Individualism and Seclusion

We are in a culture that now more than ever seems to emphasize individualism above all things. A look back at our history reveals how much we have changed and this has crept into the church.

Flipping on Leave it to Beaver or even It’s a Wonderful Life, it is very visible the differences between then and now. In past generations, Americans were proud to be a part of America. There were no individual interest groups or emphasis on differences (minus racial issues). If we were at war, people rallied to help the country win the war through sacrifice. Families were a part of neighborhoods and most everyone on the block knew each other and would socialize together. They were a community. Church came in a “one size fits all” model instead of the customized models today. People genuinely cared about their neighbor and would go out to the movies together and do things as a community. Andy Griffith is a great example of the level of small town USA dynamics that once were just a part of being American.

Today is a different story. Americans aren’t Americans. They are African-Americans, Irish-Americans or Native-Americans. You aren’t a sexual being. You are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. You are conservative Republican, moderate Republican, moderate Democrat, progressive Democrat, Socialist or Libertarian. Our habits are no longer about community. Instead of going to the movies, we have to have a home theater. We don’t have to shop at the store because we can log onto Ebay or Amazon and have it delivered. We don’t even have to go to college anymore because we can do it online! The Ipod and Itunes are based on the idea of individuality. One can now select their own personal mix or music without having to listen to pop stations or buy entire albums. We’re defined by where we shop, the teams we align with and the religion we follow. Everything is centering on personal convenience and individuality.

The church has taken on this role some. The church has emphasized the customized service. There are contemporary services, traditional services, Gen-X services, youth services, recovery ministry services, seeker-services, etc. A believer doesn’t have to set foot in a church anymore because we have online video streaming of services. We encourage family unity while we split them up for services. In the more liberal denominations, an individual can customize their beliefs in God to fit their preference. They can borrow from all different faiths even if they don’t line up and make sense.

Now this isn’t a critique of what the church is doing wrong. This is simply a view of what is happening and a commentary that if we are going to encourage family unity and community outreach, we need to make sure we our allowing opportunities to do so. If we are centralized on the individual experience of the believer, we can easily forget about the corporate and community of believers. Though there is a level of individuality that isn’t bad, we cannot throw out the baby with the bath water. Our culture is starved for companionship as we see with the boom of Facebook. Twitter shows our genuine care that people know what is going on in our every day life. The church must learn how to balance individuality and fellowship.

Best Bonhoeffer Chapter Yet! Quote-mania!

Below is a repost from earlier this year. The more the past year has passed, the more this burns in my soul to wake up the church, especially in light of the Innovate Church conference that is going on at TRBC. When was the gospel ever easy? Wake up America. We are in a post-Christian society.

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WOW I read the chapter Discipleship and the Cross. BAM! Great stuff. Below are some of the best quotes from this chapter. The modern church needs to heed to the words this man as they are speaking to us from his grave. Powerful thoughts here:

"Jesus must therefore make it clear beyond all doubt that the must of suffering applies to his disciples no less than to himself...discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefore submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the Cross."

"To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us."

"If in the end we know only him, if we have ceased to notice the pain of our own cross, we are indeed looking only to him."

"If our Christianity has ceased to be serious about discipleship, if we have watered down the gospel into emotional uplift which makes no costly demands and which fails to distinguish between natural and Christian existence, then we cannot help regarding the cross as an ordinary calamity, as one of the trials and tribulations of life. We have then forgotten that the cross means rejection and shame as well as suffering."

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die."

"The call of Christ, his baptism, sets the Christian in the middle of the daily arena against sin and the devil. Every day he encounters new temptations, and every day he must suffer anew for Jesus Christ's sake."

"Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship."

The Coming Evangelical Collapse

Article

I have to admit that after reading this article, I was shaken. I had to remind myself that this is a prediction and predictions are prone to failure. The reason this was scary is some of it was things I've been thinking and saying and seeing on my own. It was weird to see someone else seeing the same things. I would like to comment on some of the observations that the author made.

"...they (Protestants) will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century."

It seems that polls on even the most conservative news sites are seeing the growing rise of secularism and the dropping numbers of those who claim a religion. The Catholic Church has been diving for years. The Southern Baptists have seen dropping numbers for the first time in their history. The reason could be one of a million different things. From the moral stands of religion, to the belief in absolute truth, to the scandals that rock the church. Most don't like being told that their opinions are wrong and in an era of political correctness, they don't want a church to tell them how to live.

Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.

This isn't the first time this has happened. In Ancient Rome, the Christians were seen as ones that were causing political problems with Roman leadership. They were accused of being cannibals, atheists and rebels. Also in the French Revolution, Christianity was seen as something that caused war and violence and led to the rise of secularism in response. Religion was the enemy of peace and logic. Both of these were overcome. There is no reason that this won't be overcome in time.

Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline.

The current economic decline is beginning to usher this in. There are calls for donations from Christian radio, churches, schools, seminaries, etc. Honestly, the modern church tends to be obsessed with building projects and top notch staff and technology. This may prove to be a good thing. Maybe the church will get back to the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of their church and megachurch.

Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any coherence.

Wow! GREAT line. We've been so content putting on Sunday morning theater and doing feel-good talks that we have fled from discipleship and the majority of attendees in our churches don't know what they are supposed to believe. We have incredibly weak believers in our church because we've abandoned discipleship for "evangelism" and large membership. It's easier to win them than to commit to a life commitment of mentoring and discipleship.

Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it.

Wow again! I'm a youth pastor. I've been too many youth pastor conferences and heard the latest ideas in youth ministry. What did I come away with? "We have to compete with MTV. Entertain first, relationships second, Jesus third." The worship explosion is evidence of the emotional based faith that is being taught. Our kids know more lyrics to worship songs than verses from the Word of God. As I've been writing previously, we DESPERATELY need to return to intense discipleship of students. Our numbers may drop because we aren't entertaining anymore. So be it.

...consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches, and new churches whose future is fragile. Denominations will shrink, even vanish, while fewer and fewer evangelical churches will survive and thrive.

I've been talking about my bane- the consumer driven church- for a year now. They will keep having to top themselves with entertainment and services to the point the message will be lost as to why we are doing it. I don't necessarily agree with the denomination going away. I think they will just look different. The satellite church and video venue church are the new denomination. They are church brands rather than doctrinal fellowships.

Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism.

AMEN. We stopped challenging our churches and pastors on THEOLOGY and replaced it with BUSINESS STRATEGY! Most of our pastors don't know how to think deeply. I am just getting better at this myself. We do not compete because we do not engage.

Charismatic-Pentecostal Christianity will become the majority report in evangelicalism. Can this community withstand heresy, relativism, and confusion? To do so, it must make a priority of biblical authority, responsible leadership, and a reemergence of orthodoxy.

As I've been reading in my Church Planting class, One of two groups that is still experiencing great success in church planting and evangelism is the Pentecostal movement. I can't really explain it other than their intentionality of planting churches. They are to be praised for this. Some of the newer movements have been the rise of the Charismatic Reformed movement (Mark Driscoll, Sovereign Grace). They are charismatic with a seat belt, and have a high emphasis on doctrine and theology. I am completely behind this movement even if I don't agree with every detail.

This article is scary and yet a wake up call for the church. Like it or not, some of this is already beginning to happen. The last election proves this. The church must get back to discipleship and get over the business/consumer church.

Mark Driscoll on Nightline

VIDEO

I LOVE THIS GUY! The interview is average. I don't think it completely covers who he is and what he believes. Again they treat it as if the only thing he talks about is sex. He did one 8 week series on Song of Solomon last year and that's the one they don't seem to be able to let go of. He is currently exegeting 1 and 2 Peter and has dealt with predestination, doctrine (a TERRIFIC 10 week series last year) and many more issues.

Mark is just a dude. He's just like myself in that he's just a human answering the call of God. I have a high amount of admiration for him even if I don't see eye to eye on all issues (Calvinism). He isn't afraid to deal with doctrinal issues with his congregation and I very much appreciate that. I'm sick of surface self-help church that is plaguing our nation. It ain't about us!

Three Cultural Giants Facing Our Church

I’ve been thinking…not predicting about the current state of the church, the culture, the times and where and how this may impact the church. I’m speaking out loud and in no way am being a Nostradamus. A few of my thoughts:

-The Economy’s Impact on the church:
I think the biggest issue I’ve been wondering and watching is the how the depleting economy is going to impact the church. For the past 10 years, a lot of modern churches have been seeking a surge in growth and attendance. This led them to more cash in offerings. Many churches went on building campaigns and went into debt with these massive church structures that sucked the power down due to lighting systems, video conferencing, etc.
As we are seeing, people are beginning to watch their money carefully. Tithing has dropped in several churches in the area and I know that it is most likely a national issue. If churches have gone in debt based on substantial giving, and at the same time tithing is dropping, how will churches respond if they can’t pay the bills? The church will have a dilemma between paying staff, missionaries, ministries in their own church, and potentially those financially hurting in their congregation. Will churches have to let staff go to create income to pay bills? Will they have to go back to volunteers running ministries? Will they finally get a hold of the lavish spending on video venues, lighting systems, laptops, and other professional expenses? Will they have the boldness to keep staff on and let missionaries or ministries suffer? Will they have the nerve to save themselves and let the fatherless and the widow take a second seat in assistance because as pastoral staff, they see themselves as irreplaceable? If staff and entertainment in the church take a hit, will people begin to leave since they have been made consumers? The next few years are going to be revealing.

-The Elephant in the Room: Gay Marriage
This has been building more and more in the past decade. The church will have to face this challenge soon due to the possible actions of states and the new president. The church has begun to divide on the issue. When the issue was slavery, the church failed to speak out loudly to condemn it as sinful treatment of other humans. This issue is also condemned clearly by Scripture, yet there are those in certain denominations who have rolled with it in the “spirit of love” and political correctness. Soon, all of the church is going to have to speak out in a loud voice and clearly state their position. Since some of our young people have been brought up in the sex-obsessed public school system, they are given a liberal interpretation of marriage.
The church needs to homosexuality for what it is- sin…not a person. It is CRUCIAL that we separate the person from the action. This is difficult due to how tightly the world encourages the gay community to cling to their identity of being gay. We must love the homosexual community and embrace the people of it, not the action. We must continue to firmly stand against the action as we would marital infidelity and premarital sex. This view must not taint our dealings with them nor should we treat them as second-class citizens (especially when we are so quick to forgive a man who cheats on his wife). This community receives hate. We must show them unprecedented love for the person!
As for the church, we must not compromise the sacred act of marriage. The church has allowed it to be hijacked by secular authority. Sacredness to the marital bond must be made more prevalent than the “business as usual” treatment it gets. If the church is told that it must accept gay marriage, I for one as an ordained pastor, will cease to do marriages. They can’t force me to do something against my beliefs. If they do, then throw the cuffs on me. Prison is luxury living these days.

-The Business Church and the Consumer
This ties in closely with the first point. Frankly, as I’ve been blogging on recently, the day of the seeker service and the song and dance service seem to be losing steam weekly. They turned “seekers” into consumers. Every Sunday they get a great show at church and a funny inspirational talk. Some even prayed a prayer to become Christian. Some knew what it meant, others acted on an emotional whim. They church has had to hire staffs the size of the Tonight Show to keep entertainment up and people attending/tithing. This is not church. This is entertainment.
In talks about this subject with many fellow Christians, I have heard a unified yearning for discipleship. Many of them are seeing the same things I’ve been seeing and are starting to speak out about it. If as many people acted as I’ve heard speaking about it, get ready for a modern reformation. There is a move coming. If it goes through, it will take us to smaller congregations, deeper teaching and a spirit of God, not Jay Leno. The buildings may not be as flashy, but believers will actually know where books of the Bible are, what views are on communion, and that Martin Luther wasn’t a civil rights leader. They may stop asking the pastor for verses and start finding them for themselves. We may actually start to love the Lord with our minds, not just our emotions.

Showtime No More!

I have been waiting for someone to write an article like this for MONTHS. It only says everything that I've been saying and working through the past few months! MAJOR kudos to this pastor for his work and honesty. The church has been struggling with turning people from disciples to consumers. I don't care how tight and snazzy your band and lighting are! If you have people who have a lukewarm heart for worship, you have nothing!

Reformation Day 2008

The more studying I'm doing in church history, the more and more appreciation I have for the history of the church. The church fathers were only men, like me, who did amazing things for their God, my God. The strength of the church, the boldness of the men and the clarity of their view of theology and doctrine are filling a hole in my life right now. Today is another evidence.

Growing up, I knew very little of Martin Luther. Going to a Christian school, I might have been taught something about him, but it wasn't a big deal and wasn't treated as a big deal. He was just a dude.

I get into Christian college and some of his history came up. More of this was taught to me at Lancaster Bible College (probably due to the number of reformed prof's I had). I began to hear of this radical who stood up to the church and it's corruption. I did some reading and caught the old movie (from the 50's) on Luther. Then the new version came out...wow. The more I understood what he was saying and the more I understood the danger of the thing he was doing, the more I liked him. The more I see his attitude and the almost holy arrogance that he showed became an inspiration to me.

Today, we aren't dealing with the church selling indulgences to build a great cathedral. Today, the church is faced with a comfortable gospel, a lack of church discipline, a fear of losing numbers due to teaching doctrine, a broadening of the narrow way, a product driven church, pastors who are more interested in reading business books than their Bibles, and churches full of spiritual infants.
This reformation day, I find myself looking more and more for the next Martin Luther who will come in and shake up the American church. I am really scared with the climate in our country and our day and age as to where our church is going. If the church were reduced to small home churches, I think a lot of Christians would fall away because they probably weren't Christians. I think we have turned sermons into self-help and therapy sessions, Jesus is a loving caring nice dad who isn't judgmental, and the Bible is a reference tool to back up what we're teaching rather than the Bible being central. Martin Luther would have a hay-day in our modern church.

Wake us up Lord. The 95 Theses of Martin Luther

Quote of the Day

"I went to church and a business broke out."

Another interesting quote to think about the church becoming a business in it's mentality.

Perry Noble Comment

"The church that doesn’t want to grow is saying to the world, “You go to hell…we’re doctrinally correct…you go to hell.” - Perry Noble

My response? I agree and disagree. Define growth? Are you talking numbers? Are you talking about making sure you have to build a bigger building because you had 1000 sign the dotted line? I agree that I want people come to Christ and his church to grow. However, if growth = large attendance to you, then you can tell the world (and those in your church) "You can think you're not going to hell (but you may not be saved at all)...we're concerned about your prayer and baptism number...you may go to heaven." Perry...growth is more than conversions...its actual spiritual growth, which I realize isn't as easy to monitor like numbers.

How do you respond to Jesus' multiple statements on "let the dead bury their own dead," "love me more than your father or mother," "deny yourself, take up your cross," etc. It seemed Jesus wasn't as concerned about a huge group following him as much as he was reducing the size of people following him by sifting the wheat and the chaff. The genuine followers remained. He constantly pruned his numbers by saying difficult and popularity killing statements. Those who were serious remained...he did nothing to coddle people to heaven.

Willow Creek's "Big Shift"

Well, just as I am going through a nasty aftertaste with seeker sensitive services, along comes an article (and a book) that only confirms what has been going on inside of me. Willow Creek is dropping seeker sensitive for deeper theological teaching. WOW! There's a concept! Instead of getting as close to being lost as we can to be "relevant," we actually start acting like Christians and studying our faith. We actually may be stepping away from feeding our churches nothing but milk and actually may start feeding them some meat!

I think the seeker sensitive service was a great idea, but sooner or later it was bound to catch up with a church when those who are being converted aren't being challenged to grow. I am really excited about this. I hope the wave will continue to get stronger. Maybe church will be church again? I have hope. Discipleship is gasping to life again. Now the only concern I have is...what kind of theology will be taught? Will it be watered down to not offend?

Men and the Kingdoms of Men - Part 3

What I speak about next is an area I have personally struggled with. I feel that every pastor at one time in their life had to struggle with this if they are honest. Sadly, victims may not even know they have fallen into this pit. This is simply called "kingdom building."

I believe that since we have an invisible God with an invisible kingdom, we often seek to fill the void of invisibility with visible things that show us the existence of God. In my own experience, this was seen in several things: the numbers, the property/material and the praise.

The numbers is by far the hardest war a pastor must battle with. We do desire to see the faith growing in our community. This is seen through changed lives. However, it can become an addiction. We move from letting God change hearts to "helping him out." We try to force God through big shows, fancy productions, amazing outreaches to get more and more and more. Soon we fall more in love with bigger numbers than genuine heart change. It seems the conversions at the beginning are very geniune whereas at the point of numbers addiction, they become watered down and uncertain. I don't blame those who believe they are converted. I blame those who tell them they are because they prayed, when the person may not be converted at all. Soon, the church becomes a factory pumping out bigger and bigger numbers that are (pardon my crassness) "cheaper faultier product." Small churches may not see the numbers, but at least there is deep and genuine discipleship involved.

The property and the material really are the same thing. We often prove the invisible work of God with the visible prosperity of the world. We build massive buildings, flaunt amazing multimedia equipment, show off our coffee shops and bookstores, have gymnasiums for our kids, and so much more. These are great tools, but again...we often and somehow translate these as signs of God's blessings on our ministries. Granted, God provides funds, but he can also provide funds for me to misuse on my own personal materialistic desires. Why is it that we flaunt off our equipment as the standard for all churches? Does this mean the small church can't possibly have an impact on others unless they have big buildings and enough lighting to light a Broadway show? Why are we proud? Is not the true sign of God's work changed lives, not 3 sets of Roland V-Drums and video production?

Finally, the praise. Again, I speak to this as one who has been guilty of this in the past. We often look for praise from people as a sign of our effectiveness. We somehow get tricked into thinking that success comes from us. Sometimes we will say, "It's all God," yet in our heart of hearts, we can't even imagine how he would have done it without us. I've seen so many new youth leaders who come out of Bible college thinking they are the next great youth pastor because of the accolades of their students. They believe they will change the world and that its about how great they are. They are soon humbled by God through any series of reality.

Being a leader is hard work especially in a ministry. We need encouragement and affirmation. However, when we begin to need encouragement from our people, it to can be an addiction. This is also seen when a leader will not take criticism or disloyalty from his staff or his people. It becomes a huge problem when the leader attempts to silence his critics. True leadership knows that they will be hated, but still serves those who hate him. Though he won't listen to every critic, he will understand there will always be dissenters. This is seen so clearly in the life of Moses as the children of Israel time after time complained and bickered. Moses stood firm and kept moving forward. He didn't cast off any who questioned him as leader.

I worry when we start looking at material things and numbers as a sign of God's hand. True...he does bring both of those, but if it becomes our obsession it becomes about us and the establishment of our kingdom instead of God doing what God will through willing men. We are representatives of an invisible kingdom. Our buildings will fall apart and be sold. Our lights and cameras are temporary. But the invisible...the souls of men...stand. If we put our drive into the invisible with the tenacity that we put into the visible, we will see change. One thing is for sure. I've seen many lives changed by God in my ministry with no technology, no fancy buildings, no flat screen TV's, no coffee shops, no satellite campus, and very little giving. I didn't need to bribe God to bring souls to him. He does what he does through rocks, donkeys, children...whoever he desires.

Men and the Kingdoms of Men - Part 2

Let me preface by saying the first blog on this was somewhat incomplete. I am not naming pastors nor followers I think are guilty of placing anyone on a pedastool. I mentioned who i did for the purpose of setting names up as examples.

What has prompted me on this issue is watching believers fighting over the issue of Calvinism and Arminianism. Though I am comfortably in the middle of these two groups, it is stunning how heated the debates get on these issues. These men both gave us a way to understand the basics of salvation in two distinctly different views. Both of them are found in the Bible. What I fear is when I see men beginning to take Calvin's words and making them equal to or higher than God's word. Calvin did us a great service to bring clarity to some important issues. I however don't believe he would agree with some of the followers of his beliefs who almost worship him as a saint. He has been elevated higher than the disciples sometimes. It scares me to see men adhere to a belief so strongly that they are closed to the other side. Often I see people on both sides arguing and debating and not listening and trying to understand the other sides perspective. Is this what Calvin would have desired? Splitting the church?

As humans, we love heroes. From the time we are kids, we imitate our favorite superhero or a police officer. We look up to them. They can do no wrong. As we get older, we replace them with others. We look to sports figures, movie stars, politicians, and church leaders. There is nothing wrong with having people we have high respect for and want to model our lives after. Again, the problem is, when they are elevated to a position that is equal to Christ, we have a serious problem. Most of the time, followers often worship a leader to the point that everything they say is gospel. In ministry, I've seen this in who we align ourselves with in a ministry style. I have fallen into this. There is nothing wrong with examples until they trump the Bible. I was a firm believer in Purpose Driven Youth Ministry and Church. It is a great model to follow. However, some churches and leaders can take this to an extreme by almost trusting the words of Warren and Fields more than what is Biblical. In no way do I single out PDC. I've seen this with the Andy Stanley model (my fav), Willow Creek, and many other models out there.

Let me say this- the models are not bad. Most are based Biblically and humble God-fearing leaders came up with them. What is so dangerous is when the church emphasizes the model more than the Biblical model in Acts 2. As humans, its so easy to fall in love with a human leader that we often can forget...they're men. They fail. They sin. They struggle. Just like me. They are also prone to mistakes. This again is why Christ must continue to be what the church is about, not a model or a leader. In 1 Corinthians, the church was beginning to fall for this. They were dividing over Paul and Apollos. Followers were lining up on both sides. It's then when Paul says..."they're just men who willingly showed up...God did the real work (my paraphrase)." We have to remember to keep the main person, the main person. Church is about Jesus Christ. Christianity is about Jesus Christ alone. Models come and go. Leaders die and fall. One constant remains- Christ.

The sad part is most of the leaders would never want the praise that their followers often give them. They realize that they are just a leader. I always remember Andy Stanley's sermon on leadership when he said, "Leadership is temporary and each will give an account." He used the illustration of Nebuchadnezzar being turned into an animal after thinking his kingdom was of HIS hand. In all reality, it was not. A humble leader realizes that he is along for the ride. God is the engine and the steerings wheel. We are the passenger.

Again, I say all of this as a recovering pastor worshipper. Doug Fields was on my list of people I wanted to meet before I die because I thought he was the only one getting it. Often I would elevate PDYM over God's own word. Doug I could see and hear. I couldn't see God. I was convicted of elevating God's leader as my source and defense for my faith and ministry. Doug wouldn't have approved, this I know. As followers, we must never replace the invisible God with the visible idol. Billy Graham is not God. He is his servant. Falwell is not God. He was his servant. Hybels is not God, Rod Bell is not God, Andy Stanley is not God and Doug Fields is not God. He has given these men temporary leadership that they will give an account for. We can look to them as models, but never as idols.

Satellite Church - the new denominations?

I know I've said my thoughts on churches setting up satellite churches via video rather than training a new pastor to start a new church. I've been thinking and happened to see their are others online thinking the way I am. Aren't satellite churches the new denominations? Think of it. What are denominations? Groups of churches who agree to a doctrinal statement, order and methodology. They are run by a board of leadership.

Satellite churches are groups of churches based on the same doctine as the mother church, the same order as the mother church and same model as the mother church. It even emphasizes the pastor as a figurehead of teaching. In ten years, will we see franchised/satellite denominations? Instead of Presbyterian and Baptist, we'll have LifeChurch and Fellowship Church.

McChurch...the ongoing saga

I'm glad to see that I am not the inventor of this term, but its what I thought of as I've been rethinking church.

McChurch...what does it mean? It's what happens when the church becomes a consumer industry and not a place of spiritual growth. When a church works hard on producing a product and markets those products, then it has created an entertainment business. It is no different than the Christian theater I worked for that was a for-profit institution that considered itself blessed if lives were changed. Making money was its main purpose as an entertainment business. Now the church, with its fancy lighting, movie quality videos, Hollywood acting, Madison Avenue marketing, American Idol music, and high quality motivational speaking has been the template for the modern church. It is believed that If you do these, you will attract hundreds of the lost and that will equal hundreds of converts and thousands of members. SOME churches also interpret this as X-amount of dollars.

How else has the church begun to look like McDonalds?

Franchising. The hot effort for churches is to satellite feed video of services all around the country or the region so people can experience your church miles away. The pastor gets to expand his teaching opportunities to other areas. He himself, becomes a franchise. It's as if he is the only competent teacher. He needs to be promoted in other areas rather than disciple and train another pastor to go in person to serve the area.

Consumer Mindset: A person is trained to go to church to receive not to give. You consume music, video, excitement, and coffee at the cafe in the lobby. It is easy for a person to show up, consume and then go home uneffected. Soon, the person can move into the office of critic when a guest speaker or worship leader "isn't like the other one." I've fallen guilty of criticizing a worship leader for not being as good as another rather than trust the persons heart for worship.

Marketing: considerable time and effort has been placed into marketing church logos, sermon series, and events. There is nothing wrong with advertising things. However, when it become important to make sure your sermons will be favorably accepted or will appeal to a market of people, you have other problems. You are listening to opinion rather than the Spirit who may have you teach something that may very well be offensive. A church seems to be working hard to produce an image of what there church is...cool, culturally relevant, technologically savvy.

Happy Meals: They come with a toy. They are simple food for children. Our sermons are more and more this way. Our "seeker sensitive" churches are nothing more than childcare. We keep feeding the congregation milk, milk and more milk. We keep it simple and run from anything somewhat complex. We wouldn't want to scare off the lost person by talking about something offensive or complex. Our churches are filled with spiritual infants. They don't know where to find books of the Bible, have rarely memorized a verse, don't know where to find scripture to back their beliefs, couldn't tell you what the hyperstatic union is.

Convenience: Church is now measured on convenience. I am a fan of convenience, but it must never be an idol. When I have small attendance because people have chosen football over coming to serve, then I have people with skewed priorities. I know this: Christ isn't convenient. When does he ever ask us to do anything convenient? It almost seems that God aims for the INconvenient. Why? It shows just how committed or dedicated we truly are.

Take Out or Eat In: A restaurant would love for customers to stay in the building. The longer you stay there, the more you buy. Churches are becoming more and more about centralizing their ministry in the building. They encourage you to get your food by eating in. Its just not the same if you "eat" at home on your own. Show up on Sundays and don't eat at home. Not just that, but it seems that the church is doing more to make sure people come to Christ IN the church rather than equipping its people to GO OUT and lead others to Christ outside of church.

Expand! Expand! Expand!: As a church grows and the income grows, the norm is for the money to be put into expanding the building, getting better equipment, etc. What ISN'T being though for the money is how it can be used to reach the community and meet its needs, how it can be used in world missions, how it can be used for the needs inside the church (like the Acts 2 church), or scads of other ideas other than buildings. To quote my dad...invest in men not buildings.

How did Jesus ever minister without powerpoint, videos or a fancy logo? Why do we interpret Acts 2:42 to mean that if we are spending time together and worshipping, that unsaved people will be included in that number and they will convert? Is it possible that the people worshipped together and were so charged about it that they WENT OUT and won others? The big question is: what is church for? Edification of the believers or leading the lost to Christ? Can both paths be balanced and followed? Why are we depending on the church to lead our unsaved friends to Christ? Why are pastors not teaching their people to know God's word?

Politics And Christian Ministry

Politics and Christianity
One of the saddest things in Christianity is that it often mimics the unsaved world in areas that it shouldn’t. After serving in ministries, Christian owned businesses, and other Christian based organizations, I’ve seen a massive problem of politics infiltrating a place that should be void of them. I’ve seen politics in many forms:
1- Nepotism: There is something special about families that go generation to generation serving in the same ministry. It tells a lot about the family upbringing. When it becomes unappealing is when family members are given positions in a ministry or organization simply because they are family. The members are often unqualified, namedroppers, or unappreciative of the hard work it took to build the ministry. Sometimes they are not where they should be spiritually. However, since they were born in the family, they are allowed this high position and no one better question it. I’ve also seen where organizations will change their policies due to a family member living a certain way or doing a certain action.
2- Kissing up: Nothing is more atrocious than an employee who will tell their boss anything they want to hear simply to win the favor of their boss and possibly get a promotion. The employee becomes nothing but a clone of the boss and has no opinion. They are often afraid to share their opinion for fear they will drop in the sight of the employer. They often want to be right by the side of the boss and live in fear of any negative feedback. They also try to outdo their fellow employees. If another employee receives praise, the employee will either try to match it with his actions or will try and set up the praised fellow employee for destruction.
3- Favoritism: Nothing is shallower than a leader who selects favorites based on their compliance to orders. If an employee chooses to disagree with their boss, then the boss will begin to have a vendetta against them. The favorites are receivers of a double standard. Often the rules that apply to a normal employee (conduct, requirements) are not applied to the favorite. They are allowed to slack off, get the easy jobs, or are allowed special privileges. The other employees see this and often disassociate against the favorite employee.
4- Stars In Their Eyes: Politics is often about who you know. I’ve seen leaders who will often forget their job’s responsibilities to snuggle up to celebrities. It seems that there main concern quickly becomes the ability to brag about who they have spent time with, talked to, or have seen. I’ve seen pastors neglect their flock to hang out with the big boys of their ministry or conference. It seems they like being with the people everyone knows. It then continues to be unappealing when the leader likes to brag about whom they have been with to other pastors. It somehow is supposed to earn a level of higher stature or importance because they had been in the presence of someone important.
5- Convenience: As I mentioned before, there are leaders who are given their positions and are totally unqualified for the position. Why do they stay in these positions? Normally, there is a quality about them that their leaders don’t want to lose even though they may be a terrible leader and not fit the job description. A leader may be responsible for networking but is very successful relationally with the employees. His leaders have placed their priority, not on his actual job description, but on what he does well. As a result the organization suffers simply because the leadership has changed their view on what is most important. They organization could be more successful if they hired the right person.
I don’t believe politics is ever a successful way to lead. If anything, it loses respect of your employees or staff and grumblings increase. It also puts personal opinion and preference before the organizations goals. Simply, leaders who use politics don’t want to succeed with their purpose or their mission. They want to build their own personal kingdom by surrounding themselves with people who are loyal, even if the ship is sinking. There is no room for disagreement or ownership by others. The leader wants the sucking up, the glory and the praise of his employees. That has become his mission.
James 2:1-7 says, “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?”
If an organization claims to be Christian or a leader says they run on Christian principles, then they need to run by this passage. How dare we play the favoritism card and say that we are believers. Christ himself never put the popular and famous at the top of the list. He even humbled himself to the place of a servant.