4 Disturbing Trends in the Contemporary Church

According to several studies, American evangelicals generally do not know what they believe and why they believe it. Consequently, most share with the wider culture a confidence in human goodness and a weak view of the need for God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ. According to these reports, most evangelicals believe that we are saved by being good and that there are many ways of salvation apart from explicit faith in Jesus Christ.

Here are a few of the disturbing trends that need to be checked and reformed in contemporary church life:

1. We are all too confident in our own words

We are all too confident in our own words, so that churches become echo chambers for the latest trends in pop psychology, marketing, politics, entertainment, and entrepreneurial leadership. We need to recover our confidence in the triune God and His speech, as He addresses us authoritatively in His Word.

2. We are all too confident in our own methods

We are all too confident in our own methods for success in personal, ecclesial, and social transformation. We need to be turned again to God’s judgment and grace, His action through His ordained means of grace.  Continue at Michael Horton

God’s Method for Church Growth

Ask the average Christian why he or she goes to church. It is not for the dynamic praise band, or the convenient parking, or the programs, or whether or not they have a coffee stand, or because the pastor wears the latest fashions, or preaches from his iPad or possesses great leadership skills. Non-Christians may care about those things. The Christian, however, wants to hear the Word of God preached by a man who knows the God of whom he speaks. Who has been in communion with God in prayer and the study of His Word and now comes out to speak to the people. To be fed the Word of God through solid exposition. To worship the Lord with fellow believers singing songs, and hymns, and spiritual songs, encouraging one another and enjoy fellowship with one another.

 

What does the average Christian find on Sunday morning? Usually, cool music, hip clothes, a dizzying array of programs. A lot of songs, a lot of announcements and finally a 30 minute sermonette or devotional. Some personal stories, anecdotes, some jokes, and movie illustrations. And leaves, without being fed and without being nourished. Learning no more than could have been learned at home with a cursory study of the text. Leaving, neither edified, challenged, or convicted. The disgruntled churchgoer is then of course blamed for his or her lack of prayer for the pastor, coming to church for the wrong reasons and for being too critical. And while I am certain that may often be the case, that is only a part of the story.

If you were to look around at the evangelical landscape today you would see a lot of activity. 

You would see churches being planted, growth strategies strategized. Issues such as social justice or politics or how to engage the culture or how to redeem the culture (whatever that means)  are emphasized. Everything centers on man and his felt needs rather than God and His glory as seen through His inerrant Word. All of this creates  impoverished spiritual lives.  Continue at Eric T. Young

Church-Planting and Pragmatism

I remember that evening clearly. It was during the first year of the church-plant. I was on edge, feeling like I couldn’t take it anymore. Through a variety of humbling circumstances, attendance went from 10 to 50 and back to 13. It drove me crazy. In an act of desperation, I insisted our church put on a community dinner ministry, on a different day than our corporate gathering, with hopes that more would come to us. An elaborate meal was made, much money spent, chairs and table set up, and our core-team ready to bombard anyone who came in to “build a relationship.” The time came and no one showed up. I ran into the bathroom, closed the stall door, sat on the toilet, and begged God with a neck-vein-popping prayer to bring someone. I think two or three people came.

And we never saw them again. I was humbled, weak, and desperate for someone to help me get the church off the ground. Our core-team was working tirelessly and faithfully. I was looking for some way, any way, for the church-plant to get traction. And that was precisely the problem. I was looking for a way; I was on my own little hunt through the labyrinth of church-plant methods to just get the thing growing. No, a desire for growth in one’s church-plant is not wrong. But when the goal becomes to get something going, above ordinary faithfulness to be a good servant of Christ Jesus (1 Tim 4:6), we’re off the mark.    Keep Reading...

The Missing Motive