efore accomplishing and submitting the Sworn Statement of ...
Obstacles churches face in accomplishing their mission
Transcript of Obstacles churches face in accomplishing their mission
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Obstacles churches face in accomplishing their mission
Howard CulbertsonSouthern Nazarene University
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Obstacle #1
• Inherited religious forms may obscure biblical spirituality– Gospel is communicated
ineffectively – Caveat: There is a good side to
“tradition”
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Obstacle #2
• Legalistic and moralistic distortions go uncorrected– Message and practices send wrong
meanings– Church participation becomes a
painful, mechanical pilgrimage
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Obstacle #3
• Wrong questions are being asked– “What does the church need to do
for me and my family?” rather than “What does God require of our community of faith?”
– “What will make our church grow?” rather than “What is keeping our church from growing?”
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Obstacle #4• Failure to deal with nominalism
– Too many “Christians” in name only
• Norm today: church membership is double attendance
• Lyle Pointer estimates only 20% of church members are “Biblical Christians”
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Obstacle #5
• Too many church members are pew-sitting consumers– Up to 80% of some congregations
are simply consumers– Results:
• Entertainment focus and ratings game• Insufficient ministry leadership• The Reformation theme of the
“priesthood of all believers” remains an ideal rather than a reality
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Remember . . .If a basketball team is awful, it
doesn't mean that the game itself is bad.
It doesn’t mean that there isn't a team somewhere who plays the game the way it should be played.
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Obstacles churches face in accomplishing their mission
Let’s bulldoze themout of the way
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This PowerPoint presentation is available along with related materials and other PowerPoint presentations at http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/ppt.htm