When churches jump the shark

[Dr. Bob]

Dr. Bob, I may have missed one, but I don't recall finding a single recorded conversion in the NT was inside a church meeting at the time.

Matter of fact, there is no record of an unregenerate person being inside a church for worship either.

At Corinth it mentions them meeting and if an unbeliever "comes through" where they met and heard the cacophony of tongues, they might think the Christians crazy. (Hey, even us believers see Benny Hinn and think that!!)

We are to proclaim Christ with a credible witness, verified by our lives, not just our lips. Today, someone knocks on my door and asks to talk to me about religion, I always leave them there and excuse myself, saying I'll be back in a couple minutes after sacrificing a goat. They seem anxious to leave.

 

[gb93433]

How can one who is not born again worship God? That seems to be an impossibility. What we do see in the NT is those who have come into meetings to make trouble for the believers later.

 

[saturneptune]

The lengths that churches will go to to reach the level of coolness that they think is necessary to reach the young, new age crowd is pathetic. If churches would become more interested in seeing the world converted instead of patronized, maybe we could see more lost souls being saved. :BangHead:

I agree with you 100% (believe it or not, maybe we could enter this in Ripleys). I have seen some crazy things, and for all they produced, we might as well have put up a free beer sign to attract people. Here are some of the most common ones I have seen that have absolutely no Scriptural merit.
1. Pack a pew Sunday
2. High attendance Sunday
3. Ask a neighbor to church Sunday
4. Pot Luck Sunday
5. Revival Week with advertisements pointing out the music and speaker

This is mild compared to the carnival tactics that go on at some of the local larger churches, most who have dropped the Baptist name. Some are outrageous, such as showing the Super Bowl on a large screen TV in the sanctuary and cancelling the service. It goes on and on.

The best thing one can do is to in some fashion participate in outreach and visitation, talk to folks, and let the Holy Spirit do His work. Numbers and goals to me border on hostility to the work of the Lord. Our number one reason for existing as a church is to tell others about Jesus. That means face to face, one on one, not the ignorant schemes thought up by ignorant people.

Also, it is also my opinion that an outreach that results in swapping already existing church members accomplishes nothing. We are there to tell a lost and dying world about Jesus. I really think lots of churches have forgotten the number one reason we are a local church. We get so wrapped up in committees, music, numbers, fellowship suppers, who is going to drive the van, that we forget that there is a lost and dying world out there. Sure, worship, praise, Bible study, praying, visiting the sick, etc, is all a part of the work of the Lord, but not at the expense of the number one reason, not only that we exist as a church, but why the Lord put us here in the first place.