Sadness (the character) literally welcomed you if you attended the Inside Out theme at The Rock Church. The images provided by their Facebook page are a perfect unintended metaphor for what is going on.

So what’s the big deal? This wasn’t an extra curricular outreach. The Rock Church was doing this during their official Sunday worship service. They are unintentionally confessing many things by greeting people at the door with movie themes.

They confess that entertainment, movies, movie characters, and not Jesus are to be on your mind as you enter church. What greets you at the door? What is your attention drawn toward?

Jesus wouldn't be the first thing on my mind if I viewed the above at the door of my church for Sunday worship.

I like Star Wars, but should my church be drawing my attention to Stormtroopers before an official church worship service?

This literally does church inside out. Is our “product” so lame that we think gimmicks are needed to make it appealing? Is the problem that we view the gospel as a product that needs pop culture references to make it appear relevant?

If you attend a church like this, or are involved in leadership making use of these gimmicks, please repent of this nonsense. Our message is the power of God unto salvation. God works through word and sacrament, he doesn’t need manmade religious gimmicks, which are actually neo-traditions of men if you think about it. If you’re looking for something that is actually dry, cold, manmade tradition, then movie theme gimmicks are it. Go back to focussing on the gospel, that is God’s message and God’s power.