A Great Day for this Lecture on Martin Luther

Trueman at his best...



Carl Trueman, "Martin Luther, Troubled Prophet." A Lecture at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Is the church letting you down or are you letting the church down?

It has been often stated that the number one reason people leave the church is due to a feeling that the church failed to meet their needs. - Pastor Brian Moss




Pastor Brian Moss has an excellent post on why people leave a church. His reasons are often true and heart breaking. His second point strikes a chord with me:

There are so many people who join our churches but never invest in relationships. They simply attend services. They treat the church like an IN-N-OUT burger joint – get my food and get out quickly. But sooner or later life happens, and when their world starts coming apart they have no relational safety net. They suddenly expect “the pastor” to “be there for them,” like he’s a spiritual Aladdin. Just rub the lamp and *poof*, there he is! But that’s not even the biblical calling of pastors. According to Ephesians 4:12, pastors are called to equip the members to be the hands and feet of Jesus. God designed the church to be a community of connected Christians, not a collection of customers waiting to be served. We tell our people, “If you join this church, but never develop any friendships here, we promise we will let you down.”

Disconnected people disconnect.

Maybe we should all take some time to consider if we are the problem - are we letting our church down?

You can read the entire post here.