Quitting Church is an alarming subject to congregational leaders, evangelical or not. This is the work of Julia Duin, Religion Editor of the Washington Times. And it’s the story, partly auto-biographical, of the people exodus and "spiritual brain drain" that the evangelical, charismatic, and Pentecostal communities have experienced for more then a decade. While the mainline churches are not the focus of this survey, the topic of church drop-outs warrants concern, regardless of Christian affiliation.
The first part of the book is a "big picture" look at the problem. Duin substantiates her case using ample research from the likes of George Barna, Lifeway, the WillowCreekChurch, and Charisma magazine, as well as numerous interviews from pastors. Her personal insights and observations are telling too. Some of them seem to be a wistful retelling of what was meaningful in her own faith journey now that she is somewhat disaffected from church. She is not that concerned …
This kind of statementis hard to dispute. The problem with Joel Osteen is not that he doesn’t say a lot of good things, but that he misses the more important thing.
ReplyDeleteBeing a Christian is not about being happy! In his book “Become a Better You,” Joel is very clear in stating over and over again, that the goal of his teaching is to help his readers to become happy, fulfilled, blessed, reaching one’s full potential—the emphasis being one’s own personal happiness. Many people may be misguided to pursue happiness but miss the main thing. What is the main thing?
The goal of every pastor and teacher is this: our objective is to “present every man perfect [mature, complete, finished] in Christ” (Colossians1:28). Someone has rightly said, “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Success, happiness, prosperity are not the main things. Someone else has said “good” is the greatest enemy of “best.”
Appreciate the thoughtful comment.
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