I am a student of evangelical Christianity and in MY OPINION (please note the emphasis…these are a pastor’s musings) there were a number of defining moments that I believe shaped or changed the way we viewed discipleship and spirituality in the Church. And to be frank, these events began to wear down the Church’s potency in being a central place for discipleship in the lives of believers. They literally “cut the legs” out of the authority of the Church and the Bible. Let me introduce these defining moments; or maybe better, should I call them “declining moments?”
Obviously, one of the first major turning points came in the 1950’s with the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement. Evangelist Oral Roberts began traveling across the country introducing the Church to “faith healing,” the notion of “speaking in tongues” and claiming he had “visions from God.” This new experientialism opened the idea that you were not truly spiritual until some of these supernatural manifestations occurred in your life. Many believers felt they were missing something IF these experiences did not occur. Although these experiences were not verifiable and clearly not mandated in Scriptures, Christians became fixated on having the experience.
The second was the influence of parachurch organizations. In the 1960’s Christian organizations took flight, primarily because of the Church’s failure and the bureaucracy of many churches and denominations. Entrepreneurial Christian leaders launched parachurch ministries like Youth for Christ, Campus Crusade, Navigators and the like to do evangelism and discipleship where the Church was lacking. Many people were lead to Christ on campuses, military bases, and in the marketplace - mostly where churches were not welcomed. But because of the ecumenical nature of the organization, clear and precise theological positions could not be formed. As well as their need to self perpetuate, many of these converts were never directed to or established properly into the local church. Even today, many who came to Christ and were initially discipled through the parachurch have yet to truly commit and engage in God’s ordained program for discipleship – the local church.
The next defining moment came in the 1970’s with what is known as the “Seeker Movement.” A number of church leaders were concerned (and rightfully so) that unbelievers were not being reached with the gospel and churches were not growing. Evangelism was absent in most churches. Their solution was to make church more appealing to the lost by re-programming worship services into seeker services. They made church more relevant and creative by using drama, multimedia, re-writing secular songs that were familiar to seekers and inserting Christian words, and preaching messages that were much more palatable for unbelievers. These messages were less than basic in content, depth, and theology and a lot of the time confused people of the truths of Scripture. And they also removed words that were offensive to seekers – like sin, wrath, judgment, and hell. Their intentions were noble and good-willed. The problem is that they forgot that the church is FOR the believers! They marginalized the importance of preaching the Word and discipleship was put on the back burner. The result was a larger, weaker church.
The last defining moment that I believe has reshaped the Church and its ministry was the rise of counseling, specifically "Christian Counseling." As more and more complex issues arose in the lives of Christians, believers went looking elsewhere to find personal and spiritual help for these problems. It was said that the Church was “behind the times” and “naïve” when it comes to the human condition. Pastors were viewed as “unscholarly,” “unsophisticated,” and “uneducated;” and so believers went looking for professional people helpers. They turned away from the Church and looked to psychology for answers. Instead of calling a pastor when in crisis or when sin had taken root, believers called on counselors who might tell them about the nature of their problem yet they had no ecclesiological authority to admonish repentance or life change. Counseling in many ways became the new discipleship; and the counselor the new shepherds of Christians’ souls.
Now there is a reason for my history lesson. If I would have asked you what you thought about the charismatic movement, parachurch organizations, seeker churches, and Christian counseling, what would you have said? I probably would have received a variety of answers from “I don’t know too much about these issues…” to the expressing of appreciation; but most assuredly, few would have been able to give me an analysis of the contributions they have made and the conflicts they have caused!
Throughout my sabbatical (until August), I want to look at these events in evangelicalism and ask a few probing questions to uncover what they have done to the Church. Questions like – are they Biblical? Are they helping or hurting the Church? Are they adversely affecting the discipling process outlined to the Church by the Lord in Matthew 28:18-20? What good have they done and what can we learn and use from them? How should the Church respond? Is it ok to mix philosophies, ideas, and concepts that are not necessarily Scriptural, but certainly pragmatically helpful?
My goal is not to vilify because many of the ministries, organizations, and movements I want to talk about have been a personal help in my ministry. However, I was reminded a few weeks ago, as I was getting ready for my ACCESS message, of the ever constant attack on the Church and the Bible – both from within and without the Church. Paul said it this way….
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Acts 20:28-30 (NASB95)
I believe that some Christians have been drawn away from the things of God and especially from His Word through “some” of what has occurred through these movements.