If megachurches were honest

I’m a graduate of Catholic school and grew up going to Catholic church, so my first visit to a Hillsong-style megachurch left me deeply unimpressed:

• The ministry felt less like the lives of the saints and more like The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,
• There was a strong “making up as we go along” feel to the preaching,
• The Jesus they presented was most certainly not an itinerant Israeli carpenter who was intentionally homeless, apolitical, friend of prostitutes and told religious leaders to pay their dang taxes, but some kind of weird amalgam of Ronald Reagan, Rambo, Tony Robbins, and “Karen”,
• My Asian appearance led a couple of congregants to ask if I would denounce the false teachings of Buddha (they asked no such questions of the other strangers, who were white), because they knew jack shit about the Philippines or that thing about “the stranger in your midst”,
• and as for the music, I’m 100% behind Hank Hill:

So when Cracked posted their latest video, If Megachurches Were Honest, I had to watch:

One of the reasons that it’s so spot-on is because it was written by Jordan Breeding, who writes:

Cards on the table I (the guy who wrote this episode), was a Music Director at a (non-mega) church, and, in fact, my wife and I still lead music there regularly FOR FREE as well as attend. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe there aren’t things deeply wrong with the way megachurches and possibly just America generally have twisted things.

If you found the video interesting, you’ll probably enjoy the podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.