In an effort to promote the development and growth of evangelical churches, many have adopted marketing strategies to advertize and promote churches in their communities. In the USA many of these assemblies have developed into “mega-churches” attended by thousands and offering a virtual religious subculture for their members.
By seeking to make unconverted people “feel comfortable” in church meetings, many have adopted methods borrowing heavily from entertainment, business and popular culture. These churches have tended to become places for therapy rather than for God-centered worship and the training of believers for ministry.
In recent years many of the higher-profile mega-churches have moved into the mainstream of ecumenical dialogue and a new social gospel, promoting education, eliminating poverty, promoting religious pluralism and seeking to bring a Christian influence to bear upon the unregenerate culture. In a reaction to the mega-church movement others have espoused the “emergent conversation” where church members are urged to deny many of the Bible’s more controversial doctrines, emphasize religious experience and seek broad inter-faith dialogue.
CCC seeks the growth and multiplication of Bible-teaching churches in Luxembourg and the greater region. However this must never be done at the expense of the health of the local body, or by the use of methods that compromise the Bible’s message. We need not “make the Bible relevant” by addressing the “felt needs” of our listeners; rather we must address the true needs of our community–felt or not–by faithfully proclaiming the whole Bible’s message to all who will listen.
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