Geoff Surratt: If You Visited Your Church and Didn’t Know the Code

Can you imagine what it would be like to walk into your church for the very first time? Not as a veteran church attender or someone steeped in American Christianity, but as a complete rookie to the church experience.

As you walk into the lobby you see signs like “Worship Center” and “Connect, Grow, Serve” but you have no idea what they mean. You follow the crowd into what appears to be the “Worship Center”, and when the music starts you stand when everyone else does. The band is singing songs you’ve never heard before, but you notice a few people around you singing along. You mumble through words on the screen to try to fit in. Other than the National Anthem at a ballgame the last time you were involved in group singing was 7th grade choir. That’s an experience you never thought you’d have to repeat.

Finally the band finishes and everyone sits down. The stage lights focus on what appears to be a large bathtub. A girl about 10 or 11 climbs into the bathtub while an older guy addresses the crowd saying something about “baptism” and “profession of faith”. The older guy then grabs the young girls and shoves her under water! The most shocking part is people applaud when he pulls her out. You’re pretty sure he’d be arrested anywhere else for treating a child like that, but everyone here seems to like it. This is one of the strangest things you’ve ever seen. Keep reading

In this article Geoff Surratt describes how a guest who have never attended a church in his life might experience Sunday morning at a Baptist church. Imagine how the same guest might experience Sunday morning at your church? 

Photo: The Hill Hangout