(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column of those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Augusta Press.)
A casual perusal of recent history will reveal that it has not been too many years since the Church really made a difference in the way society conducted itself. The public needed a moral compass, and the Church was it. When evil and immorality reared its ugly head, the Church was the first to confront it and more often than not, was successful in dealing with the problem thereby protecting the moral and spiritual climate of society. It was the Church, along with Godly parents, which taught the people what was morally right and socially acceptable. She was viewed as a vital part of the culture while at the same time remaining separate from it to the point that she would be able to influence that culture in a Godly fashion.
It was the Church, and Godly parents who had themselves been taught by the church, that set the standards for what was good and prudent behavior. She held high the standards of decency which are today being cast aside. People knew it was wrong to live together without being married. They knew that homosexuality was wrong as was profanity and drunkenness. People were warned about the sins of sexual license and pornography. They were told that these things were wrong. And, when someone stepped over the line and violated what was considered proper spiritually, morally and ethically, the church, as the spiritual Body of Christ who himself must do the forgiving, was the institution of society to which they went for forgiveness. They automatically knew that it was the church which set the standard and that it was to the church that they must go in order to set things right. There is no redemptive power in social, civic or educational organizations and people knew this. For redemption and peace they automatically turned to the church. It is the Church, and only the Church, which has the message of redemption which truly changes lives and saves souls. No other institution or organization has this vital message or the ability to apply it.
In this postmodern era in which we live the situation is quite different and it will continue to get worse unless the Church re-claims some of the high ground it has given up to the world. People now place as much or more confidence in the government and its social programs to provide answers for life as they do the church. In fact, to the average person today, the postmodern church is little more than just another organization present in society. It is a good organization, but to them, it is just that; another social organization which is supposed to make people feel good about who they are. The true message of the Church is too straightforward for people who have absorbed the postmodern frame of thought on how life should be lived. They will not tolerate the actual message of Scripture because they have been taught that it is too narrow and demanding. Not only is it too demanding for them, it is also too demeaning. It violates their right be the person they want to be as prescribed by the politically correct, postmodern culture in which we now live.
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The devastating thing is that the Church has largely accepted this diminished role in society as the proper one for it to fulfill in these days. She has done this for several reasons. First, it is simply easier to fit in and let society define who the church is and where and how she should conduct herself. It’s the “Oh well, I’ll just do all I can do under the present circumstances and I can do no more.” This frame of mind simply rewards the lazy and uncommitted. In their minds it exonerates them from the call to make a difference. Churches like this have simply given up while at the same time trying to appear holy. Somehow, I do not think that this is what Jesus had in mind when He said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Secondly, the church in the postmodern world is being intimidated into subjection. It seems that the only people who do not have complete freedom of speech today are the preacher and the church at large. For fear of losing their tax-exempt status many men of God have capitulated to the postmodern god called the federal government. I don’t find that behavior in scripture. Suppose Elijah or Daniel or Jeremiah had taken that viewpoint? Can you just hear them saying to God; “Well, you must understand God, the king won’t put up with that.” So, the church today is timid about the crucial things to which it should speak with boldness. She is religiously fulfilling a perfunctory role in society while becoming weaker and weaker all the time. Where are the men and the churches who will stand up and say with Bible in hand, “Thus saith the Lord God?” If ever a society needed a church to lead it spiritually, morally and ethically, this one does and the church, led my men who are afraid of their shadows, is not filling the bill. When did the ACLU become stronger than the Church? I’ll tell you when; it was when the Church forgot to place its trust in God and His Word to the point that she is intimidated into subjection. It has happened only when God’s people allowed it to happen. The world does not mind what the church does as long as she does it within the walls of the sanctuary on Sunday. They just don’t want us to bring it outside the sanctuary walls and impact society. That’s when they get excited and begin to blow and hiss about how wrong it is for the church to force its opinions on others. “Just stay in the sanctuary and we will tolerate you, but if you come outside then we will violently oppose you.” We must regain our boldness and stand up for our Christian faith or we will slowly lose it by degrees which, incidentally is already happening. We no longer live in an environment which is basically accepting of Christianity and it will finally eliminate us altogether unless God’s people once again become bold and claim the high moral and spiritual ground granted to us by the Lord Jesus himself.
Thirdly, the church has become powerless in this age because she desires to become like the society in order to be pleasing to it. The approach which pleases the world and tickles its fancy is totally opposite to what Jesus said the situation should be. He said we were going out as Lambs among the wolves. The only way a lamb ever satisfied a wolf was to become its meal and the world, the flesh and the devil would love to devour us. Also, the marketing of the church is not Biblical. Jesus said, “I will build my church”. What we must do is to be faithful in proclaiming the gospel and witnessing to the lost as well as ministering to the Saints. Then, we must depend on the Lord to add to the church. This whole marketing concept cannot be found in the Bible and I don’t think it pleases God one bit. What it is saying is that we know how to make the church “successful” and Jesus doesn’t, by Himself, get the job done. The world will love and attend a church which poses very little or no challenge to its way of life. These people are led to believe that if they simply attend church they will be acceptable to God. If, when they leave the church building, they feel good about what they have done, then God must certainly be pleased with it. Their whole concept of worship is that if it makes them feel good and complete that it was obviously the kind of worship God desires and that it will bring his blessings and exoneration from sin. This is the postmodern, pragmatic frame of mind which says that if the desired result is achieved, then the process must have been acceptable. Nothing could be further from the truth. When the bar is lowered enough, then the world will find no difficulty in stepping over the bar and attending a particular church. They will not be challenged by anything which is said or done. Yes, the world will flock to such a church, but when they do, then that is exactly what that church has; a church full of the world. This writer still believes that what we do in our worship must, to some degree, mirror the gravity of what took place on the cross. The reason for this is that without the cross we have no reason to be in worship at all. Jesus did not say, “It is finished, now go and have yourselves a good time.” To the degree that a church or denomination modifies itself in order to be acceptable to the world, they will cease to have the power to make a difference in the lives of the people in society. If we look, sound and act similarly to the way the world acts, then what testimony do we have and what advice can we give to them? We can’t win them out of the world if we are in the world with them. Christians must live in the world but we are not suppose to be of the world.
We have become, and are in the process of becoming just another organization as the world views them. The supernatural nature of the church is being stripped away and we are letting it happen and yes, even abetting it. The question must be asked: If we continue to go in the direction we have charted over the past thirty years, what will our children and grandchildren think of the church in the coming years and, more importantly, how much will they value it’s message?
As Paul says in Romans 13: 8-14, we must do two things. We must WAKE UP and we must CHANGE CLOTHES. We have no business looking and acting and sounding like the world. The contemporary movement which is now so in vogue must remember something. The word “contemporary” literally means “temporary” and that is exactly what satan wants us to be…..temporary. This movement is flighty, shallow and appeals to the whims of worldly people who have lost the vision of what the church is or what she is suppose to be. A large portion of the church attenders are there for themselves and not for God whether they will admit it or not and we must remember that our worship is for God and not for us. He is the one who should be the focus of all we do in worship and not our own gratification. The modern-day church attenders are the ones who demand to be pleased or they will go somewhere else. They are consumers, not contributors and the church cannot be built on such a foundation. This contemporary movement is nothing more than the result of people marketing the church, manipulating the environment and appealing to a shallow generation in order to build numbers and prestige. It creates a church with a split personality as the new, contemporary crowd slowly tries to take the direction of the church away from the solid people who founded it. More than one church has experienced this problem and the resulting split.
There is much more that could, and indeed, should be said about all of this, but I think that by now the point is well taken. Many people will not totally agree with me on my assessment of the situation, but I have arrived at where I am by carefully examining what is happening in today’s church and comparing that with what the Bible says about who and what we are. I will stick by my conclusions which are based on nearly fifty years of experience with the Lord’s Church as a Pastor and Preacher. I think that history will prove I am right. Yes, we are living in the era of The Devastating Affect of A Post- Modern Church.
Wm. F. Harrell
Reverend William (Bill) Harrell has been in ministry 48 years. He served as the pastor of Abilene Baptist Church in Martinez, GA for over 30 of those years. He can be reached at wfh@williamfharrell.com. You can also check out his blog at www.williamfharrell.com
