Monday, June 5, 2017

COOKIE-CUTTER CHRISTIANITY

   Would it be fair to say that we have manufactured churches to be exactly as we want them to be and to be no more?
   We have carpet floors, padded pews, and padded kneelers, and we like that.
   We have statues and statuettes, portraits and pictures, and we like that.
   We have dangling chandeliers and candles that glow, and we like that.
   We have golden vessels on communion tables that reflect the light, and we like that.
   We have heating and air-conditioning systems, for our comfort and pleasure, and we like that.
   We have musical programs designed to fit, on time and on cue, and we like that.
   We have ministers and pastors, dressed in fancy suits and priestly garments, and we like that.
   We have tidy little messages wrapped in tidy little bows, and we like that.
   We add a word of fun, a spark of laughter, to sermon and song, and we like that.
   We like to repeat the words we have been taught to repeat, in unison and harmony, and we like that.
   We like to be in and out in sixty minutes, and we like that.
   After that, we like to drive our fancy cars to our fancy houses, turn on our fancy televisions, and watch our fancy sports teams delight our souls.
   If the pulpit is supposed to be the place where the Bible is taught and preached, where is the Bible in churches today?  Where does the Bible rank from the pulpit to the pews?
   Is there really much difference in churches across America today?
   Does any church across America stand up and stand out as different from all the rest?
   If people in churches believe the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible is a myth, what message does this send to people outside churches from those within who say they are believers in Christ?
   Have we reached the age of Cookie-Cutter Christianity?
   Have we reached the age when every church looks like every other church all in a row?
   Have we reached the age when the behaviors of the people outside church buildings are no different than when they are on the inside?
   Have we reached the age when the behaviors of people inside church buildings are no different than all the people gathered together in the same congregation and under the same roof?
   Have we reached the age when people in churches are simply not interested in evangelism?
   When was the last time you prayed for Christ to save the soul of one person?

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