May 16 Report
By Brenda Spurlock
Flip was eager to talk, this Sunday afternoon, about the changes taking place in the church. He said, "I think I'm becoming an expert on what's happening in the Church in America simply because we're visiting so many." He said, "What we're seeing so often, including the service we attended this morning, is the seeker-friendly, purpose-driven, Saddleback, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels kind of church that is a bane to the Gospel of Christ."
Flip said the problem with the seeker-friendly church can be found in 2 Cor. 11:3-4. "But I am afraid that ... your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough."
Flip said, "Paul speaks of a Jesus other than the one we preach. 'Other than' is allos in the Greek. It doesn't mean a new Christ," he explained, "but it means a different representation of the same historical Christ." Flip said the seeker-friendly church wants a Christ who's allos, one who's more appealing to the world. One who is separated from a bloody cross that causes people consternation and anxiety. Flip said Bill Hybels has a cross on wheels that he can roll out from under the dust covers at Easter.
"Hetros in the Greek means absolutely different," Flip said. "Paul speaks of a hetros spirit and a hetros gospel, which he said, 'you put up with...easily enough.'" Flip said, "The seeker church has a different (hetros) spirit and gospel. It is in essence like the gospel I've heard at Metropolitan Community Church, the homosexual church, except I heard a better evangelical message preached at MCC than was preached at this purpose-driven church today."
He said this morning's service opened with a Christian rock song. The service was about marriage. "There was a little drama in which the husband was looking at a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition," Flip said, "and the point was made that he shouldn't do that." He said, "It was nice." He said they used Scripture and biblical principals. There was no altar call though. "The purpose- driven church is going to grow itself," Flip said, "and there were a lot of cars in the parking lot." He said, "It's amazing how well they can do without the Holy Spirit."
Services began with communion which everybody takes. This seems to be a pattern with seeker-friendly churches, Flip said. There was no explanation given as to the meaning of the bread and grape juice. "...I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2), was the only Scripture used. He said he asked the lady next to him if a non Christian may take communion. She said, "We're nondenominational, so of course you may." Flip said he held on to his juice and bread until after the service. Thinking he would get a more reasoned reply, he asked an elder standing at the door if a non Christian could take communion. The man said, "It's no big thing, it's a chicken wing." Flip said he was absolutely stunned at the lack of recognition at what Christ did to purchase our salvation, that there was utterly no self examination. He said, "My heart was at the bottom of my stomach." He said, "1 Cor. 11:27-32 tells us we can take communion in an unworthy manner and bring judgment on ourselves."
Flip said when he carried the juice and bread to the pastor and asked him the same question, the pastor went nuts saying, "I know you've got an agenda, what's your agenda? What are you trying to prove?" He was so angry, Flip said, that it was several minutes before he calmed down and they were able to discuss the subject. The pastor said he thought a sinner might recognize his sin at the moment he took the bread and juice. Flip agreed that was possible. He told the pastor, "I asked your folks if a non Christian could take communion and one of your elders said, "It's no big thing, it's a chicken wing." The pastor frowned and said, "He shouldn't have said that."
Flip said the church was a wonderful place with pop psychology and with Jesus mentioned, that's allos Jesus, and with a hetros gospel, which he described as "no gospel at all."
One can understand why there wasn't an altar call. Some religious terminology would have had to be used, like "sin"... "repentance"... and "salvation." Seeker-friendly churches try to stay away from that - it intimidates people. In place of the musical invitation, and in keeping with the theme of the service, Flip said the musicians played When a Man Loves a Woman as the exit song.
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