First the Megachurch, now the Megamosque July 24, 2008
Posted by Paul Edwards in Uncategorized.Tags: Islam, Megachurch, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Seeker
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From the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life comes this interesting news:
Many of these “mosque chains” brand themselves as progressive, and sometimes feature gymnasiums and mixed-gender prayer areas for men and women. Some groups even host weekly services at churches or synagogues with the expressed goal of fostering interfaith goodwill.
“If they weren’t Muslim, they’d look like one of the biggest Catholic churches you’d ever seen, from an organizational standpoint,” said Marshall Medaf, president of the Beth Chaverim Reform Congregation in Ashburn, Va., which last month agreed to rent prayer space to the All-Dulles Area Muslim Society.
Memo to Rick Warren and Bill Hybels: When adherents of a false religion can take the methodolgy of today’s seeker-sensitive megachurch and apply it to their own success, the model obviously is not a biblical one.
I’m not sure that your syllogism is valid. If adherents to a non-Christian religion were to put into practice the teachings of Jesus (for example, the relational imperatives in the Sermon on the Mount like not holding others in contempt or treating them as sex objects), they would find that these really ARE a better way of living than domination, manipulation, and self-centered lust. Just because Jesus’ teachings “work” for all doesn’t invalidate them; rather, it proves their veracity.
Therefore (my syllogism - heh, heh) it’s quite possible that the purpose-driven approach Rick Warren recommends “works” precisely BECAUSE it is biblical. The Apostle Paul instructed the church in Corinth to practice things in their worship and teaching times that would not alienate unbelievers in their midst who might not get what is going on and think they are crazy (1 Cor 14). Communication in an understandable, sensitive manner is encouraged, not frowned upon.
“Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” is not only a non-biblical approach, it is also foreign language (”ChurchSpeak”) to the world at large. I think it’s time to stop combining Warren with Hybels because they’re approaches are fundamentally different, and I think it’s also time to stop condemning them just because they don’t follow time-worn, archaic methodologies that are merely a quasi-Christian sub-culture.
b/Bo,
I don’t hear my friend defending the tactics of the Church Growth Movement do I? Say it ain’t so!
b/Bo
Do a Google search on the Hegelian Dialectic. Sometimes understanding the method behind the ‘madness’ is helpful. Unfortuately we see it in every arena of our society. *: (
Yo buddy, I’m defending two notions:
1. That we should worship and teach with cultural clarity so as not to “appear mad” per 1 Cor. 14. Certainly WE ambassadors are the aliens and strangers here, but we should be understandable. But it certainly helps if we’re promoting the same gospel Jesus was; anything less will not only appear confusingly foreign, it will not be considered to be “GOOD” news.
2. That as a called out society of God’s kingdom we should do all things intentionally, with clear, biblical purpose, and utilizing appropriate techniques and methodologies for the occasion.
Whether or not the Church Growth Movement is espousing all of that I’m not sure; I’m neither a supporter nor opponent, I simply want to test everything and hang on to what is truly good.
Regarding church growth, I will say that while I agree with Warren’s assertion that healthy organisms grow and reproduce, they also STOP growing when they reach a certain point of maturity for their species and they reproduce within their capacity to care for their offspring. In that light, some church societies are best left small and intimate.
More tonight?
Isn’t it proven business practice to see something that works, and retool it to fit my own brand?
This has nothing to do with the so-called heresy of the “seeker-sensitive” movement. This has everything to do with the bottom line. After all, Muslims gotta eat too, you know.