Does it seem odd to go to a Christian church and not hear, either in the music or the message, one thing about Jesus? Perhaps not even the passing mention of his name?Well, that's my puzzling question. If anyone in my church has a problem with this state of affairs, they've probably moved on by now.
Read Michael Horton's "Christless Christianity" in Modern Reformation (I think you need to do their free one-issue trial subscription in order to access the article) and you'll see that this is not merely a local oddity. But anyway, I was just wondering. Should this seem strange to me? When did Christianity become Christless? At my church yesterday, not one worship song mentioned the name of Jesus. I think my Savior's name came up in the pastor's prayer as he invoked the trinity, but then nary a peep about Him in the sermon. Irrelevant to the subject under discussion, I suppose.
And by the way, this was not an exceptional Sunday. You might even say this was a characteristic Sunday. I don't know how it happened. I didn't see it coming. But am I the only one that thinks it passing strange? More precisely, is this not a serious problem?
Just wondering . . . .
5 comments:
I read this and yesterday's post and, not to put things to simply, this is modern humanism in the church.
Many have placed US at the center of the Gospel (our works, our behavior, our rewards both here and in the afterlife) instead of Jesus (worship Him because He is worthy).
Press on!
Thanks, Carl. I'm mulling pressing right on to another church. I'll post more on this in the days to come.
According to the principles of probability, something like that ought to happen every few decades, simply by what is commonly called chance. If it happens more than once in a lifetime, then something is definitely wrong. I'm praying for you.
How about a one on one with the pastor? Also it is always good to visit other gatherings of Christians in other buildings every now and then.
Nancy
Good advice, Nancy. I'll probably have that one-on-one sooner or later, although the prospect daunts somehow. As for visiting other gatherings (btw, I love the way you phrase that--"other gatherings in other buildings" rather than other churches--there is only one church!), I'm going to do just that, although there are problems involved there too. I'll probably expound on this in a future post.
Oh, and thanks for dropping by!
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