The Purpose Driven Christian, Part 3

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under men.”                                                              Matthew 5:13         

          Our Lord tells us in this passage that when we as his people have lost our influence or testimony, we are like the salt that has lost it’s preservative abilities in the world.  The term “foot” literally means to “reject with disdain”. How sad when the world sees us no different than themselves.

          In the May 3, 2004, issue of U.S. News & World Report, an article titled: “Nearer My God To Thee: Their distinctive faith aside, evangelicals acting more and more like the rest of us”. In the article, Boston College political scientist Alan Wolfe had this to say about churches like Saddleback’s Ministry. “…evangelicals are far more shaped by the culture than they are capable of shaping it to their needs”. A case in point is the success of evangelical “megachurches” and huge suburban congregations such as Willow Creek near Chicago. Author Rick Warren’s Saddleback Valley Community Church in California and hundreds of others throughout the country, are aimed at attracting “spiritual seekers” who may be disenchanted with traditional organized religion.

          “The priority is to get them in” says Wolfe, “but to do that you downplay the Christian symbolism. You take the crosses off the church; you put up a Macdonald’s franchise in the lobby.” Sometimes, he says “you don’t even know you’re in church.” The net result, he says, is that “the faithful now are remarkably like everyone else.” 

          How sad that the world sees the Purpose Driven movement is nothing more than an opportunity to have one foot in the world and one foot with Christ. Jesus says no man can serve two masters, because he will hate the one (which is usually the one he should love) and love the other.

Pastor’s Conference

          The conference that pastors go to implements this style to their people through a manual called “Implementing the Purpose-Driven Church”. I have read this and would like to reveal some of it’s teachings:

·        Worship Style - They try to say that their worship style draws large

crowds just like Jesus did in his day. One needs to remember that our Lord drew large crowds because he did three things:

1. He Taught – The common people never got an opportunity to hear God’s word presented in such a way.

2. He Preached – Jesus told them about how they needed to repent for the kingdom of heaven was at hand. The word repent was not found in the Purpose-Driven Life book.

3. He Healed – Jesus healed many people of many diseases and on two occasions fed them. Later, he realized that the large crowds wanted to make him a king because of what he could do for them physically. Then he departed from those crowds.

·        Satisfy the needs of the unbeliever  - This involves things like:

1. Offer children’s classes at the same time as the service – I know that a lot of people are content with this, but it is dividing the family when it comes to worship. Churches today are making it a rule not to let children in the sanctuary. Our family was visited by the leader of a church we used to attend and were told that our children were not allowed to be with us during the main service.

2. Speed up your service –Nothing will quench the spirit more than speeding up to get done. Our family went to a service where a very famous preacher was speaking. After an hour and a half of music, the preacher got up and felt because of time, maybe he should not speak, but went ahead. Every few minutes, he would apologize for taking time to share God’s word.

·        Music is the #1 positioning factor for your church. Nothing

determines who you will reach like your music – This is probably the most dangerous teaching. The preaching of God’s word is the most determining factor, not worldly music. In the Gospels,it only records them singing once and it was a hymn. Jesus did not place music as an important part of his ministry. The world does. Especially with rock music. They conclude that the goal is to communicate with music so that the unbelievers can understand. They have forgotten that church is for God’s people and he adds to it through his principles.

·        “Targeting your community for Evangelism” – This session actually teaches that churches should look for those of a certain type. They even quote scripture that Jesus went to only Israel, but again this was a twisted interpretation. Now that the Bible is complete we are to go after “whosoever”, not a “Saddleback Sam”. They say to look for the following:

1. Someone who is well educated

2. A person who feels health and fitness are high priorities for him

3. Someone who would rather be in a large group than a small one.  This is because in large groups one can get lost in the crowd, less chance of being singled out.

4. He is skeptical of organized religion

5. He prefers the casual and informal over the formal. 

          Jesus targeted only those who were seeking Him.

Visiting a Purpose Driven Church

                    Recently my wife and I visited a local church that had just become a Purpose Driven Church. The following is what we observed:

1.     Walking up to the church, we could see people still sitting in their vehicles listening to sounds that were to the point of being demonic.

2.     The pews were removed and replaced by thick cushioned chairs. By the end of the service, they were putting many to sleep!

3.     The instruments that were present were the same you might find in a rock band. The drums were barricaded by a glass wall to lower the sound, but it did little because it was still very loud.

4.     The choir sang one song that if you closed your eyes you would think you were anywhere but in a church.

5.     Hymns were sung, but altered to a secular-beat style.

6.     The preaching we found sound and the speaker was very good. His original message was being rescheduled and his new message was that of “warning of compromise.” I wondered if he was not in agreement with what the church was doing. 

Conclusion

           When we look at all the evidence, there can be but one answer to this: This is Compromise!  When the Lord spoke to the Churches of Asia Minor, he found that five of the seven had compromised in less than 30 years of existence. Eventually, all of the seven churches were destroyed and now there are less than 2,000 Christians there. This is the churches biggest downfall. It is compromise.

          There is nothing wrong with the things that are good. It is only the philosophies that are changing the church that will destroy her. Let us learn from the First Century church.

          They were so different than those that were unbelievers. They either stood clear from the church or they were so drawn to their light that they became Christians. It was then that God added to the church.

          The answer to church growth is not making it easier for the “un-churched”, but making it more uncomfortable for them. Many will leave, but the ones who stay will be the ones who will stand the test of time.

            When the Lord dealt with me, it was because of what Christians had that I didn’t, not because we looked alike. Other brothers in the Lord say the same thing. What has made “traditional” church decline is not the building or the programs, but God’s people who are living compromising lives. This is what needs to change, not the style.

May the Lord direct those who read this, to consider

His ways and not the ways of the world.