A Rant

Working in the public school system has enabled me to relax and get some work done this week. Now this work may not be tangible, quantifiable "work" but more along the lines of reading articles and seeing what is going on in the evangelical/Christian world. I use the term evangelical lightly because it has come under the disdain of many Christians, myself included. Not that I disagree with everything labeled evangelical but there are many things that greatly annoy me.
One thing is an article I read today about a church known as the 6th most influential church in America. How they came up with that, I have no clue. Regardless, this church and its senior pastor have the endorsements of Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and a few more of the prominent evangelical leaders of America. I came across this church by way of reading an article/podcast of the senior pastor blaming his congregants for their lack of a biblical worldview. They were surveyed and it was concluded their lack of belief in salvation through Christ alone, biblical inerrancy, and a few other Christian tenets. The pastor went on to say that the blame is theirs for not believing these things. His solution to the problem? A few more minutes added to the service to bolster their faith. Even better, they were going to provide more time for parking at the church so people wouldn't hate each other. No mention of any form of discipleship or biblical teaching. He didn't take any of the blame as the pastor. He is the shepherd of the church and should be the one leading them into biblical truth. This, of most importance, is the reality of Jesus' salvation. He is alive today and is the sole means of redemption. If your church is not solidly founded on this then what in the world are you believing?
The problem is their lack of gospel truth. They are proud to be a seeker sensitive church, but to what ends? To bring people into the church where they continue in their unbelief? To have a church full of people stagnant in their spiritual conditions? I even went to the website and looked at a few of their "Teaching Highlights." The name of Jesus wasn't even mentioned. Their pastors' bios look more like little boys having a peeing contest. They are full of credentials and statements of their own praise. What in the world is going on?
The church needs to be a place of teaching and preaching to the believers present in order for them to reach their worlds. You empower them at church to send them out to the lost. Now, obviously, non-Christians come to church and we need to be aware of them. But we can't water down the gospel in order to meet the needs of them. What does that produce? A bunch of people who don't know the first thing of their condition or what the Bible says about life. We must preach the hope of Christ and how he gives us life and life abundantly. Then we missionally and incarnationally live that out in our neighborhoods, at work, etc. It's not a matter of mode of preaching; it's a matter of substance. Preach the Triune God and allow him to work. It's not about us and our credentials. It's about making disciples who live out their faith in our world.