They rival the growth projections of Starbucks. In fact some of of them have a Starbucks! It's the massive church growth syndrome.
Almost every major city has it's "mega-churches". They are on TV and Radio. They are on Billboards and posters. They host concerts and car cruises and strive to put thousands under the roof for services. On the surface this seems great. There are places much worse one could choose to spend time. Still at the end of the day what's the point? How many of them really (I mean really) preach and teach the Word of God?
The church growth movement has steered us off track. In order to attract big crowds and increase membership numbers, the true Gospel message has been reduced to entertainment. There's no room for the Holy Spirit and there is no room for prayer in our user-friendly church services. What the people really need to know is the truth found in the Word of God and not a feel-good message that tickles their ears.
I spent a good 15 mins. on Saturday listening to a secular radio station discuss a car cruise at a local mega church. Normally the programming on this station consists of sex talk and locker room humor. It was the word "pastor" that caught my ear as I scanned the dial.
I love a good car cruise and I'm all for reaching out to the un-churched, but it seems to me that the mission had long been forgotten.
In the Bible, the book of Revelation warns churches against a watered-down approach to worship and ministry. Our generation is a generation like the apostate church spoken of in Revelation 3:15-16. Lukewarm pretty much describes the Christian culture in America today and therein lies the problem. While church numbers are growing, real Christians are as numerous as a T-Rex.
I'm really quite tired of hearing about evangelical "mission trips". You don't need to jet off to some third world country. The largest mission field is sitting in our churches every Sunday. Teachers must first learn the subject. So many people go to church but wander blindly through life content with a latte' and the latest Christian music CD. The numbers prove a whole lot of nothing.
No comments:
Post a Comment