Pandering our way to Irrelevance

I’ll complete my mini-fanboy presentation of Dan Edelen’s series on 21 Steps to a 21st Century Church today by directing you to his fifth post on the subject, where he declares the following:

4. Make the church for believers

In this post, Dan recounts a heartbreaking turn in the church he was a part of from a strong gospel preaching church to one that looked to more of a health, wealth and well-being message as its calling card. This is a common phenomena, but it continues to amaze me. If a church has been known as a place where lives were touched by the gospel of God, why would they ever turn their backs from that? Why?

One reason it has come about is a shift in the way that Christians have defined evangelism. Jesus has promised to all of us through His disciples that if we follow Him, He will make us into fishers of men. To reap the harvest for our Lord is a great honor, but many have determined that the best way to do this is to invite those who need to hear the gospel to church. While this is a very good thing, too many Christians are content to let this be the extent of their evangelism. Sure, we may proclaim our love for the gospel and we may tell our friends that Jesus loves them, but it is all too often a tactic meant to bring these people to someone who is somehow more qualified to proclaim the gospel.

Since the church has seen an influx of unbelieving visitors, we are right to be as hospitable as we can toward them. We do want them to join our fellowship, but we have forgotten who determines who will be in the kingdom and who will not. There are many churches that continued to preach the unaltered gospel for a time, but saw that these visitors weren’t coming a second time. This is a perilous moment where some hard decisions must be made, and all too often a pastor will decide that it is better for all if they preach to the lowest denominator, just as long as they include a verse or two to keep the old timers happy and include some universal application based on behavior rather than fruit.

Have we forgotten our Bibles? Have we forgotten that the task of conversion is not ours to accomplish? Have we reduced the joy of the Lord into a happiness at knowing the three steps we can take to accomplish our goals? Is the growth of tares in our field so great that we are blinded to our true calling? Is that it? Are we so desperate for growth that we will accept any kind of growth that we can find?

1 Corinthians 3:7
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Several months ago, I sat in a restaurant with one of the most godly men I know to discuss a matter of shared concern. The discussion quickly evolved from our current situation and before either of us knew it we were speaking about a problem more common and foundational than the one we had met to speak about. It is the erosion of the gospel in the lives of those who would honor God with their lips that has undermined the church across our nation. There are many who have not sullied the name of God in His church, but many more who have bowed the knee to pragmatism. After all, why preach the unadulterated gospel when a speech about how we can just be happier will continue to bring in the crowds?

It is easy to practice the serenity prayer among all people, but for some reason it seems to be so difficult to live as we are called. We are torn in this world and we are the ones doing the tearing. Church is a place where we congregate to worship God and to celebrate the victory that is only found in His name. As long as we change this message, our taste will mimic that of the world. It is time for the church to become salt again, because Mrs. Dash just doesn’t cut it.