By Allen White
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14
Have you ever sat through a seminar where the speaker promised a surefire way to get rich quick? I’m always waiting for the punchline: If you want to get rich like me, then sell tickets to your own seminar. After all, if their methods worked so well, why are they being so generous with their information?
Shortcuts usually come up short. We do learn our lesson – don’t give 50 bucks to any fast talking stranger who blows through town. See, this devotional has already made you $50 richer.
The wide gate gives plenty of elbow room. You go with the crowd and go with the flow. But, if the whole crowd took a shortcut to being rich, then who would be rich? Everybody would have the same. If the whole crowd gave the least of themselves to gain spiritual assurance, then no wonder so many flounder in spiritual mediocrity.
But, the narrow gate – it’s a bottle neck. It’s inconvenient. It requires sacrifice. It makes us uncomfortable. But, it also leads to Heaven. The wide gate, according to Jesus, leads to the other place.
Many of us spent much of our teenage years trying to be unique by blending in with the crowd. We fought our parents over expressing our individuality by dressing exactly like our peers. Our concern wasn’t creativity, but conformity. Only the freaks and geeks stood out. No one wanted to sit at that table.
How much has the world squeezed us into its mold? Many people want to be religious enough for a good reputation, but not so religious to stand out. Now, we all know a few people who are “over-saved.” These are the folks who make every statement into a spiritual analogy. “Boy, I saved a lot at the mall.” “Well, Jesus saves us completely.” You get the picture.
The wide gate caters to Christian consumers who need to be entertained to stay interested in church. Let’s be honest. If someone has to put on a show in order for you to follow Christ, what is this getting you? If you want a show, stay home and watch TV.
The narrow way is radical. It dangerously sets you apart from the crowd. The narrow way will take you to places where you never imagined yourself going. The narrow way is risky. The wide gate is safe, well, until you reach the end.
How are you playing it safe in your relationship with God? Is He your spiritual blankey or binky when you have trouble? Or is God the director of your life?
As Francis Chan puts it, “You have a choice each day to depend on yourself, to live safely, and to try to control your life.
“Or you can live as you were created to live – as a temple of the Holy Spirit of God, as a person dependent on Him, desperate for God the Spirit to show up and make a difference.
When you begin living a life characterized by walking with the Spirit, that is when people will begin to look not to you but to our Father in heaven and give Him the praise” (from The Forgotten God, page 156.
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Are Megachurches the Wide Path?
ReplyDeleteA reader emailed to ask if I was equating seeker-sensitive megachurches with the broad road that leads to destruction in Matthew 7:13. The short answer is “No.”
Seeker-sensitive churches practice an attractional model of outreach. They create a service members want to invite their friends to. By offering contemporary music and relevant messages, these churches make the Gospel accessible to folks who might not have darkened the door of a church otherwise. Presenting the Gospel in a way that connects with the culture is exactly what Jesus did. The Gospel is the narrow gate. There is only way one to Heaven, and that’s through Jesus Christ.
But, how about megachurches? Doesn’t “mega” imply “broad”? Not necessarily. Most churches grow because they are effective and are bearing fruit. As the truth of God’s Word is presented, folks come to Christ, connect to other believers, grow spiritually, serve in meaningful ways, and reach others. Large or small is really not the issue. The question is whether or not the body of believers is bearing fruit.
Over the last 20 years, I have been a part of three churches. Two of those churches were megachurches (Saddleback Church in California and Brookwood Church in South Carolina). The third church started pretty small, but grew to become a large church over time. All three of these churches practiced the attractional model, and all of these churches have borne fruit.
There are some churches, both large and small, that thrive on attendance numbers generated by offering a great amount of fluff. They want to scratch itching ears and build an enterprise based on pride and success. The question here is other than drawing a crowd, what fruit are these churches bearing?
The point of today’s devotional was not to put churches under the microscope – although we need to be careful in pledging our devotion. The point is: what path are you taking, the narrow one or the broad one? Every church is made up of people who will end up in Heaven, and those who won’t.
Folks who attend church just for show or to network, but aren’t committed to Christ won’t make it. Sometimes these folks get a false sense of security by fitting in with the church crowd, becoming a member, or getting baptized. But, these external signs won’t get anyone into Heaven. If they give their nod to God on Sunday, then live for themselves the rest of the week, you have to wonder how much of God is in their lives? The only guarantee is a commitment to Jesus Christ (Romans 10:8-10).
So, I guess here’s the question: if your church was less entertaining, would you still attend? As your pastor teaches the hard things in Scripture and not just the feel good stuff, can you track with him? If you become aware of a need or some wrongdoing in your community, will you get involved or will you write it off as “none of your concern”? What fruit is your life bearing? These are key indications of which path you’re walking.
"They create a service members want to invite their friends to."
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this statement is wishful thinking on the part of the church's leadership in most of the attractional model churches I've visited and studied. It's designed for this, but it's not reality.
A LOT of their growth comes from these church's bigger-than-life presence in a community, their new, clean, contemporary facilities easily seen from the freeway, their ads on TV, their pastor's broadcasted messages, and so forth. People move into the area, decide to visit the most prominent, hip and exciting church they can find, and they're shopping for great children's programs as well as other things that the attractional megachurch offers.
So, to be accurate, a sizable percentage of an attractional church's growth (maybe not all of it, but a big chunk) comes from people walking into the front door on a weekend and who don't know a soul.
[Now this isn't to say that an attractional church's members don't invite friends—they do!]
But the bottom line is that the entertainment model satiates the missional mindset and heart needed by members to extend the kingdom of God to those around them.
Attractional churches are plagued with the challenge of connecting strangers to members with group connects, campaigns, and whatever else they can do to create an artificial relational environment... in hopes it will become genuine.
This also creates a much deeper problem. Those that flow into attractional churches through a non-relational portal and artificial assimilation method often ordains new members to be consumers of the goods and services offered by the church, not producers.
I'm not a total fanboy of Neil Cole, but he made a valid point when he wrote, "What you draw them *with* is what they will be committed *to*."
Your last paragraph pushes attractional church members to ask themselves whether or not they are a religious consumer or a genuine Christian. Good for you!
Randall, these are some great points. Whether the model is missional or attractional, it all really comes down to each individual and their commitment to Christ and His Church.
ReplyDelete