Top 10 (Or More) Reasons Your Church Might Be a Christless Church
There’s a great concern today that the modern evangelical church has, at best, marginalized Jesus Christ in the church or, at worst, kicked him out completely. Below are some “Top 10” (or more) lists on the topic These are not necessarily in order of importance.
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Your pastor wears Hawaiian shirts, jeans, and no shoes. (see my blog post on this). (It’s all about him.)
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Every 5th word in the songs sung at your church is the first person pronoun “I.” (It’s all about me.)
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Your worship music features 16 sets of drums and accompanying videos.. (ditto)
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Singers make “disco noises” during the instrumental interludes. (ditto)
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During the offertory, the singers chant (to drums), “Give a little more to Jesus.” It repeats, but it’s definitely still subtle. (hmmm)
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The church Bible went missing, but nobody notices.
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Videos used to illustrate the sermon points feature two “20-somethings” and one of them is supposed to be God the Father. The tone is light and humorous, of course, and God the Father is a likable, approachable chap. (God is just like us.)
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The church bulletin doesn’t have an “Order of Worship” because that requires too much planning and discourages spontaneity. (You guess.)
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There’s a wishing well in the front of the church with the words “claim it” on the front. (Name it and ……..)
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Jesus tried to get in, but was turned away because he didn’t have enough faith (or an Armani suit). (ditto)
(Humorous, but a little too close to TRUE.)
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Your church believes strongly in “deeds, not creeds.”
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Your church is warm, welcoming, and very inclusive on Sunday mornings. You don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable and not come back.
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The focus of the worship service is on the worshiping (not so much the object of the worship).
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Most of the songs come from the top 20 contemporary Christian charts. “Old” music is frowned upon as potentially boring or reminding people of negative church memories.
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The sermons are topical, practical, and designed to reach people where they are.
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The pastor, many times, uses excellent thematic resources including carefully coordinated leaflets, videos, songs, and one (or few) strategic Bible verse(s).
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My church believes the Bible is an excellent example of how to live your life (within reason).
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Nobody ever feels uncomfortable with themselves because of the sermons at my church.
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Jesus’s name is mentioned often for His example of an exemplary (if not sinless) life.
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God is love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s what’s important.
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Expository, in-depth preaching’s place is in the seminary. Worship is about remembering how much God loves us.
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The church building was purposely designed NOT to look like a traditional church so that seekers would feel more comfortable (none of those negative church connotations).
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Your pastor preaches that Jesus saves – but doesn’t say much about from what.
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Jesus is our friend – that’s all, too! And God is “God-to-me” in our church.
(A little more serious, but far too easy to think up.)
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My church has Christ in its name.
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My church’s belief statement features Jesus prominently.
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Our Prayer Book, Lectionary, etc. centers on God.
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We pray the prayers of scripture (or at least our Prayer Book).
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My church has a long standing tradition of service and charity.
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My church is a friendly, warm, inclusive place (no country club entrance ritual).
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We hold up the fillintheblank catechism.
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My church celebrates the Lord’s Supper weekly if not more often.
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You can feel God’s love everywhere in our church. The people just love one another (unless there’s good reason to gossip).
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My church reinforces my “God-to-me.”
(These don’t necessarily prove that Christ is in your church.)
In conclusion, if you think church is about you, you could be in a Christless church. If your service worships worshipping rather than the creator of the universe, you might be in a Christless church. If the focus of your service is evangelism, you might be in a Christless church. If you think creeds are not all that important, you might be in a Christless church. If your pastor’s sermons don’t lift Jesus up to draw people rather than being relevant, then you might be in a Christless church. If it’s all about feelings, be careful! If there’s not depth in worship, preaching, Sunday School, and service to others, you might be in a Christless, or marginal Christ church.
This topic, rather than being humorous, is deadly serious. It used to be at some mythical time in the past, you could count on evangelical churches to not be Christless.
Actually, the best evidence your church is NOT Christless might just be how much people get offended at the “follishness” of what’s going on there.
Joe Johnston Sr.
P.S., I haven’t read MIchael Horton’s book on the topic yet. When I do, perhaps a little more intellect in another post on this topic. I have, however read this article by Michael in Modern Reformation.
Tags: Bible, Christ, Christian, Christless, evangelical church, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, worship
Filed under: Church Rants
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