I recently visited the Vineyard on two separate occasions. One was for a funeral, which I went on my own, and sat with one of my best friends, and left early due to another appointment. The other was for Good Friday (Good News doesn't do a Good Friday service), and I brought along my love and sat with the same aforementioned friend.
It felt weird. It reminded me of the first few years I visited St. Luke's after I had officially declared it in my heart "not my church." The first visit, due to my arriving late and leaving early, I didn't stick around to socialize. Also, due to it being a funeral, there were a lot of people that were non-members who were there for the deceased. But the second time, with my love in tow, was both heartwarming and disappointing. It was heartwarming because, of the 8 or so people I actually talked with (whether briefly or for a few extended moments), they all were glad to see me. It was disappointing, though, because I saw how the Vineyard truly had slipped.
Back in January one of the lay persons at my church (Good News, not Vineyard) preached a convicting sermon (see the post here). I agree with all of it now, but there was a part of it that was triggering to hear at the moment when I heard it. The part of that sermon had to do with contemplative prayer (to forewarn you, I neglected to note it in my sermon notes, but I do distinctly remember the preacher talking about it). What bugged me at the time was that it sounded like the preacher was painting it black-and-white, like spiritual prayer disciplines (which "contemplative prayer" would fall under) were all bad and devious. Even before Vineyard's change in leadership, contemplative prayer and similar disciplines were being used, and I found that these things had enriched my faith, and not led me astray.
However, at the Good Friday service, it seemed that Scripture, and the importance of Jesus' death and crucifixion, were not front-and-center. My love, who was there with me, even pointed out the complete lack of salvation message at such a service. Although a few Bible verses and passages were used, the focus of the service was on two questions to, well, contemplate. Instead of honing in on the message of the cross, it was rather about how we knew God loved us and how He wants us to love others. Not bad questions -- rather, they were good questions in and of themselves -- but, the prioritization of these questions were misplaced. We commemorate Good Friday for a reason: to remember Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for us! And, unfortunately, the Vineyard missed the mark. I realized during the aforementioned sermon at my church back in January, that this was what the preacher was talking about!
If one's faith (or one's church focus) is based primarily on the practice of contemplative prayer, and not, say, studying the Word of God, then I would have to question a person's spiritual maturity, or a church's spiritual direction. Are they saved? Are they loving God in the ways the Bible actually says? I do believe my friend that I sat with is, but I wonder about so many others.
So as not to end this post on a sour note, I will mention that the very next night at Good News we celebrated Jesus' resurrection. Believe me, I got fed a full diet of Scripture and salvation message then. 😀