The Church and The World Like Different Stuff

I listened to a “secular” podcast where four guys, three of whom claimed to be religious (one was Jewish, one Muslim, and one Christian), said in this messed up world, our churches should be full.

I’ve heard this before. Jordan Peterson says something similar. The idea being that church should be upholding a different vision, one that is hopeful and helpful. In this dark world, the church should be shining bright.

I agree with the criticism that the church is not shining brightly in our day. We’ve watered down the Gospel and bought into many of the world’s lies. Our drift into immorality is all but a determined swim at this point.

At the same time, I think the churches should be full statement is based on a self-help understanding of Christianity. The idea is that churches and Christianity should help people achieve their dreams. People will come if they think it’s practical in helping them get what they want.

The real truth is that the more faithful to the Gospel the church becomes and the brighter its light, the more people will hate it. Men love the darkness and hate the light.

I think our churches are too full. Or rather, I think most of the fullest churches today have given in to the self-help version of Christianity.

They’ve invented a gospel that appeals to people’s flesh.

People tend to forget that when God Himself lived on this earth, humanity killed Him.

Yes, I think the church should be doing better, I think it should be proclaiming the Gospel faithfully and plainly. But I do not believe for a second that this will result in filled churches.

Nothing in church history or the Bible leads me to think this. Yes, there were momentary crowds, but none of them were sustained over any length of time, and none of them were ever treated as the goal. Being popular in this world is rarely a good thing.

The world thinks religion is a crutch, it’s a thing you use to get where you’re going. I don’t like where the world is going and would prefer my church to not be a place that helps it get there!

The church proclaims the Gospel and the preaching of the word. Attendance is irrelevant. The judgments of the world upon the church are irrelevant since most don’t understand what the point of the church or the Gospel is—conformity to Christ, that one guy the world killed.

Preach the word, in season and out. That’s it. Do that. If you do that, don’t expect a full church.

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