Good Preaching is a Start, but it’s Not the End
With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #46.
Although the minister won me over with his teaching, his good preaching, the first half of the service remains my primary memory of my time there. Everything they did was tired, mired in decades old practices.
It might have been contemporary, even progressive in 1980, but now it smacks of days gone by.
The world has changed, but they forgot to keep pace. Worship trends come and go, but they latched onto one and persist in it even though it’s no longer trending and is now just a tired relic of the past.
Perhaps this is why I saw very few young people or children there, which is a sign of a declining church. If they fail to raise up the next generation, this one will be it’s last.
It wasn’t that they started poorly or lacked focus. It was simply a matter of me not connecting with them, and more importantly, they didn’t help me connect with God. They failed to provide community.
I left feeling empty and lonely.
[See my reflections about Church #45 and Church #47 or start at the beginning of our journey.]
My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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