After their first Sunday visiting this pastor’s church, they waited at the back to speak with him. “We had forgotten what it was like to hear the Word,” they said. “We didn’t know how starved we were for it!”
They have transferred their membership.
People speak of cold-blooded frogs getting boiled to death in a pot since they cannot “feel” the temperature increasing. I tend to think a lot of poor sheep are getting frozen to death in spiritually dead churches.
They do not feel the slow decline from a God-ward focus in worship to man-centered experiences. They seem to only slightly notice more anecdotal sermons and less of the Word. They become numb to the silliness going on in people’s lives since so much sin is not dealt with by the leaders. And as all this progresses, their souls become cooler and deader to the things of God.
I have written other places on what I think you should do if that is you, but the experience of this couple made me want to ask every person in my church and every person that attends another church this question – is God there? Can you sense something of the weight of His glory? Do these people pray like it matters?
O, for more of Him! Don’t get frozen...
Good comments. I have posted on a book shelf in my office this advice from D.A. Carson regarding the corporate worship of God:
ReplyDelete1) Is the portrayal of God as well rounded as the Bible's or heavy on one or two attributes?
2) Is the cross central and is our picture of it theologically sound and betond sentimentality?
3) Is sin portayed as wicked, evil, ugly, deservingGod's wrath, or is it seen as "weakness", "failures" etc.?
4) Is there anything in our worship that could not have been said by a Jehovah's Witness or a liberal or some other aberrant group?
Ah, D.A. strikes again.