The Dawn of Christ-less Churches
Facebook has a way of reconnecting us with those we knew long ago. A few years ago, I received a friend request from someone I knew well over thirty years ago but have not had any contact since. Over the last couple of years, I’ve watched this person’s posts evolve from aggressively anti-Trump to aggressively anti-evangelical to aggressively anti-church to aggressively anti-God. Rather than engage or block his posts, I’ve chosen to watch and observe the growing number of people liking and sharing his posts, reading their comments and learning what I can about their perspective and the rationale behind such thinking.
Last week, he shared a post by a self-identified Christian who was calling other Christians to focus less on belief and more on loving and serving. I understood the passionate perspective behind the original post, but it was my friend’s comments that smacked me right in the nose. He said,
“THIS!!! I could support a church that pushes that God s_ _ _ aside and just helps people who need help.”
He's asking for a Christ-less church! And he’s not alone! Dozens of his friends clearly agreed and supported his comment. What was more shocking is that by clicking on the profiles of those supporting his comment, I found that several were also quite proud of their church memberships. Sit with that a moment – Unbelievers are asking for a church that will push God aside and simply help people who need help; and several members of churches are agreeing! Before you assume that this is happening in some far away liberal state, let me assure you that almost every single person involved with that post lives in south Georgia, the heart of the Bible Belt!
Our enemy is on the move, and he’s not trying to persecute or eliminate the American church. Instead, he’s conforming American Christianity, church by church, to the world by creating a series of Godless, and therefore powerless, community centers with crosses – with members known as good, loving people who help those needing help without any mention of Jesus.
I know. You’re thinking, “Surely that could never happen in our church. We’re a strong Bible-teaching, Christ-proclaiming community of believers.” But it doesn’t happen in the pulpit until it has already permeated the people, and the presence of Christ-less churches in modern-day America is as real as the presence of humidity in coastal Georgia.
Since the first century, followers of Jesus have been excited to tell people about Jesus, even at the risk of execution. But listen carefully to what most modern-day American believers are eager to tell people in their community. When I listen, I hear far more people telling others about their church than about Jesus. The danger is that when increasing numbers of people talk about their church while assuming others will talk about Jesus, eventually increasing numbers of people have overall positive church experiences without a word about our Savior. We graciously host funerals without any mention of Jesus or even the Word. We compassionately serve meals to hurting people without any mention of eternal hope. We provide resources and kindness to those in need while assuming that they will connect our kindness to Jesus because, after all, we are a church. It’s not that we don’t have Christ. It’s that we’re willing to share anything but Christ.
Perhaps it’s fear of saying the wrong thing or offending. Perhaps it’s expediency. Perhaps it’s forgetfulness. Certainly, we’re not perfect, and each of those could be a valid reason for any one of us – once. But we are called to be people with a purpose, especially when we’re acting as the church. We’re not representing ourselves, but Jesus himself. The outside world needs us, but they need Jesus more. It’s up to us to connect the dots for them, always pointing to Jesus. We should learn from our mistakes. We may bristle at the very notion of a Christ-less church, though it’s frightening how many well-intended, good-hearted believers are content to be known throughout the community as good people who care about our community as we fumble the very opportunities we’ve been given to share the good news of the Gospel.
Before pointing a finger or defending, consider how widespread this challenge is. I don’t know a single church without this blindspot. We’ve developed church cultures across America, shaped by the culture-at-large which says it’s perfectly acceptable for believers to tell people about their church but you dare not bring your god into the conversation. We’ve conditioned ourselves to leave talking about Jesus to the clergy. We want to be the hands and feet of Christ and let the preachers be the mouth. I get it. But that leaves all those people who are loved and served by Jesus-loving church members, apart from the preacher, grateful to the good folks at ABC Church without the life-changing, life-saving connection to Christ we had the opportunity to initiate. That must leave our enemy grinning and our Lord broken-hearted.
The Great Commission in Matthew 28 was Jesus’ call to EACH OF US,
“Go therefore and make disciples…”