Churches Work on their Message

A news story by Stephanie Simon and Suzanne Sataline from the Wall Street Journal (July 3, 2008) reported on the Pew Research Report survey about the state of the church in America. The Journal's report focused on potential flaws in the Pew survey because the questions were so nebulous in nature. However, the report has not told us what we have not been experiencing for some time. If you've been in a local evangelical church for the last 30 or so years, you have seen massive changes in the methods of ministry.

The challenge that faces the church, according to the article, is how churches and in particular pastors can get "their message" out without offense. "Most individuals think the truth can be what they want it to be," said R. Albert Mohler, "That represents a tremendous challenge." Indeed it does. The gospel is about one Savior who demands exclusive trust in his work for acceptance with God. It's a message that is entirely unacceptable in the brave new world of tolerance for all.

The article pointed out that while Protestant churches "are firmly rooted in Christianity," the "messages (never sermons) [are] jazzed up with video clips and hard-rocking nine-piece praise bands. . .They offer weekly Bible-study classes and make clear in their statement of faith that Jesus is the only way to heaven. But the sermons tend to be buoyant, hip and dedicated to self-help themes, rather than theology." Odd that a secular newspaper would have enough insight to point that out!

According to the Journal, the survey that surprised Willow Creek leadership last year has gotten at least one pastor of a California mega-church to plan to put more emphasis on Scriptural understanding in his sermons. The California mega-church pastor admitted, "We as a church have let [Christians] down . . . I feel a great responsibility to equip them better."

The authors of the article then raised what I believe to be a straw man argument: "This renewed determination to bring the flock more firmly into the fold raises other questions. If pastors hammer home the message that theirs is the one true path, will that encourage prejudice and intolerance -- 'will it necessarily bring more finger-pointing attacks?' asked Robert Millet, who teaches Mormon doctrine at Brigham Young University at Utah." The authors feared that perhaps this renewed vigor on the exclusive message of the gospel will invite pastors and church leaders to "clamp a lid on spiritual exploration."

We should welcome the awakened sense in pastors who may be coming out of their hang-overs from having imbibed deeply at the wells of church-marketing techniques for so long. Like Os Guinness said, if you are going to dine with the devil you need a long fork. For pastors who are coming around to their responsibility to faithfully preach the gospel every week and to feed the flock for which Jesus died, we must praise the Spirit of God and give Him thanks. God will not leave himself without a witness in the world; even in America. For those pastors who have gone completely unnoticed and sometimes endured harsh criticism from their congregations for not being "seeker sensitive" or "mega" enough, you are to be commended for not leaving your post.

Given these rays of light in the recent year and in light of the movement of young men flocking to conferences like T4G, we should devote ourselves to pray that God's Spirit will revive his church in America. Perhaps there will then come a clear delineation between the church and the world. Perhaps we will see the gospel spread, sin taken seriously, God's Word loved and the saints devoted to each other. Perhaps then we will also see fewer and fewer of the kinds of newspaper display ads that I cut out of the Denver Post just about a week ago that seem to want to push the envelop. In the middle of the movie page was an ad for a new church in downtown Denver. The caption read: "Why is this Man Wearing a Fig Leaf?" Indeed, the pastor of the church, pictured standing in front of the Denver Capitol building with a smiling passer-by in the background, was in a semi-crouch holding a giant fig leaf in one hand to cover himself, and with his other hand covering his breast. The ad included the name of the pastor and his new fall sermon series: "Good News from the Garden of Eden."

The good news from the Garden to the ascension is that Jesus has crushed the head of the serpent and God has gotten himself a people who were not a people.

Be of good cheer,
Bob