It Makes me Sick
In Acts chapter 20 Paul explains to the Ephesian elders that "wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them." While Paul is speaking directly to the elders of the church in Ephesus, the same is true with many churches today.
The leader of this pack of wolves? The Seeker-friendly and Emergent movements. According to these movements anyone is allowed into the flock. The churches goal is to gather as many lost people as possible in one big, cool, expensive building. Sounds good, right? I want to hug someone right now. There's only one problem IT'S UN-BIBLICAL! It strays far from the biblical view of the church: A gathering of believers who glorify God become equipped for works of service. These seeker friendly churches water down the gospel, sugar coat its message, and re-package it as if it's not enough. These "Christians" feel that there is no need to minister outside of church. "Just bring 'em here! Get as many in the door so we can count 'em and make the cover of whatever Christian Magazine as the most successful church of 2007." Successful? Thousands of spiritually immature churchgoers who think that they are giving it up by committing to a one-hour "church service" once a week? Is that what Jesus considers a successful ministry?
The only difference between these services and a U2 concert is that the services are half as long and Bono might actually use the name of Jesus... maybe.
It makes me sick
The leader of this pack of wolves? The Seeker-friendly and Emergent movements. According to these movements anyone is allowed into the flock. The churches goal is to gather as many lost people as possible in one big, cool, expensive building. Sounds good, right? I want to hug someone right now. There's only one problem IT'S UN-BIBLICAL! It strays far from the biblical view of the church: A gathering of believers who glorify God become equipped for works of service. These seeker friendly churches water down the gospel, sugar coat its message, and re-package it as if it's not enough. These "Christians" feel that there is no need to minister outside of church. "Just bring 'em here! Get as many in the door so we can count 'em and make the cover of whatever Christian Magazine as the most successful church of 2007." Successful? Thousands of spiritually immature churchgoers who think that they are giving it up by committing to a one-hour "church service" once a week? Is that what Jesus considers a successful ministry?
The only difference between these services and a U2 concert is that the services are half as long and Bono might actually use the name of Jesus... maybe.
It makes me sick
posted by Kevin at 3:12 PM
2 Comments:
I hear what you are saying. Success in the church shouldn't be measured by the physical quanity of people, but the spiritual quality of a true believer.
And all God's people said...
Amen.
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