I'm not critical, I'm passionate for the bride of Christ, the Church!
We need to “Go Big” for Christ but using an Ozzy Osborne song during your Christmas program is too big in the wrong direction. Do we seriously need to add worldly stuff to make the Gospel more appealing? I believe that it ends up cheapening it. The Gospel is POWERFUL without all the fluff. I’m afraid these practices of using the world's ways to draw unbeliever's into a church service results in false conversions, ultimately vaccinating people with a weakened strain of the Gospel so they never get the real thing.
People need to be confronted with the majesty of God and the wretchedness of their sin; Spurgeon, Wesley, and Edwards style. The Church needs to be strengthened in understanding scripture and prepared for persecution and trials. Maybe a shift from feeding goats to feeding the sheep.
So much concentration on drawing in goats while the sheep suffer on a constant diet of skim milk. It is time to move on to the greater things of the Word.
There is a lot of hurt in this world. When I’m reading about 9-year-old sex slaves in Guatemala and indigenous missionaries in India being hacked with machetes (both of which I’ve read about today) and then I see the “Church” in America dancing around to Ozzy Osborne music and giving ourselves new cars and big screens…I just think we can do a lot better.
I have a general disgust of American “Christianity” and the impotent gospel being preached too often with man at the center (i.e. get free heaven, your “Best Life Now”, etc). I don’t see any anguish. Anguish for my sin, anguish for the lost, anguish for the oppressed, anguish that makes bloody knees.
Is Our God is so weak we have to draw people in with material things and crazy antics?! Some of these "pastors" are presenting a god to the world that needs help saving people. Where is the POWER of GOD in this imputant plan. Jesus, the Son of God, died a horrifying death for you, so that you could experience His love, forgiveness and be reconciled to Him.
This life is all about glorifying God. How is it glorifying God to sing ungodly songs during church? How does it glorify Him to dance (worldly style) during the offering and turn His house into a party house?? How is it glorifying God to bring all kinds of material things into the church for raffle, resorting to feeding people’s greed just to get them to walk in the doors?
you have hit the nail square in the head.
ReplyDeletechurches need to be what God designed them to be. we have a job to do, feed the sheep. let Satan do the tempting and let the church present the WORD. it will not come back empty.
keep up the fight.
love ya, man