Presented May 24, 2009 Return to Community Church Main Page LISTEN TO THIS SERMON
THE COMMUNITY CHURCH MOVEMENT (1)
In 1 Corinthians
14:8 Paul said “For if the
trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?”
In that text he was dealing with confusion in worship over
speaking in tongues and the need for those who understood what was being
said to be present.
In this lesson I don’t want to deal with speaking in tongues, but I want
to notice the underlying point of his statement: When we make a call to
stand for the truth there needs to be a clear and understandable
distinction between the truth and error.
We should not be ashamed to stand for that truth and separate
ourselves from that which is false.
As Paul told the Corinthians later, “’Come
out from among them and be separate’, says the Lord…” (2 Cor. 6:17).
Being separate and in the minority is not a shame. It puts you in
the same category as the righteous remnant often spoke of by the
prophets; the small number of Christians in comparison to the Jews and
Roman idolatry in the days the New Testament was being written; and in a
class that is descriptive of those who will enter heaven by the straight
and narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14) compared to the broad way that the
majority are following.
I say this because
of a concern that I have and the motivation behind my lesson this
morning. I am fearful of the direction that some of our brethren are
going is in an attempt to minimize that distinction in the Lord’s
church. There are brethren
and churches who seem to be asking, “What can we do to be more like
the churches around us without sacrificing our core values?”
I believe this attitude is a result of one of the most successful
and popular religious movements today.
I am speaking of the
community church movement.
The community
church movement is a movement that desires to deemphasize
denominationalism by creating community based churches that cater to
social needs and stresses tolerance of doctrinal differences.
Some of the largest and best known churches in this nation are
the results of this movement.
·
Willow Creek in Chicago –
is said by many to be the original community and the pattern that other
community churches follow.
Its current membership is about 23000 attendees on a given weekend (3
services in a 7200 seat worship center.
In addition to this, Willow Creek has several “regional
congregations” in the Chicago area.
(Yet they do not call themselves a denomination.)
·
The Saddleback church
located in Lake Forrest, CA is under the direction of Rick Warren, whose
book “The Purpose Driven Church” is a blueprint for the community
church. It was started in
1980 and has an average attendance of nearly 20,000 on a given weekend.
·
Lakewood church –
Houston, TX. Home of Joel
Osteen. Boasts being the
largest church in the United States with
attendance of 47,000
·
Oak Hills Church, located
in San Antonio. This is the
church where where Max Lucado preaches.
Note: Formerly Oak Hills Church of Christ.
While I did not see anything at their site claiming to be a
community church and they do teach some things differently, there are
CLEAR signs moving in that direction if not already there.
Their goal is multiple campuses.
They have both instrumental and acapella services.
They have softened their stance on baptism now teaching, “Oak
Hills also believes salvation doesn't come through baptism, but that
baptism is the initial step of obedience after salvation.”
They have also stated in
interviews that the reason they removed the name “church of Christ” is
because “Some find the Church of Christ name to be an insurmountable
barrier.” (San Antonio Express News, September 06, 2003)
NOTE: As I prepared for this
lesson, I found an article in The Spiritual Sword (October 2000) which
documents that that leaders in more than one community church have ties
to liberal churches of Christ
(History and Development of a
Community Church, Mike
Hixon).
Considering this,
today I want to spend a few moments talking about why we should be
concerned about the Community church movement.
I.
Background of the community church
a.
History - The community
church movement traces its origin back to movements that came out of
denominationalism. One is
the social gospel which
began to be advanced in the early 1900s.
Over the next few decades many churches began to slowly change
their focus to addressing social and psychological needs (i.e.
benevolence and counseling).
About that same time
evolution and modernism
were intellectually introduced and this caused many to begin
questioning the authority and
clarity of scriptures.
Historically we can see how this evolved over the next century to
become more and more liberal and a desire to reject “traditional
thought” (i.e. the 1960s generation).
Add to this
the spirit of ecumenism
which describes a movement in which more liberal religious leaders get
together and seek unity in diversity (i.e. let us simply agree to
disagree).
In the latter 20th century as people began to become
disillusioned with traditional religion and denominations they began
searching for alternatives.
The community church began to develop out of these roots.
b.
The
foundation of the community church.
When there is a decision to start such a church, the first thing
that is done is to take a survey of what the people in the community
want in a church – then they build the church around that.
They develop ministries for everything and their focus is greatly
on the social needs of a community.
The hope is that by taking care of social needs opportunities
will be presented to preach and teach the gospel to these individuals.
They also encourage members to start their own ministries – whatever
they are passionate about.
This of course enhances the community spirit of the church.
c.
Its
worship – a new and
contemporary worship style.
In Community Churches, there is great emphasis on the entertainment
value of worship. In fact,
many of the mega-churches offer multiple services with different
approaches. You can choose
the more upbeat contemporary service or a more traditional service
(which will still be filled with entertainment).
A traditional service will have lots of music, like a concert, prayers
and a short, “relevant” lesson.
By relevant, it means that the sermons will almost always deal
with some current issue (such as an attitude) or uplifting lesson.
Services are geared to keep your attention, even in our entertainment
driven society.
d.
Its
appeal – the emphasis is a
casual atmosphere and an enjoyable time.
You are not expected to dress up.
Service times throughout the weekend cater to your timeframe with
several opportunities to worship.
Many of the mega-churches have services on both Saturday and
Sunday so that you can CHOOSE the best time for you.
You are not expected to participate unless you want to (you can listen
to the music, etc.). In
fact, due to the size of many of these churches – you can blend in and
not even be noticed. Just
the way many like it.
e.
Non-judgmental – another key
feature to these churches is the “come as you are” doctrinal approach.
While there are core beliefs that are expected of all members
(and I suspect that some churches would not permit certain sinful
behaviors – such as homosexuality) the general consensus is, “God loves
you the way you are.” While
that is a true statement – the way they mean it is that they expect LESS
change than God does. As
one writer said as I prepared this lesson, “The
emphasis of the Community Church concept seems to be on reaching the
people of community as they are and where they are – and leaving them as
they were and where they were even after they become members.” (GOT,
Vol. XLIII, No. 1, pg. 18)
The truth about these churches is that they appeal to people who are not
comfortable in the mainstream churches because mainstream churches
expect them to conform to certain standards of conduct.
f.
Preaches a positive message
(see previous lessons dealing with that).
Again because of the size of some of these churches it is
necessary to avoid certain controversial issues at the risk of
alienating large numbers of the congregation (for example: You will
probably not find much teaching on unscriptural marriages in some of
these churches. Nor will
you find much doctrinal teaching because such has a tendency to divide).
A church affiliated with the Baptist church (such as Saddleback)
will probably not condemn doctrines of other denominations.
So what some of the
problems with the community church?
I.
Doctrinal Concerns with Community Churches
a.
They
are founded by men –
As we have seen, these churches are founded by men and for the
appeasement of men.
Like the denominations, community churches can trace their foundations
to the work of some man and many of them are also affiliated with a
particular denomination.
Most community churches are centered around their “pastor” and his
associates. These men (and
women) are very much instrumental in forming (or inheriting) these
churches – and it becomes theirs.
They run it as they see fit.
If you don’t believe this – try telling Joel Osteen to leave Lakewood
church or Rick Warren to leave Saddleback.
See what happens!
And even if they did leave, many of the parishioners would follow them.
We need to be careful not to follow after men – 2 Cor. 11:1-4 finds Paul
being sarcastic as he notes that if one came preaching a different
gospel, etc, “you may well put up with it!”
Paul noted, “For no other
foundation can anyone lay that that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
(1 Cor. 3:12).
The Bible does NOT speak highly of the
doctrines and churches of men – Galatians 1:6-9.
Galatians 2:5 speaks of an occasion when men tried to bind their own
doctrines and change the gospel of Christ.
Paul said of such, “to
whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the
Gospel might continue in you.”
1 Cor. 2:1-4 – TRUE gospel preaching is not “persuasive
words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power…”
b.
The
appeal – To please man and
not God. The fact that
community churches are society driven shows that they appeal to men
instead of God.
Galatians 1:10-12 – continuing with this text.
Paul is clear he does NOT seek to please men.
1 Thess. 2:4, “But as we have
been approved of God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak,
not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.”
2 Timothy 4:2-4 speaks of the time when men have itching ears will be
turned aside to fables.
To be continued in our part 2. Go there Return to Community Church Main Page