these objections before: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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