When preachers lose their intensity and their urgency…
When church-goers bring their felt-needs list to be checked to see if a church qualifies as fitting for them…
When expectations to be served grow but active servanthood shrinks…
When no opportunity for repentance or call to consider a change of behavior is communicated…
When prayer is that thing squeezed in while the musicians are setting up for the next song…
When the Scriptures are either not read or not preached or not believed…
When the sick no longer expect to be healed or at least prayed over…
When the irreligious, ugly, poorly clothed, impoverished, undignified and unlearned can sense they are unwelcome…
When the offering plates move quickly because they are close to empty again…
When the new generation is complained about and the elderly are quietly ignored…
When the oldest tradition is protected or the newest trend is forced…
When the soul-pain in others is an inconvenience and messy lives are not allowed for…
When the clock on the back wall of the auditorium is obeyed as sovereign over what takes place and the Holy Spirit is ignored…
When the accepted norm at the church is zero passion and that is exalted as being reverent and honorable…
When nobody is saved and few care anymore…
When duty has replaced delight and weariness has swallowed wonder…
When purposefully singing songs the same way they were sung 40 years ago is viewed as something healthy or holy…
When Jesus is welcome to show up but not necessarily essential to the Sunday order of events…
When teenagers are not sure why their family even attends Sunday services…
When the main discussions about worship songs revolve around preference, tempo and style rather than lyrical content of truth…
When new Christians flame up and smolder out due to lack of spiritual oxygen…
When membership-transfers from other churches are celebrated as victories in the absence of spiritual conversions…
When the Great Commission is relegated to the Great Inconvenience…
When very few are still aware of the heart-pricking work of the Holy Spirit as He beckons them to humble themselves, confess their apathy and call upon Him for renewal…
…this is when a local assembly of believers has mastered religion and flunked Christianity.
I have been to those sad churches. I have contributed to that sadness.
I have also been to churches who bulldoze over tradition to be seeker friendly. I watched them lose reverence and humility. I was one of them who did.
Dad is right. C.S. Lewis nailed it. It is difficult, for me, corporately. Yet I feel God calling me to give corporate service another shot. Praying and waiting for direction. I like what I see in you as a Pastor (and a Brother!)….it encourages me that it is possible to practice my wilderness faith under a steeple. : )
Thanks for writing this. The reason my husband and I come to your church is for this very reason. We appreciate the truthful and sometimes hard to swallow teaching. Honestly, its a welcomed change to the Sunday entertainment style feel good shows we were used to. And I recently downloaded your app & have enjoyed the blog and sermons on the go as well. Used to just use a Bible app but felt I was just reading and not so much absorbing & learning, but the app has helped me learn more. Thank you!
Brings to mind that great saying of C.S. Lewis: “Christianity has not been tried and found lacking; it has been found difficult and left untried.”