Christian + Night + Clubs = ?

Are Christians and nightclubs mutually exclusive, even in the nightclubs in question are Christian? Is this a stupid question? In this day and age, certainly not.

I remember back in the day, way back when everyone dressed up to go to church and church went on for hours and the older brethren would keep you quiet with hard boiled sweets, Wotsits and Ribena, there was no such thing as Christians going to clubs. A Christian going to a club back then would mean they were backslidden, unless they were outside the club with a ministry team and a bunch of tracts.

And back in those days there was certainly no such thing as a Christian nightclub. Not as far as I knew anyway.

But nowadays, in the days of modern Christianity which has acknowledged that "times have changed" and that "the 21st century needs a 21st century church", and that "Christianity is not boring, we can have fun too, and we can show the world Christianity is fun, and that you can have life more abundantly", there is no end of holy entertainment and distraction for the Christian who wants it.

What's more, there is a ministry and a purpose for everyone, and it can be whatever you like so long as it is claimed to give glory to God and to the kingdom (not yourself and your mates).

Being a fun-loving, easily bored 20-something myself, surely I should be happy that I don't have to endure the boredom and monotony of old-time religion, which would have had me sat at home reading, worshipping, venturing out only to go to church, prayer meetings, district conventions, house visits, family visits, for evangelism, prison visits, hospital visits, weddings, christenings, funerals, work, the cinema, the park and maybe the gym. (And by the way, isn't this more than enough to get cracking on with?)

I should be happy, and there is a lot of good stuff gong on, but I'm also a bit concerned.

There seems to be competition with the world - anything thing the secular world can do we can do better. Anything the secular world can have we can have too. Just stamp it with "Christian" and there you go - its certified holy.The Christian night club thing is one of these.

Now, don't get me wrong - anyone who knows me will tell you I love a good party, oh yes I do. But everyone - the whole world - knows Christians do not belong in nightclubs.

I don't go to clubs but I like going to live music, open mic and spoken word events because I'm a bit of a soulful earthy type at heart, and I like the power of words and music, so combined that is my ambrosia. There is a particular monthly event that I have been to maybe once, that turns into a nightclub after all the acts have finished. The second time I went and got into a conversation with a guy sometime after the acts had finished. Then the conversation started to take on "a tone" shall we say, and so I tell the guy I'm a Christian (oh Lord....). So anyway, he was like "so what are you doing here then?" And I protested that I was there for the singing and poetry stuff, and not the nightclub. And he was like "yeah but it's the club though now innit, so why are you still here?" What could I say, eh? What? nothing that's what, 'cause I shouldn't have been there and I was. I should have just gone straight home when the lights turned down.

Christians don't belong in secular nightclubs. Full stop.

People who go to secular clubs may say they go just for the music or just to dance, and that they don't dress provocatively etc. Fair enough, but aside from the temptation factor and the meat market factor, any lust-filled guy or girl who sees you in there is going to think you are fair game. And they'd have every right to, after all you're in Sex Central, the devil's territory. So what are you doing there? What are you looking for?? And don't even let me get into the repercussions if you bump into one of these people on a regular day and try to talk to them about Christ and they recognise you from the club. Your speech is over. Is it worth it?

The Christian nightclub experience though is supposed to be different in that it is supposed to be a nightclub experience specifically for Christians. Now, I've never been to one of these events so I cant say what they're like, but from reading and hearing about some they can range from a bunch of people in a room with a DJ playing Christian music, and people either dancing or not, to a full on dark club serving alcohol with a mixture of Christians and none Christians and a DJ playing a mix of secular and gospel music, or gospel lyrics over secular beats like the Ying Yang Twins, Jay-Z or Snoop. So kind of like the nightclub I shouldn't have been in that time.

Now, obviously the set-ups and the behaviour of the people in those nightclubs probably falls at various points along the scale, from people carrying on like they're in the world and grinding up on the dancefloor, to people behaving themselves and just looking to socialise.

But I would say this, to all organisers and participants: be careful!!!!! Be very careful. If you choose to put on or go to one of these events, remember that just because you have come to let your hair down and have a break, the devil hasn't. He works 24/7 and will be in there shacking out with you all too just looking for an opportunity - I can guarantee it! I'd be very careful about putting on a "nightclub" rather than a social, not least because a night club is a secular institution and can and probably will get at least some people in the mindset for worldly behaviour.

And really, let's ask ourselves why we feel the need for a "Christian" nightclub. Are we trying to share the gospel through the baseline? Are we bored? Did we like raving when we were unsaved and wish we could do it legitimately now that we are no longer in the world? Do we honestly think that our elders and betters are too old fashioned and that times have changed?

Bretheren we are told to love not the world! So why are we using the world as the blueprint for the "21st century kingdom of God"? Yes the times have changed, but God does not change, neither do his words. The instruction manual God provided us with a few thousand years ago is more than enough to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We should not tweak it to meet our carnal desires. The world is just going to keep on getting worse, so if we seek to out-do the world how far will this oneupmanship have us stray from the program?

This is why some aspects of the Christian entertainment industry or "ministry" concern me. A lot of Christian entertainment in general appears to be sensory driven. It's about pleasing our own flesh while claiming to deliver a message.

I'm seeing Christian entertainers striving to be "someone" in the Kingdom, and equating that with having the Christian community knowing their name, and thus attracting glory to themselves. If it's really only about doing God's work, does it matter who knows your name and what the Christian youth think about your beats? If it's really only about doing God's work, do you need and award or accolade because everyone thinks you could be the Christian Jay-Z? Everybody wants to be somebody, but when our names are already known by God.

It concerns me when people unconsciously use these things as measures of how well they are doing in their "ministry" - who is measuring the real business of educating lost souls?

A lot of energy and a lot of work is being put into "ministries" that cater to the flesh of people who are already professed Christians, rather than to those that cast the net out to those who do not know Christ. A lot of it is about gaining approval from the Christian community while the unsaved have no idea who you are or what your message is supposed to be.

My soapbox is creaking under the strain right now, but before I go I will just say, there's nothing wrong with having fun. There isn't. Aside from the sin we have a wonderful world that God has provided for us to enjoy. But in doing so, let us seek God first, and let's not look to the world, or to our flesh, to tell us what is good for our souls.

And.......if in doubt, leave it out.