Christianity vs. Christian Spirituality: Part Four

DICLAIMER: Please understand that these are broad brush strokes and intended to incite thought, conversation and action. This is not intended to include and or define everyone calling themselves a Christian.

I’ve received a lot of e-mail regarding these posts and I’d like to thank all of you for your thoughts, even those telling me I’ll “burn in hell.” Statements like that just go to prove that there is some truth to the ideas I’ve been raising in this series. Once again thanks for all your idea and I hope that this series has provoked thought and maybe even some conversation amongst those you worship with.

(Continued from Part Three)

Having already discussed the matters of the nature of the Church, and salvation/conversion I’d like to bring up the matter of Christian leadership again, as well as, the matter of God given freedoms (if we make it that far).

I’ve long said that there is a problem with the leadership of the church. I call it the “Titanic Mentality.” The titanic mentality is simple to understand and even simpler to spot. As we discussed in part three, Christian leadership is standing by as the magnificent ship of what was once the church as it sinks into a bottomless pit of complacency.

It never ceases to amaze me how self-centered, blind, or plain old stupid many Christian pastors/elders have become. Church attendance is dropping in the majority of church, and those who are growing are not growing by conversion they are stealing people from other churches. It’s called transfer growth, and it’s mostly unchecked. The pastors of the growing churches are reveling in their success, and propagating the bastardized version or Christianity, and the pastors of the struggling church keep trying to implement the strategies of the mega churches in the hope that something will catch on and cause growth. In both cases, the issues that need to be addresses are being ignored.


The titanic mentality is simple. Pastors are on a sinking ship, they know the ship is sinking, but they still walk the decks with a smile on their faces, whistling a happy tune hoping on hope that no one will notice the water pouring into the boat. Why? If the boat sinks, they’re out of a job!!! Pastors know that their churches will be dead or dying in the next ten or fifteen years, if it’s not already. But, they also know that if they tell the people, the process will be accelerated as people seek refuge in lifeboats; i.e. the church down the street. It’s horrible, sad, and pathetic, but in my opinion, job security is one of the major reasons the issues in the church are not being addressed.

Pastors hold a tremendous amount of authority in the lives of the people they “shepherd.” People trust their pastors to keep their finger on the pulse of the church and to seek Gods wisdom in regards to the direction of their assembly. The vast majority of Christians are not aware of the devastation in the church, so if the pastor doesn’t have the intestinal, and or moral fortitude to speak truth to his people, they will continue moving in the direction they are moving without a care in the world, just like the good little sheep they are. Meanwhile, the pastor keeps his paycheck one more week. Never mind the fact that the pastors salary is 49% of the church annual budget, and that not a single penny has gone to the actual work of the ministry, aside from a couple hundred bucks a month split between six missionaries in foreign lands.

This is how it plays out. Pastors read, so pastors know what is happening in the church. Trust me; there are very few pastors who are unaware of the reformation that is beginning to take place in the church internationally. Pastors begin to see a trend taking place in the church. If that trend will not effect the bottom line (growing and collecting) they will at least give it a courtesy sermon, and some may even order a few books on the subject and sell them to the patrons for a reduced cost. Having “progressive” material available make the church appears to on the cutting edge, when in reality it’s not even close.

However, if the movement of the church is beginning to look like it will completely change the way the world views God, religion, church and Jesus (as the current movement does) they begin to establish a battle plan. Mind you, it’s a covert operation. Neither the leadership, nor the congregation can know until the plan is in place. It may not be a conscious deception, but its deception none the less. I’ve been amazed at how many pastors I’ve sat with who will look me in the eye and tell me that they are aware of the movement of the church, and then give me some lame ass excuse as to why they think it’s unhealthy, or unbeneficial. They know the movement is coming (the titanic mentality), but they also know the movement will require dramatic change and possibly even some restructuring. In most cases this is a problem, because they have allowed “growing, getting, keeping, and collecting” to turn their congregations into apathetic, lukewarm, possibly saved, people who have no intention of changing, or stepping up to the plate to engage the radical call of Christ.

The Church is the west is sick. We’re anemic, emasculated, lazy and pathetic!!! No longer is the church in the west the once powerful catalyst of change in the world! No longer are we a sending nation! No longer are we the center of our communities! No longer are we the voice of truth! We are nothing, and we will continue to be nothing until the men of God who lead his church stand up, grow some ______ and lead the church into the next century! Pastors who have allowed their churches to become lazy, must, I repeat, MUST be called on the carpet, confronted, and removed if they are unwilling to call the people of God to action!!!

Not long ago I sat in a congregational meeting at church and witnessed the most pathetic display I have ever seen. The church was in a time of transition, they were between pastors. The chairman of the elder board presided over the meeting and there were probably one-hundred people present. The conversation quickly went downhill.
The church was cutting a missionary out of the budget because her husband had died. Their rational was that she was no longer doing the same work her husband had been doing. I didn’t speak up at that point. I spoke up when someone suggested that they reassigned the money to the building maintenance fund!!! I came unglued. My comments were brushed off, the vote passed, the money was reassigned, and the meeting went on. The next order of business was to discuss the salary of the new pastor. The candidate had submitted a certain number that he would be willing to take and the church was deliberating on whether or not to accept it. The number was half the annual budget for the entire church. Now put this into perspective. An additional 10% of the budget had just been assigned to the building fund totaling about 20%. Now 49% of the budget was going to be approved for the new pastor, and less than 5% of the budget was being spent on missions, or outreach. The remainder of the budget went to things like paying bills, decorating, Sunday school materials, secondary staff costs etc. I lost it, and I called on the elders of the church to do the right thing. The vote was taken, the vote passed, the candidate was accepted, and now the church has shrunk by 50%.

Folks this is more common than you would ever want to know. The American church is impotent and dying because of this kind of mentality. Pastors are the primary expenditure, evangelism is a second thought, and the congregation sees no problem with it. What’s worse? Pastors are willing to suck the life out of a church with their salaries because they think they have the ability to GROW the church to the point that it makes more money!!! WHAT THE HELL (literally)!!!

Pastors, I beg you, please, please, please, consider the love you once had for the church. Evaluate yourself by the standards of scripture. Are you leading the flock to the lush green pastures of Christ’s call, or are you leading them to the butcher. You will stand before God and give an account for the souls of your people (Heb 13); will it be a beautiful day?

Pastors, and I know some of you read this blog; the church is at the threshold of a major reformation! It’s time, it’s needed, and it’s coming whether you’re on board or not!!! Put your people before your job, and make decisions based on the call of God. Have you forgotten who lifted you to the office of pastor in the first place? Do you truly fear that your savior will leave you unemployed and in the cold? If so you need to resign and make way for a man of faith!!! The Church, the Bride, is not your retirement fund, it’s not your meal ticket and it’s not your kid’s college fund. The Church is Christ’s vehicle on earth for the purpose of saving those who would be lost!!!

If you no longer have a passion for seeking and saving the lost, jump ship, before you’re thrown overboard. There’s a new generation of Godly men hot on you heals and we have no tolerance for the dead weight!!! Step up to the plate, or get off the field.

My fingers hurt……More to come….

Stay tuned for Part Five