George Barna's annual survey of American Churches came out today and the news it not so good. From this report I feel we are truly beginning to see the long downward spiral of the modern day church (MDC). We are beginning to see such an infiltration of bad and irreverent theology taking over churches and no one is either capable to defend the gospel or they have already left. Why? Because for so many years now we have been focused on rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We are more interested in being entertained, than growing in biblical knowledge of the Truth. We are more interested in being "busy" than believing or developing faith. We are more interested in personal relationships with others than a personal relationship with our God and Savior. We are overly consumed with celebration than real genuine worship. We want a theology that allows us to continues in our sins, but yet still be "righteous". We want religion over relationship with God - truly searching for the deep things of God as the Holy Spirit does. We're more focused on attracting the world (Seeker Sensitive), than attracting the Holy Spirit. We want a "venue" rather than a sanctuary. We want "priests of popularity" rather than being a priest unto ourselves. We want convenience rather than persecution. We want self rather than God!The more and more I see what the church has become the more it grieves my heart for my Lord. I am truly at a point where I think the modern day church IS the problem!
Excerpts from Barnas Report:
They are also reformulating the popular notion of what the Christian life means. Traditional activity such as integrating discipline and regimen in personal faith development is becoming less popular; repeating the same weekly routines in religious events is increasingly deemed anachronistic, stifling and irrelevant; and rigidity of belief, including the notion that there are absolute moral and spiritual truths, is perceived by many young people as evidence of closed-mindedness.
"They lack a consistent and holistic understanding of their faith," he said.
New faith practices that are now in vogue include pursuing spiritual diversity in conversations and relationships; embracing racial diversity and tolerance; valuing interpersonal connections above spiritual education; blending all forms of the arts and novel forms of instruction into religious events; and accepting divergent forms of spiritual community.
No comments:
Post a Comment