For years, a dull heaviness has lingered in my heart regarding the direction of church-life in America. Some of those concerns have made their way into my preaching/writing in small amounts, but I’ve purposely avoided focusing on them. However, during sermon prep this week, I read a quote that articulates those thoughts exactly, and I must share it. Be warned though, it may cause you to start asking questions that have unsettling answers. Are you ready? Here it is:
“…the church is so much like the world that the world takes little notice of what we do. We imitate the world’s methods; we cater to the world’s appetites; we solicit the world’s approval; and we measure what we do according to the world’s standards. Is it any wonder that we don’t gain the world’s respect?” – Warren Wiersbe
May those of us in church-life today across America commit ourselves to be the generation that made that quote no longer true.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world s passing away, and the lust in it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” – John 2:15-17 NKJV
cchrisholland 
So true, so relevant.
Back in 2012, before I “parted company” with the “American institutional church”, I was already becoming restless, uncomfortable with the way we’ve always done church, the way I’ve always been taught to do it. I think the Church in America does much good, as the Gospel “never returns void”, but I’ve felt for some time that our edifices and congregations really don’t resemble the New Testament ones very much.
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