The decline of civilization began when they put in padded pews. Some historians would place their markers elsewhere, but they would be wrong. The downward slide started when the church decided to comfort our bottoms rather than our souls.
The Bible says that the LORD knoweth the days of the upright, and I can’t find a verse that says anything good about him who sloucheth. A firm wooden bench does nothing better than keep a soul upright and attentive. A cushioned pew breeds sloth. Don’t even get me started on the churches with reclining theater seats. We are one step away from our minds being massaged with subliminal positive messages as we repine on our Sleep Number® church mattresses.
Jonathan Edwards sermons compared his congregants’ plight to a spider on a thread over the pit of hell, and those pew-sitters started the Great Awakening. Today’s preachers speak soft words to a roomful of Little Miss Muffets sitting on tuffets, and we’re headed for the Big Sleep.
Perhaps someday we will see the error of our ways. We will forsake our languid lethargy, our indolent idleness, our cushioned comfort, and return to the holiness of hardwood. Who knows but that it may be our seating which needs sanctification?
Besides, have you ever tried to have a Hot Wheels® race on a padded pew?
And let's don't even mention those who have chairs rather than pews. Ripping out pews and cutting them into kindling so we have have chairs than be rearranged in different patterns. Good grief