I want to talk about something that isn’t about my church. I want to react against something that I’m hearing about “the church.” As in, churches like ours on a national and worldwide level.
The phrase I’m hearing is something like “The church is headed the wrong direction as they worry too much about being relevant in the culture.” It comes across in different ways, but if you look through my comment section you’ll come across it in its various forms.
Here is what they are really saying: “The church should be about Christians more than it is about non-Christians.” Here is a sermon that seems to push this view. In fact, Jesus’ church has a two-fold mission– Reach the lost, teach the found.
Here is what Jesus says about people who think they own God: Matthew 23
Here is why they are saying this: Fear. There is great fear among “church people” about people who are not Christians. They think that “they” will corrupt their children. They think that “they” will change their polite and sterile world. They are afraid new people in their lives will change how they feel in a church service. They are afraid “they” will effect how they spend their ministry time. In short, they are afraid of being effective and doing the ministry of Jesus. And their fears are mostly true… if you live like Jesus instructs in the Bible it will ruin the safe life they want.
Here’s how they scare people: They say people like me mis-interpret the Bible. We may have gone to the same schools… we may have sat in the same classes… but we heard two different messages. Their message is that Jesus is for people like them. The message I heard was that Jesus was for anyone. They heard you should contextualize Bible teaching to the church. I heard I should contextualize Bible teaching for the people I’m trying to teach.
Here is why it is sad. I’ve told people about the exciting out-pouring of God at places like Mars Hill and Elevation where thousands of people have been introduced to a life-changing, life-flipping relationship with the Living Christ and instead of praise on their lips they cast scorn and doubt at the leaders. I learn ministry skills from good men and women at places like Willow Creek, Saddleback, and North Point and people say “But they do something unapproved somehow… you are a bad person for learning from them. You shouldn’t go learn from them or read what they write or do ministry how they do it.” Yet they’ve never met those people, attended their services, or examined anything for themselves. What they think of these churches is based purely on fear-mongering. They are fearful that something like that could happen in their “safe church.”
Here’s what I think: I think that the church, including my own, should use redemptive analogies to reach people. I think the church is called by Jesus to engage the culture. I think Christians are called to be like Jesus, who modeled incarnational living. (That’s fancy church talk for… Jesus came from Heaven and walked among us, ate among us, and was “like us.”)
What do you think? Even if you never go to church. I want to know what you think. Even if you are one of “them” I want to know what you think. (Really, I meant Pharisee in a nice way!)
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