Spookily Accurate

This is from Bro. Matt's Blog, a post entitled, Taking Care of How You Hear, part iii. The quote is so close to my own experience as to be, well, spooky:

Michael Horton is his new book Christless Christianity serves us well with two scenarios that are often found in our churches. The first service is geared on God’s work for us—the Father’s gracious plan, the Son’s saving life, death, and resurrection, and the Spirit’s work of bring life to the valley of dry bones through the proclamation of Christ. The preaching focuses on God’s work in history found in Genesis to Revelation to redeem sinners from their plight. Trained and ordained to mine the Scriptures’ riches for the benefits of God’s people while the ministers push their agendas in the background so that God’s Word is clearly proclaimed. The congregations are receivers, recipients of grace enjoying the bread of heaven. Having been served the Word, they go into the world filled with praise and thanksgiving for all the God has accomplished through Christ. Because they have been served the Word in its depths, they are able to engage those they encounter with a clear picture of God’s work in history and are able to communicate this with unbelievers they come across.

Contrast this with church #2. The church is it’s own personal community in which people assume they come to do something. The emphasis is on their work for God. The preaching concentrates on principles and steps to living a better life, with a constant stream of exhortations: Be more committed, read your Bible more. Pray more. Witness more. Give more. Get involved in this cause or that movement to save the world. Their calling by God to secular vocations is secondary to finding their ministry in the church. The result is a group who work due to a charismatic leader rather than being motivated by knowledge and godliness. They always serve, but are rarely served. They have to shepherd themselves, and are thus ill-informed about God’s grand work in his history. All they can talk about is their own “personal testimony,” slogans, formulas. They are so busy with church-related activities, they have no time to develop relationships outside the church. Yet, if someone were to bring this friend to church, they would wonder if they would ever hear the gospel!