Let me start by saying that I am not targeting nor singling out a particular church in my writing of this. I actually got this blog idea from journalist and pastor Brett McCracken in this article that he wrote for The Gospel Coalition. Please take a read of it before you delve into this as it will provide you a far better frame and context for where I’m coming from.
I’m not going to lie; it’s very tempting to look at churches both big and small that seem to have success with young people (youth and young adults/couples), who statistically are becoming the most difficult to reach, and see what the secret to their sauce is. Is it the music? The preaching? The kids or youth program? All of the above? It can be any one of these things, honestly, but even more so, it has been a part of the latest trend. I don’t follow trends, but much of what McCracken discusses is the fact that these churches appeal to the latest “relatable” trend in a cultural or generational context. This draws people in and keeps them…for a little while.
McCracken later writes that eventually, people get bored and either move on to a church who embraces the latest trend or just leave the church entirely. While I am bothered by both outcomes, the latter is even more troublesome to me. Why?
Three words: “moralistic therapeutic deism”
This is what McCracken points out is the reason for young people leaving the Christian faith. Rather than teaching solid biblical and theological doctrine, a washed down version is given, if you would even call it that. McCracken calls it moralistic therapeutic deism, which is a complex way of saying doing morally upright things as a result of believing in the existence of God. Here’s the thing: the Gospel is deeper than that and the entire point is missed when you remove Jesus Christ from it.
The Gospel without Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection ceases to exist and even if it did, you have a story about a good teacher (rabbi) who may or may not have actually performed miracles and who may or may not have been unjustly killed by his own people (lowercase on purpose). That’s it; that’s the story without preaching Christ. Why believe in a faith where the Hero dies and that’s the end of that? Why believe in a faith based on a whishy-washy story of the testimony of several men thousands of years ago? Without knowing the full story, there isn’t a reason to believe!
By realizing that Jesus Christ is not a trend, but God incarnate and the Savior of the world, lives can truly be changed. We as Christians may joke about trendy things in the Christian world that people have used to reach others about Christ, but in reality, some of these things can be dangerous. Presenting clear, biblical truth in a way that reaches people of all generations is what gets people to come back to church week after week, not having a concert before a sermon nor having a “rockstar preacher” (Casting Crowns lyrics).
Answering the Call 