Is It A Different Gospel?

I can't figure out why the church thinks that soft-selling Christianity, in a world that is more wicked than ever, is going to result in true converts. Churches that bring in masses of unbelievers with their music or programs, then get those people volunteering, are perpetually in a state of 'bringing people along' in the faith. They give the weak or not-even-true-believers a false sense of security. What does it mean to 'bring people along' in the faith? Is there a belief that people will go from being unsaved to saved if they hang out in our midst? It seems like it, but I don't think people generally come to faith in an atmosphere where they feel comfortable being and staying just as they are. What I've seen in churches that bring in hoards of worldly people is that maturity never happens in the solid believers in the church because they are always in the mode of helping along people who aren't really saved or who are new Christians. Sermons are simplistic and leave mature believers starved for something meaty; Sunday school is little more than a social gathering discussing topics that should have been covered in grade school.

Is this the purpose of the church according to the book of Acts?

I say, 'no'. The church is for believers. It is there to exhort and encourage, a place to come together with those who are like-minded because if we are working for the Lord in our daily lives, we are persecuted.

Always working, always 'serving' is the new mega church of today. Can we even effectively serve God if we aren't in the Word being made like Christ regularly? What sort of service pleases Him? If we are working hard within a church that is not in His will, I'd say it's questionable if we are pleasing Him. How much work should there even be to do in a church  anyway? Shouldn't it be a place to worship, be instructed and encouraged, then to go out from? Should church require so much of our time and energy that Sunday is not a day of rest for many?

The real danger with this new method of 'hoping Christianity will be attractive to the lost and then at some point they will cross over to being solid followers of Christ' is that 1. no one knows if or when this occurs and 2. it is unbiblical. Look at how people came to Christ in Scripture. The gospel was offensive.  The message of the Cross was one with serious repercussions. People were not cajoled in to having faith. They didn't feel comfortable interacting amidst the apostles or early church fathers unless they had converted. The music didn't lure them in and Peter and John weren't telling humorous anecdotes.

In short, we don't slip slowly in to the pool of biblical Christianity, peeling back our sinful layers like an onion, working toward the heart. No, Christianity pierces our hearts and we are dramatically changed on the inside. The glorious hope of the Gospel is that the old can be left completely behind and a new song of praise is put in our mouths.

I purport that faith that isn't offensive at the outset is not true Christianity. Broad is the road that leads to destruction, and we need to be leery of selling a 'your life will be better because of Christ' Christianity. We inoculate people to the gospel when we give them just enough to make them enjoy the morality of it and the nice people to fellowship with. They think they've heard the message after being around it for a while, so they never really interact with it and come to terms with it.  It is not a place of comfort coming to terms with our sin. It is a place of serious reflection and dying to ourselves. How is it that people think we can just bring in the masses and they will give their lives to Christ eventually? Again, we must be converted personally and privately, then desire to live for Him and serve Him in whatever way He leads us (not be pressured by the onslaught of ministries in the church pulling at us continually).

I dare say, a church that interviews it's potential members to see if they are actually saved could be more on track than many of today's mega churches drawing in the masses with feel-good music and funny sermons that continually say 'go and tell, go and tell'.

Look at what John Wesley was doing before he was even saved, with his holiness club thoughts. Sure, there is a risk of legalism with a list like that, but the broader take-home is how serious a man who wasn't even saved was about his character. There was such a seriousness to Christianity. Is the message the same now that it is full of so much fun, celebration, and just living as a believer and calling oneself a missionary? Or is this a new Christianity? Is it a different gospel?