Snakes on a Pew: A Non-Snake-Handlers Retort

Church is boring . . . come on, admit it. We assemble in our sanctuaries, sing a few, pray a bit, and listen a lot. Its all so disappointing especially considering the fact that there is so much action and adventure in the Bible; family rivalries, love stories, war, murder, plagues, you name it! 

I’ve alway thought Sunday morning would be much more fun if we took a few lessons from our canon. After all, wouldn’t it be great if we could throw a little bit of action into our boring church gatherings. Maybe then we could finally start being “relevant” again. I tell you all this because this past weekend I was excited to hear that at least one Tennessee church is raising the action-bar, livening up their services by (a) breaking the law and (b) incorporating snake wrangling in their weekly service. Awesome!

Young snake handlers say they grasp the power of faith

While I celebrate their hermenteutical bravado, it seems odd this church is so safety-conscious--not using new snakes during the service, not allowing inexperienced persons to handle the snakes, etc. I mean Jesus either wants us to take up serpents or not (Mark 16:17). I guess the precautions are warranted considering several people have died due to a worship-filled-snakebite, but those people must have been sinners. Why else would taking up serpents "harm" you? Even still, I have to say it would awesome(!) to see my pastor handle a copperhead during a sermon, or really just hold one in general. 

Lest my sarcastic overtures are too subtle, allow me to crescendo the truth. I see snake handling in worship as a Parable of the Ridiculous. For this congregation and others like it, the worship of God and the demonstration of faith are intimately intertwined--as they should be. However, the problem comes when we suggest that the presence--or absence!--of some thing is a necessity to either worship God or demonstrate faith. Frankly, it’s ridiculous. But sometimes the ridiculous has a way revealing things that are equally ridiculous but less obvious. 

Let’s be honest. Snake handling is rather sensational, a real crowd pleaser, not to mention dangerous, but it is easy for us to forget that Jesus seemed to have a personal aversion to sensational ministry (Luke 4:9-12). In the wilderness, the Enemy says to Jesus, "Do something awesome . . . really let the people know what your made of. They want the good stuff, like flying angels or something, so bring it!" Jesus' retort is simply to say that God is accomplishing his will; so why test his limits? 

If we transplant rattlesnakes in worship for something less dangerous, but equally engaging to our audience, have we not simply hushed the hidden snakely maracas beneath flashy lights, polished productions, or well-manicured sermons? This is not to say that these things are bad. They are not. However, if individuals and/or congregations feel these things or other things--like style of dress, music, carpet, etc.--are necessary to worship God, practice their faith, or attracted the right kind or crowd, then perhaps our worship is ridiculous in its own secret way. 

Again, the problem with sensationalism in worship is that it is easy to let appearances mask the trust nature of what is really going. Jesus intentionally avoided being misrepresented for anything other than who he really was, refusing on numerous occassions from being handled by others (Luke 4:30, John6:15). What we learn from Tabernacle Church of God is the way in which repeatedly putting our own hands on something wild ultimately tames it. My fear is that while Tabernacle Church of God tames their rattlesnakes, the rest of us neuter the Lion of Judah. 

Do not be misled. The gospel is deadly. It's what got Jesus flung on a cross. Take up your cross, but be careful not to over-handling your cross do as to smooth out the splinters.