It’s a good season to reexamine the effectiveness of the modern church. Our commitment, as RENEW.org leaders, is to continually go back to Scripture, to restore and prioritize what it teaches. We face a challenge because in the last fifty years, as church leaders have sought more effectiveness in our churches, we have come to place high value on leadership principles, psychological insights, marketing shrewdness, and leading-edge technology. We have reached a point where, more and more, these tools overshadow the ways our churches function.
And now our cultural moment requires us to re-evaluate the tools that have come to dominate many of our churches.
We are living through cultural change and we are witnessing significant disruption when it comes to the way we do church. More and more people are looking around, trying to find a place to land in terms of how we do church.
- Some leaders think the answer lies in returning to their church’s longstanding traditions.
- Some leaders like to focus more on liturgy, taking rituals that are hundreds and even thousands of years old, and instituting them.
- Some leaders advocate putting more emphasis on social justice.
- Some leaders are looking for a more positive, inspirational church.
- Some leaders want to emphasize disciple making.
I personally agree it is important for church leaders, especially older ones, to admit to some of the unintended consequences of the modern church. I want to acknowledge these consequences and point to the kind of restoration and renewal of the original church that I believe provides a better framework for us as we move into the future. I am known for my emphasis on disciple making, but I want to emphasize some other important parts of restoring or renewing the church of the Bible. In diagnosing the problem, I am drawing on the insights of many others, including Steve Whitlow, in what I write.[1]
“More and more people are looking around, trying to find a place to land in terms of how we do church.”
Here are four key traits of the modern church:
- Unintended Consequence #1: Church is often presented as a product.
- Unintended Consequence #2: Doctrine is too often secondary.
- Unintended Consequence #3: We create a social club instead of family.
- Unintended Consequence #4: Christians can become cogs in the product wheel.
I believe that these traits often come about because of the pressures of a secular culture, where everyone in North America has been discipled to be a consumer, looking for the best in products and services. Church leaders have also come to rely heavily on leadership techniques borrowed from business practices, and although such techniques can help us with intentionality, we can rely on them too much, so that we allow them to drive our functionality and essence, rather than looking first to the nuanced teachings of Scripture.
Here are four alternative traits to pursue for the future church. If we pursue them, we will be equipped for the future not because we are up on the latest shiny strategies but because we are grounded in the ancient practices Jesus gave his disciples, who went on to change their world.
- We seek to be an authentic, real community full of messy, but saved people.
- We uphold the King Jesus Gospel and faithful faith in King Jesus.
- We are committed to being disciples of King Jesus and we all help make disciples of King Jesus.
- We emphasize loving like Jesus, which we clearly define and we focus upon in our practices.
Let’s look into these better traits so we can paint a better picture of the future.
“I believe that these traits often come about because of the pressures of a secular culture, where everyone in North America has been discipled to be a consumer, looking for the best in products and services.”
First, let me offer a brief explanation of the four unintended consequences of the modern church.
#1. Church is often presented as a product.
The wider culture has trained us to think that the customer is king and that the customer gets what the customer wants. People bring this mindset to church. They approach those who lead with a mindset that wonders, “What can you do for me?” and isn’t shy about saying, “Here is what I want.”
When it comes to the local church, people typically come wanting three things (the three Ps):
- Preaching/Preachers – they want a product that is awesome, encouraging, and inspiring.
- Praise and Worship – they want quality worship, by skilled musicians who know how to touch the heart and bring joy.
- Programs – they want good programs, especially for their children. Along with this, they assume it is a church’s responsibility to disciple their children.
I am the lead minister/pastor at my church, and visitors often speak very candidly to me about the things they are looking for in a church. I want to ask people better questions: What does God want for you? How can we help you pursue truth? How can we help you to better see Jesus? And for the Christians who come from other churches, shopping around and looking for the best deal: Will you die to yourself and serve the church? What are you willing to give up to join the mission of Jesus? But in a consumeristic culture, such questions will feel strange and even inappropriate.
“They approach those who lead with a mindset that wonders, ‘What can you do for me?’ and isn’t shy about saying, ‘Here is what I want.'”
#2. Doctrine is too often secondary.
Seekers often come to church looking for life, love, and purpose. Christians too are looking for inspiration and comfort. For both groups, truth becomes secondary at best. In this context, preachers and teachers are afraid of coming across as harsh and irrelevant. They do not want to be perceived as a judgmental voice when, as they see it, we live in a time where we need grace, mercy, and the love of God emphasized.
Many couple this mercy and grace focus with an emphasis on an essentials-only posture. The idea becomes that, there are basically essentials and nonessentials, and if it’s not essential to your salvation, it’s not important to get right. I can appreciate that great statement of the Reformation, “In essentials unity, in non-essential liberty, and in all things love.” The problem is that it’s easy to make the essentials nebulously about Jesus, his cross, and God’s love. And then everything else—including pursuing a life of holiness—becomes just a matter of diversity of opinion that we shouldn’t worry too much about.
I believe this posture creates shallow churches, unprepared for the future.
#3. We create a social club instead of family.
Many people come to church wanting friendships. They are very busy and have a lot going on, so they want the church to help them with their loneliness. They look to the church for friends with whom they can do life and experience community. At the same time, the friends they typically want are people a lot like themselves—same age, same children’s age, same ethnic background and life situation.
Because churches know people won’t stay if they do not form friendships, they often comply by creating groups and classes to give them friends like themselves. In this way, they want to close the backdoor.
The problem is that people are looking for friendship but not necessarily discipleship. They’re wanting to hang out with people who are like them, have fun times, and maybe experience some meaningful conversations along the way. But is that real biblical community?
As an alternative, look at seven verses in Romans where the apostle Paul describes God’s intended norm for the church. Look at the last two sentences in particular:
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” (Romans 12:9-16, NIV)
“Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”
We grow as disciples of Jesus not just by enjoying fun times with friends but by practicing hospitality, blessing those who persecute us, rejoicing and mourning with those who rejoice and mourn, willing to associate with people of low position.
#4. Christians can become cogs in the product wheel.
As the church offers the community a fantastic product—great preaching in nice buildings, inspiring, well-produced praise and worship led by talented people, and family-friendly programs—what becomes the unspoken agreement between church leaders and the attendees?
The expectation becomes that the attendees need to support the product. We must give our money to support the high-quality preachers and praise and worship leaders and the nice buildings and all the programs. It requires money and volunteers to keep the machine running.
For people who care about meeting community needs, we also want a church that serves the poor and makes a difference. We feel good about how we feed the homeless on our streets and build water wells in Africa and uphold a social conscience as a priority in our church. But again, it’s easy for these good outcomes to be seen as the product and church people as the consumers needed to keep the machine running.
Over time, church members become unwitting cogs in the product wheel. “Your money and your time are needed,” church leaders say. “Find a ministry that supports the church and serve with us.” This all sounds right, but something is missing.
And we, the Christians, comply. After all, we like having the best church products. It’s nice being part of a respected, winning church. We want a respected church, with growing numbers, where everything is up and to the right!
“We want a respected church, with growing numbers, where everything is up and to the right!”
I know that I have overstated things. But I have done it to make a point. As someone who has served as a lead minister/pastor for 37 years, I am not making this narrative up. If you doubt me, you might ask the ministry leaders and pastors in your church about what I am describing. My guess is that they’ve felt the pressure and have an uneasy sense of the need to keep people happy with the “product.”
A Future-Facing Vision
Here is an alternative vision that I’d like to paint, although I can only sketch in broad strokes for the purposes of this post.
#1. Instead of providing a product, we seek to be an authentic, real community full of messy, but saved people.
Every one of us has flaws. Every one of us falls short and we do not live up to what we claim to be. But we continue to walk in the light, even as we stumble and fall (1 John 1:5-9).
Here is what I believe we can present to those who come to our churches:
- The preacher/preaching is flawed, but the Word of God is holy.
- Our praise and worship are flawed, but we will keep a raw aspiration to worship and give God glory.
- Where possible, the programs should be minimized, so we have time to engage each other in life-on-life, heart-to-heart relational support and discipling relationships.
“Where possible, the programs should be minimized, so we have time to engage each other in life-on-life, heart-to-heart relational support and discipling relationships.”
I am convinced that our churches should be more like Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) than anything else. If you have not attended a meeting, I highly recommend it. Notice the honesty and vulnerability. Notice the way people share hope in the midst of their brokenness. Those who do not yet follow Jesus need to see that hope amid brokenness—something they might not see in many churches. My favorite story Jesus told is one that our churches should regularly portray to the world:
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14, NIV)
#2. Instead of doctrine being secondary, we uphold a King Jesus Gospel and faithful faith in King Jesus.
The gospel of King Jesus is the greatest news that has ever been spoken. This is our message—that Jesus is our Messiah (King) and that he died for our sins, was buried, rose again, rules over his kingdom, and will return to reign over a new creation. We must also state clearly that all who respond to salvation are freely saved, but they are also called to discipleship, no exceptions, no excuses (see Mark 8:34–38; 1 Corinthians 15:1–8).
The King Jesus gospel rightfully demands one’s entire life in every area. We believe that the gospel is robust and radical. The gospel we preach and believe dictates the kind of disciples we are and the kind of disciples we make. No more transactional gospels which focus only on heaven when you die. No more inspiration-only focused gospels, no more human-centered, subtle, prosperity gospels. A non-discipleship gospel is one that does not include discipleship, transformation, or obedience to all of Jesus’ teachings as a natural part of its message and expectation. If we attempt to make a Christlike disciple from a non-discipleship gospel, we will fail.
In addition, we need to be clear on what in our faith is essential, what is important, and what is a matter of personal conviction. We need a concentric theology, focused on King Jesus and the King Jesus gospel as its bullseye. We need a robust and biblical understanding of faith. Faith isn’t merely believing things about God, but it’s a commitment to trust and follow. Biblical faith is a faithful faith, involving allegiance, loyalty, and faithfulness in what Jesus teaches. The fruit of genuine faith is a Christ-like transformed life grounded in the teachings of Scripture.
“The fruit of genuine faith is a Christ-like transformed life grounded in the teachings of Scripture.”
All Scripture is God-breathed and important, yet all doctrines are organically related to King Jesus and pointing us to faithful faith in him. He is Lord of lords, King of kings, and we respond to his lordship and kingship with faithful faith.
#3. Instead of cogs in the wheel, we are committed to being disciples of King Jesus who make disciples of King Jesus.
We believe the core mission of the local church is making disciples of Jesus Christ—it is God’s plan “A” to redeem the world and manifest the reign of his kingdom. People are lost eternally without Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. We seek to be disciples and make disciples of those who do not know Jesus.
Being a disciple maker is pretty different from being a cog in a machine. The emphasis shifts from being someone who helps make church programs run, to being someone who takes the mission out into the world. Whatever the size of the church, imagine the possibilities when dozens or hundreds or even thousands of disciple makers are mobilized to make disciples outside the walls of the church building.
We make disciples because of our love for God and others. We believe that Jesus showed us how to make disciples and that his intentional, relational disciple-making model is the best one to build our churches upon. Every day we personally seek to become more and more like Jesus through his Spirit so that Jesus would live through us.
“Every day we personally seek to become more and more like Jesus through his Spirit so that Jesus would live through us.”
We desire the fruits of biblical disciple making, which are disciples who live and love like Jesus and go into every corner of society and to the ends of the earth. Disciple making is the engine that drives our missional service to those outside the church. We seek to be known where we live for the good that we do in our communities. We love and serve all people, as Jesus did, no strings attached. At the same time, as we do good for others, we also seek to form relational bridges that we prayerfully hope will open doors for teaching people the gospel of the kingdom and the way of salvation.
#4. Instead of a social club, we emphasize loving like Jesus, which we define clearly and focus upon in our practices.
We believe love needs to be the driving motive for all we do in a church. The Great Commandment (love God, love people) precedes the Great Commission. Loving God and loving people is the passion behind the priority of being disciples and making disciples. Again, love is the motive behind all that we do. We aim to practice love as Jesus modeled it: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35, NIV).
Love is grace and truth in action, with grace leading the way.
Love is the motive behind the mission, the heart behind the hands. Love is the signature card of true disciples. Faith, hope, and love are all important, but love is supremely important (1 Corinthians 13:13).
We want love to be our mindset, our practice, and the distinctive DNA of our churches.
Take a close look at the Bible’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Notice that love is not a feeling, but a decision. It is a repeated decision to act toward others as Jesus would act. It is something we must learn to choose again and again and again, until it becomes part of us.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
“Love is the motive behind the mission, the heart behind the hands.”
I am joining with others as we put our names in this passage and apply it to our lives, so that I can see what it looks like when I really love like Jesus. I encourage you to do the same:
Bobby is patient, Bobby is kind. Bobby does not envy, Bobby does not boast, Bobby is not proud. Bobby is not rude. Bobby is not self-seeking, Bobby is not easily angered, Bobby keeps not record of wrongs. Bobby does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Bobby always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Bobby never fails.
Churches that are accustomed to being social clubs are in danger of leaving behind love for comfort, familiarity, and ladder-climbing. We must return to the ancient ways of Jesus as he modeled actual love for real people.
***
Again, I realize that we’ve been painting with very broad brushstrokes in this article. I also realize there’s much within modern churches which is helpful and good (yes, we need to aim for excellence in our preaching and worship leading). I’m not trying to offer a list of do’s and don’ts as much as present two contrasting directions and invite you to revisit what truly matters.
“I recommend that you as a church commit to asking the right questions.”
So, where to go from here? I recommend that you as a church commit to asking the right questions—questions which will help you focus on the right priorities. Here are four questions I recommend the leaders of a local church regularly ask in order to guide their focus into being a disciple-making, Jesus-following church. Nonbelievers and seekers won’t know these are types of questions to ask, although they will already be asking the first one. The other three questions can help church leaders to see a future path that is focused on Jesus, being his disciples and making disciples.
- Are we authentic?
- Do we uphold the King Jesus Gospel and faithful faith in Jesus?
- Are we committed to being disciples of King Jesus who make disciples of King Jesus?
- Is Jesus-like love clearly defined and constantly emphasized?
If your heart beats in step with what I have written, welcome to the future-facing focus of the RENEW.org Network. Join with us as we pursue this kind of vision together.
[1] Recently, I read a helpful summary post titled, “Four Unintended Consequences of the Megachurch Movement,” by Steve Whitlow. He helped crystalize my thoughts that have developed over time and I am modifying his helpful points for the purpose of this article. See Steve Whitlow, “Four Unintended Consequences of the Megachurch Movement,” Clear Truth Media, August 15, 2024.
