Where We're Going? Or Where We Are?

I read, recently, of a Church where the pastor and probably all of the 30 or 40 Staff Members have no Bible College or Seminary training. Where the leadership is learning as they go and where The Bible is viewed more as theory than settled truth.

Individuals are challenged to figure out for themselves what it means. Their worship is not focused on the sovereign, holy majesty of the ineffable God Who rules over the affairs of men, but rather the needs, attitudes and interests of those who attend.

It's man-centered and contemporary.
It's laid-back and "real."
It's populated by seekers, observers and hangers-on.

And the conservative messages presented are not propositional. They do not propose a response from the hearer. Rather they are offered as information, personal testimony and suggestions for serious thought. Folks are left to decide for themselves what these words mean "To Them."

The music is loud and emotionally intense. The environment more like a Night Club or Concert Hall than a Cathedral. And no one cares how anyone dresses or what they might believe.

Oh, and they have 5000 people gathering every Sunday to experience this form of church.

It's a sham and a hoax. But it satisfies the human heart's desire for worship. It's just not the Bible idea of Church. It's an expression of will-worship. And at least one person who attends regularly has said that should the pastor leave, the whole thing would collapse.

Of course, this is not the story of all churches. There are still groups of Christians who gather in the name of Jesus to humble themselves before God and worship in spirit [with their spirit, not with sensual expressions] and in truth [the way God prescribes, rather than their own ideas].

What of them? They are generally smaller, and getting even smaller, and they're membership is aging. The Youth-Culture is not interested in Bible Doctrine nor in submission to God. Maybe because their heart is far from Him.

I say that, not judgmentally, but because these free-wheeling, contemporary mega-churches are not known for preaching The Gospel of Repentance from sin and Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And because the human heart, in it's natural condition, cannot understand spiritual things [I Cor. 2:14], nor are they interested [Rom. 3:11-12]