On Messy Churches and Few Janitors
By John MacArthur, originally posted at GraceToYou Blog
You don’t have to be an astute observer of the evangelical scene to notice the unrelenting barrage of outlandish ideas, philosophies, and programs. Never in the history of the church has so much innovation met with so little critical thinking.
Giving a thoughtful biblical response becomes harder and harder all the time. Merely sorting through all the evangelical trends and recognizing which of these novelties really represent dangerous threats to the health and harmony of the church is challenging enough. Effectively answering the huge smorgasbord of accompanying errors poses an even greater dilemma. New errors sometimes seem to multiply faster than the previous ones can be answered.
To sort it all out in a godly way, cutting a straight path through the wreckage of evangelicalism, several old-fashioned, Christlike virtues are absolutely essential: biblical discernment, wisdom, fortitude, determination, endurance, skill in handling Scripture, strong convictions, the ability to speak candidly without waffling, and a willingness to enter into conflict.
Let’s be honest: those are not qualities the contemporary evangelical movement has cultivated. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Consider the values and motives that prompt postmodern evangelicals to do the things they do. The larger evangelical movement today is obsessed with opinion polls, brand identity, market research, merchandizing schemes, innovative strategies, and numerical growth. Evangelicals are also preoccupied with matters such as their image before the general public and before the academic world, their clout in the political arena, their portrayal by the media, and similar shallow, self-centered matters.
Maintaining a positive image has become a priority over guarding the truth.
The PR-driven church. Somewhere along the line, evangelicals bought the lie that the Great Commission is a marketing mandate. The leading….
Read the rest of this article by clicking HERE to go to John MacArthur’s blog over at Grace to You.
Source: http://whatiftexas.com/?p=313
“Giving a thoughtful biblical response becomes harder and harder all the time. Merely sorting through all the evangelical trends and recognizing which of these novelties really represent dangerous threats to the health and harmony of the church is challenging enough. Effectively answering the huge smorgasbord of accompanying errors poses an even greater dilemma. New errors sometimes seem to multiply faster than the previous ones can be answered.”
Very useful article…thanks
It Seems like in these last days, the enemy has been given the permission and power (if you will) by God to just plain have at ‘er! It seems to me that it’s sky’s the limit for him and he’s not wasting any time. In no other time in the church’s history has there been so much leaven introduced into the body and in no other time has so much leaven been welcomed! The enemy doesn’t have to broadside us with a frontal attack anymore, neither does he have to be sneaky, he has just walked in and set up shop and the so-called Christians are his best customers. Sad, sad, sad…