I read an article today that said 29% of Americans no longer have a religious affiliation and that 32% seldom or never pray; the first percentage noted has gone up by 6% in five years and the second up 18% in 14 years. Millennials are said to be the ones causing the shift away from organized religion.
The percentages found here may not seem that high, but the fact that they are increasing is still sad to hear. We are shifting far from God, and it is getting worse every day.
The author interviewed a pastor on how she was combatting this sad reality; she stated that her church emphasizes spirituality over scripture and campaigns for political issues, including the pro-choice movement.
Since Millennials are now flocking to her church, this approach must be working. But this is a mockery of God; Christianity is not something that needs to be peddled.
The Word of God Doesn’t Need Improvement
According to 2 Timothy, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17.)
If you notice, Paul does not say that scripture helps make one feel good about their life choices. As a church, we must stop cherry-picking the Bible to fit our desires.
I am sure at one time or another, all of us have been guilty of this; because our sinful nature wants what it wants. We find scriptures to help justify our decisions, or we decide to skip over some verses because they don’t fit our desires, but this is wrong.
Because scripture is from God, altering the message in the Bible to gain members to your congregation is not worth it. We should place nothing above scripture. An injustice is being done to ourselves, each other, and God by denying the power and strength of scripture.
Stop trying to Glamorize Christianity
We need less focus on making Christianity look glamorous and more on becoming what makes it appealing, Christ-like behavior; this is when Christianity will become glamorous. Being the reflection of Jesus is the thing that will draw people to the church.
People were healed around Jesus, set free, given purpose, and loved unconditionally; they were drawn to his authority and held captive by his open arms.
He was authentic, loved his Father, and put him first; He denied the devil’s voice any right and fled from sin. His time spent on earth showed everyone who God was, and his purpose in death allowed us to draw near to the Father.
Jesus told his disciples that they would do greater works than he did; this also applies to Christians today; the church is supposed to be the hands and feet of Christ; we should be the vessel for miracles and the spout from which God’s love flows.
The World Needs the Jesus Kind of Love
We should be an example of what real love is and not this watered-down love of today. Jesus was love, but he also spoke the truth; He didn’t water it down but spoke it boldly.
He called people hypocrites, drove people out of the temple for disrespecting it, called sin out, and preached till exhaustion. Jesus did all of this because true love rebukes. Jesus was never silent about sin but the church is. He called the Samaritan women at the well out for having five husbands and living with a man, not her husband.
Although He did not accuse her, he did bring it to light. Jesus offered her his love, but he did not sweep her sin under the rug. In the same way, the church must stop sweeping sin under the rug. It is right to call abortion murder, but it is also correct to love the unwed mother and offer her help and options. We have gone from two different degrees over the years; extreme condemnation to absolute acceptance. But there is a middle ground between acting holier than thou and saying you do you cause God still loves you. As a church, we must find this middle ground.
In Conclusion
If we want to draw people to the church, we need to fall back in love with God and the Bible. He needs to become our number one focus and pleasing him our first priority. Even in those situations where pleasing him means speaking the truth even if it is uncomfortable and loving people by our actions even if it is inconvenient.
Recognizing and respecting the Bible as 100% truth is something we must get back to, along with studying it for ourselves with open hearts. Willing to be convicted and not justified. If we do not believe the very thing we base our beliefs on to be 100% true, why do we believe any of it?
Keith White says
Your words are so true, watering down the Word is no way to try and and bring people into the Church. Thank you for bringing this up.