(edit: Apparently it’s not a good idea to start writing after being woken up by strange and loud sounds. I will cohere this post soon.)

I’ve never really thought of myself at legalistic. I feel I’m rather non-traditional in many regards. From a Christian perspective, I don’t enjoy much of CCM. I have pierced ears. I have long hair. From a worldly point of view, I’m (relatively) young, yet I don’t smoke anything, drink, or cuss. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to a church with pews and hymns and choir robes. I’m conservative when it comes to politics. (Although I must admit, listening to people like Michelle Malkin make feel otherwise.) I didn’t pick up the guitar in high school or college and play Dave Matthews songs nonstop.

This all changed this morning at Seacoast.org. Allow me to set the stage. The current series is called Switched and it’s about how Jesus quite often takes a person’s way of thinking and turns it upside down.

Mainly I have experienced the preaching at Seacoast from a TV or computer screen. Seacoast has many campuses in and around the Carolinas and for the most part, they show a recording or live feed of the preaching on big screens. It is one of the most influential churches in America today, especially when it comes to technology and the multi-campus technique.

I happened to be in Charleston three weeks ago and I thought it would be need to experience a service live and actually be in the same room as the senior pastor. Much to my dismay, a friend of mine and I arrived to the service and not only is Pastor Greg not speaking, I still ended up watching the sermon on a big screen in the sanctuary. His son, Josh, was preaching from a different part of the Campus.

This past weekend finds myself in Charleston again. Another chance to see Pastor Greg in action, right? Wrong. I showed up yesterday morning at 11:21 to find that another Surratt, Geoff, is preaching. (Is that bad? to show up late to a service that starts at 11:15? Well, I wasn’t the only one…) Anyway, I saw a live preacher but no Pastor Greg. It was his brother Geoff. Twice in less than a month! I felt a bit slighted. Don’t get me wrong both sermons were great and filled with insights and practical teachings. I just couldn’t help from feeling disappointed

This morning I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to listen to a sermon I missed from a couple weeks ago, Part 2: From Crippled to Whole. Pastor Greg spoke on legalism and how Jesus responded to it Luke 13:10-21. I’m very familiar with the passage. I had heard and read it many times before. But it’s these verses that we’re most familiar with that are often skipped over because we know what it says and we think we already know what it means.

Then Pator Greg flipped the script on me! In the meme of Jeff Foxworthy, He said that if you’re more concerned with the band, what type of music they’re playing, what tattoos or body piercing they have, whether or not the worship leader is wearing a hat, or whether YOU’RE WATCHING HIM LIVE OR ON A SCREEN than in the Spirit of God being here, you might be legalistic!

Burn! That shot hit me hard. I even texted a friend of mine during the service and told him that there was no live Pastor Greg. The sermon definitely lived up to the name of the series. I experienced a weird sense of convicted elation.

Currently Listening:
After the Sirens
“What I Have To Give Let It Be Enough” (2006)