Pragmatism in the Church Today

This from John MacArthur at Pulpit Magazine:

"First, there is in vogue today a trend to make the basis of faith something other than God’s Word. Experience, emotion, fashion, and popular opinion are often more authoritative than the Bible in determining what many Christians believe. From private, individual revelation to the blending of secular psychology with biblical “principles,” Christians are listening to the voice of the serpent that once told Eve, “God’s Word doesn’t have all the answers.” Christian counseling reflects that drift, frequently offering no more than experimental and unscriptural self-help therapy instead of solid answers from the Bible...

All those things are happening slowly, steadily within the church right now. Tragically, most Christians seem oblivious to the problems, satisfied with a Christianity that is fashionable and highly visible. But the true church must not ignore those threats. If we fight to maintain doctrinal purity with an emphasis on biblical preaching and biblical ministry, we can conquer external attacks. But if error is allowed into the church, many more churches will slide down the grade to suffer the same fate as the denominations that listened to, yet ignored, Spurgeon’s impassioned appeal.

Make it your habitual prayer request that the Lord would elevate the authority of His Word, the glory of His Son, and the purity of His people in the evangelical church. May the Lord revive us and keep us far from the slippery slope of pragmatism."

HT: Kim at The Upward Call

Worship or Entertainment?

"Much of what passes for worship today is nothing more than lightly baptized entertainment, and therefore is idolatrous. It is idolatry from which serious churches must distance themselves. Our principle must be (with apologies to Luther): 'Let us, therefore, repudiate everything that smacks of entertainment.' "

THAT is what deeply concerns me about the church today, so I was encouraged to read THIS article today posted by Ligonier.

Our oldest daughter and I are still visiting churches as part of her "Survey of Denominations" course, and we've seen the entertainment factor over and over again--not in all churches, but most (one church used concert-esque 'fog' on it's stage prior to the music team's arrival--I resisted the urge to find a cigarette lighter, hold it high and start stomping my feet on the floor). :-)

There's nothing wrong with 'excellence' in what we do, but in many cases we are forcing our assumptions about worship on the church and failing to hold those assumptions up against God's Word--thus offering man-centered worship rather than God-centered, God-honoring worship.

Where's the Preaching of God's Word?

We have purposefully designed Olga's "Survey of Denominations" course to identify and evaluate various facets of present-day 'man-centered' theology and worship. One of those is the diminishing of preaching God's Word--we note the time devoted to every facet of the worship services we attend, and we note the content of every facet to determine the church's focus and emphasis.

"...the pragmatic and “seeker-sensitive” approaches to contemporary worship because they tend to diminish the proper place of preaching and replace it with quasi-spiritual forms of sheer entertainment (music, comedy, drama, and whatnot). Any trend that threatens the centrality of God’s Word in our corporate worship is a dangerous trend." ~John MacArthur (emphasis mine)

How Do You "DO" Church?

If you 'do' church anything like what is described in
THIS recent post by Phil Johnson at Pyromaniacs then I hope you are afraid--be VERY afraid!

I've been watching the current "church growth" movement since the late 80's--by "current" I mean the "seeker-sensitive" model. It's the model that has now given us this (courtesy of Phil):

1) Polling people to find out what they want and then giving it to them is an unbiblical approach to church growth (2 Timothy 4:2-4).

2) The so-called seeker-sensitive strategy actually stints discipleship.

3) It engenders worldliness and false conversions.

4) In fact, it's filling the church with people who think they are Christians but have no basis for that confidence because they have little or no true understanding of basic gospel truth—and no appetite for studying God's Word on their own.

Do you 'see' yourself in any of those points? Here are some questions I would like to pose for your further consideration:

1) Ask yourself if you have truly grown in your love AND obedience to God over the years, months, days since professing to be a Christian.

2) Are you able to discern worldliness from godliness? Or does it all seem to flow together? For instance, do you recognize a problem with the church service incorporating Bon Jovi's tunes with Luther's hymns? Or, does the 'dance contest' at the beginning of the Wednesday night service cause you to pause and wonder what that possibly might have to do with coming together and worshipping the one true holy God? Have you considered why you prefer the 'fluff' songs/choruses over the deeper and theologically rich hymns or choruses?

3) Do you struggle with the 'assurance' of your salvation? Do you have a Biblical understanding of what salvation requires and what salvation accomplishes?

4) Do you have even a basic understanding of the gospel? An understanding which is readily communicated to others--whether they ask or not?

5) Do you have a growing love for God's word and a desire to study it--for His glory and your spiritual benefit?

I urge you to examine these things and determine whether you have grown dull and complacent in a man-centered 'seeker-sensitive' church rather than a God exalting church where God's Word is boldly proclaimed (I did not say loudly or obnoxiously proclaimed) AND it is applied to YOUR life through the aid of capable and godly teachers.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to post a comment. I'll be glad to interact with any serious comments.

Theology 101 - Man-centered theology

I deplore/detest/despise man-centered theology. Harsh words? Maybe.

But when one considers the natural consequences of a man-centered theology and holds it up against Scripture, he/she too will come to deplore it!

Have I completely rid myself of all "man-centered theology"? No.

But because my greatest desire is to read, understand and know God as He has revealed Himself in His Word, I am confident that He, through His Holy Spirit, is able to thoroughly renew my mind and bring it into submission--that's called, sanctification. It's a long and difficult process, but it is His way and I will rest in that.

What is man-centered theology? Well, first of all it's an oxymoron! Because "theology" is the study of God (see further discussion here), it's very telling how easily man redirects the focus toward himself and away from God! Ahhh, the depraved mind! But, I digress...

A man-centered theology looks at God and asks, "What's in it for me?", "What will I gain from a relationship with the Thrice holy, sovereign creator of the universe?", "How do I explain the things of God without reducing myself?".

Some evidences of a man-centered theology:

God wants me to be wealthy.

God want me to be in good health--always.

God saved me because there was something in/about me "worth" saving.

God saved me because I "accepted" Him.

God owes me a life of ease and comfort.

If I follow a prescribed pattern or formula, God must grant me my wish/desire/demand.

I do not deserve to suffer.

I need (fill-in blank) in order to love God more.

I need (fill-in the blank) in order to serve God.

I must have certain elements available/practiced in order to "worship" God.

I want church/worship to be convenient.

I want church/worship to be entertaining.

I want church/worship to be "relevant".

I go to church because it makes me feel good.

I go to church because I like the music.

I go to church because I have friends there.

I go to church because my children like it.

I go to church because it "gets me through the week".

My God does not (fill-in the blank).

My God would never (fill-in the blank).

The list goes on, but you get the picture.

Man-centered theology makes the fatal error of filtering God's Word through MAN's gird, rather than filtering man's thinking through the grid of God's Word! It's an understandable mistake--we are fallen creatures.

However, those who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ must abandon their human understanding and strive to reconcile their will and understanding to that which has been revealed by God in His Word. THIS is why we need to and must study theology, so that we can understand and will embrace a God-centered theology!

For further thought and consideration follow these links:

God-centered vs. Man-centered Theology

Another Gospel - The dangers of the "seeker-sensitive", man-centered Gospel

Two Views of the Gospel:Man-centered vs. God-centered (chart)

Comparison of God-centered and Man-centered Worship (chart)