By Michael Bell
We are getting a fair number of visitors because of our post on Internet Monk supporting his claims for an Evangelical collapse. Welcome, take some time to browse and enjoy the site. Be sure to check our Archived Series for some of the more interesting posts that we have written. Any feedback you might provide by way of comments is always appreciated.
In many ways it is kind of ironic, that we would be writing about an Evangelical collapse as Eclectic Christian is about the centrality of the Gospel, and celebrating the many good things that are happening in Churches of many different stripes. Although this may sound strange, I see the post by Michael Spencer as a good thing too. Not because it contains good news, but because it is a clarion call to action. If the good news of Jesus Christ is to be proclaimed, then Evangelicals must act as evangelicals. What are we doing to help spread the good news in a way that people can hear it, understand it, and respond?
Romans 1:16a – For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Your thoughts and comments are always welcome.
Michael Bell
Joshua Hearne
Tim Melton
Joel Black
Wow, to think I knew you before you hit the big time! Seriously, a great post at the monk’s. I have told you before that bars are nicer places than many churches, now your stats show some chickens coming home to roost. By the way, stats are usually dry, but you brought them to life. I hope many people will read through your files, as i have been doing for months now, you have a lot to offer.
By the way i posted at my site and Imonk’s why i think there is a decline. It may be radical, but I am convinced. Let me have your opinion. congrats.
Thanks Will,
Michael said make the stats readable, so I did my best. Typically, if my wife’s eyes start to glaze over when she reads what I have written, I know that I happen to rework something. So I always try and keep her in mind as I am writing.
Look forward to checking out what you have written.
Mike
I think that the things the modern church has done to be relevant have, in some ways, proven only to weaken the pull of the gospel. We are still called to be the people who turn the world on its head! We are still called to be strangers in this world. We are still called to be the purifying sting and the thirst inducing salt poured onto the bland masses. Too often today the church tries so hard to be welcoming that it ceases to be powerful in its ability to radically turn a persons life around.
I really think that there is a balance to be had Cynthia. Most churches, I fear, go the other way and are found to be totally irrelevant to society at large.
Mike Bell
The most effective witness that you have is the way you live your life. As far as I can tell, Jesus’s message can be summed up in 2 directives: that we humble ourselves before God; and that we love one another as he loved us. That is a much more potent message than proselytizing.