The Question?

A question was posed by some friends. The question was "Is Evangelicalism dying? I have thought about this for a while and have come to the conclusion that it must die.

I have been reading a book that was written over 30 years ago written by Francis Schaeffer entitled "The Great Evangelical Disaster." This is prophetic book in that he points out back then that evangelicalism needs to change or die because it operates just like the world operates and not on the infallible, inerrant word of God through it firmly teaches and holds that doctrine.

Having been a pastor in an evangelical church and having gone to bible college and seminary I can tell you that our focus in the U.S. has been on what can man do. We are quick to share what we have built and how great it is. We say things that we have taken from business manuals like "move with the movers." Our churches are more like GM than the organism known as the body of Christ. I have had to ask God forgiveness for giving into this system of man. Of trying to build the church and forgetting the promise that Christ will build the church (Matthew 16:18). If we are truly honest with ourselves we do not depend on God or His Word for living the Christian life and we certainly do not act as we believe that Christ will build His church.

I believe that modern evangelicalism must die in this country. I say this because modern evangelicalism has become pragmatic and our society knows it. They have realized long before the church has that the church has become marginalized. We see this in the way the church is done. Church is about us and not about the glory of God and the world needs something more than itself and that is all the evangelical church has offered. We say it is about the glory of God but it is not. If we are honest with ourselves we may believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God but do we really live this out and we need to go back and really ask the question what is the gospel. Can it really be wrapped up in the nice packaging of an incantation that we call the sinner's prayer. We have boiled it down to admit, believe, and commit or confess. What has happened to take up your cross and follow me and living a radical life of total abandonment with our Savior the Creator of the universe. Are we willing to hate our families to follow Christ. Are we willing to get rid of all this world has to offer to follow Christ. Evangelicalism in America has taught that we do not need to live like that we only have to pray a prayer and then sit through a membership class and we will be committed followers of God. We have forgotten what pure and undefiled religion is. We have forgotten to let the Holy Spirit work and to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying. No wonder we do not have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We talk lot about where the church has gone wrong in its form an function and I believe it has but I believe we are seeing the symptoms of a church culture that follows more of human reason than truly trying to live out the reality of 2 Tim. 3:16 which says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness," That means that every word, every word is there to teach and train, for reproof and correction, but we have conveniently forgotten this. We have replaced the Word with our traditions, our programs, our marketing strategies and we have conveniently built our kingdom under the guise of God's kingdom. So it is not a question of is evangelicalism dying, it must die.

Seeking His supremacy in my life.