Antidote #1, in case you missed it, is this: many church people are prepared for organizational membership in a church, but lack biblical understanding about what it means to be a member of the body of Christ. The institutional approach, with the absence of the relational approach, leads to an unbiblical worldview about what it means to BE church.
The second issue is even more complicated.
Secular culture is consumer driven:
It takes intentional discipline to separate consumer mentality from biblical values.
Without clarity about Kingdom culture, people easily drift toward a consumer orientation about church.
Many churches work hard to make worship and preaching the very best.
Nothing inherently wrong with that!
Worship leaders who are not gifted to lead, often encourage shallow Christians to drift away from worship.
Preachers who are mediocre don’t hold the attention of infant Christians who are looking, subconsciously, for entertainment.
Great worship can be engaging to mature Christians and entertaining to immature Christians.
It is a natural temptation for worship and preaching to become an element of consumer appetite fulfillment.
Here is the surprising antidote #2:
Worship without mission challenge gets consumers bloated.
Even great worship, without challenge, becomes a spiritual form of constipation.
Even Christians can get their consumer appetite satisfied anywhere.
Good preaching is great, but to what end?
Think about antidote #2: as strange as it sounds, people want to be on a mission for God.
Caught in a consumer society, Christians want something different.
There really is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents—and excitement for supernatural accomplishment when YOU are a part of what God is doing—beyond just what God is saying.
When worship leads to action, a church begins to grow…in worship!
The cycle continues: new people coming to Christ and coming into the church ignite more eagerness to be in worship.
Worship that challenges outreach moves beyond our normal consumeristic lives.
Church becomes fun because people are part of the visible results—they experience the power of God.
Christianity moves from head to heart.
And worship attendance increases!
Leave a Reply