I’ve been wondering when to write about this August 25 article in the Denver Post: Broncos reveal $100 million upgrades to Empower Field at Mile High: What’s new at the stadium. It bothered me when I first read it. $100M to upgrade a stadium that’s only 22 years old? Team president Damani Leech is quoted as saying:

It’s been exciting. Over the course of the past season, when we traveled to other stadiums, you really (understood) the responsibility we have to provide a great experience for our fans…[we wanted to enhance] the gameday experience from an operational and entertainment standpoint.

Central to the upgrades was an enlarged scoreboard “now the fifth largest in the NFL.”

Really? My son now has season tickets to the Broncos, and I went to two games last year. I don’t remember sitting there thinking, “Wow. This would be so much better if we had a larger scoreboard.” I was thinking, “This would be so much better if the Broncos could actually win some games.”

Last year the Broncos had a new ownership group, a new, proven quarterback, and a new head coach who proved to be so inept that he didn’t last the season before being fired. So now the Broncos have a new, proven head coach along with a $100M stadium upgrade. The result? Woody Paige’s editorial in the Colorado Springs Gazette summed it up after the Broncos lost opening day to the Las Vegas Raiders, 17 – 16:

Now the Broncos have lost a combined 22 consecutive games to the Chiefs and the Raiders. Seven straight shambles have happened in the Broncos’ own stadium, which is not the happiest place on turf. Doesn’t matter who owns the franchise, who is the CEO or the president or the general manager. Certainly doesn’t matter who the head coach is, or who the quarterback is… Size of the scoreboard doesn’t matter.

Indeed, the size of the scoreboard doesn’t matter. What matters are the numbers on the scoreboard. Do you want to offer Bronco fans an “enhanced experience”? How about winning a few games? The Cleveland Browns defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 24 – 3 yesterday in a driving rain storm. Ahead by three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, it didn’t look to me like fans were going home. They sat there in their plastic rain gear, joyful, all the way to the end. An enhanced fan experience? Sitting in the rain? I don’t know how big their scoreboard is, but they couldn’t have seen it. No matter. They had a ball.

The Broncos seem to have lost focus on what’s important, and sometimes I think some churches are the same. Church worship leader Danny Byrum wrote:

The church in America is in a cycle of prosperity.  Impressive church venues are everywhere.  Millions of dollars are spent to remodel sanctuaries, build new ones, purchase gear, keep up the latest trends in stage production – live video capturing – and worship song-set automation software.  Yet, many who attend services find themselves standing in silence, watching screens, and observing performers on a platform.  I call this lack of congregational engagement Wallpaper Worship. In his endorsement of my book, author Philip Yancey says: “In my lifetime worship has changed from something we do before an audience of God to something a few semi-professionals do for an audience of us.” Is Worship “One Size Fits All”? Danny Byrum, June 4, 2019

My friend and blog reader Barry Weber reminded me of something in his comment on the September 9 blog. Here’s part of what he said:

I’m reminded of a Promise Keeper’s event in Boulder many years ago worshipping with hundreds of other men. A truly joyful experience.

I was there. It was thousands of other men, and it was one of the best group worship experiences I’ve ever been in. The stadium was built in 1924 and is still in use. We had a praise band but no special effects. What made the experience special was those thousands of men, enthusiastically singing, and worshiping together. Men of every age, socioeconomic level, race, and even church affiliation. It wasn’t the venue. It was the men – and God was in that place with us.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7.9 – 11, ESV)