Peter

Peter Wilson Ministries | Blog

Jul/11

25

Church: Old Fashioned ? Pt 2

THE GENERATIONS

Ps 33:11 The Lord’s purpose is eternal, the designs of his heart go on through all the generations of man. (BBE)

God has promised us that His Word (thoughts) remains the same to all generations. His word is unchanging, secure and established for all time and eternity. This truth establishes and anchors our hearts in an ever changing culture and world. (Mal 3:6, Num 23:19).

But though God’s Word never changes – the vehicles He uses to proclaim and communicate that Word, are always changing. They change because society changes: family, government, business and fashion are some of the institutions that are in a state of continuous flux.

It’s when the Church doesn’t recognise this and fails to change with this flux, that it gets left behind, becomes out of date, an anachronism. The Church then becomes separated from society and loses it’s impact, it’s voice and it’s authority.

In Europe, secularism has reduced the influence of the Church to a minimum; And we now have whole generations arising that have little or no knowledge of Jesus and His Gospel. This alone should tell us that the models or vehicles we used 30yrs ago to proclaim the Gospel, will not connect to the current generation.

Sunday Schools, Ceremonial dress, King James 16th century language of thees and thous, will not strike a chord with the youth of today. For example: many Churches have ditched their old fashioned names such as Zion Baptist Church, Beulah Assemblies of God or Jesus is Lord Ministries and instead use names such as Pioneer, Hillsong, New Life etc.

Their buildings are not shaped like a Church building. They are minus crosses, organs, wooden pulpits, pews and hymn books. Instead they are modern with up to the minute technology, musical instruments, comfortable chairs and fashionable decor.

Instead of Sunday School, Young People’s Fellowship and Bible Study they use titles such as ‘Ignite, Catalyst, Connect, Fuel and Refresh’.

They have been accused of watering down the Gospel and removing any trace of what a Church used to look like; but Christians who criticise, do so because they either don’t realise the Church has to change or they simply don’t want to change.

We are creatures of habit and change is hard. That is why we must adopt a pioneer not a settler type mindset; The Pilgrim Fathers paid a great price when they left the shores of Britain to sail to America. On arrival they built a community to sustain life. These people were true pioneers. But when it was suggested they build a road 5 miles into the forest, those same pioneers baulked at the idea and shut it down. They had changed their mindset from that of a pioneer to one of a settler.

Meditation Point:  Do I have the motivation of a pioneer or have I settled for the de-motivation of a settler.


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