Will The Real Church
Please Stand Up?
· The Church of Networking—Make
contacts to expand your business.
· The Church of the Significant Other—Find that special someone.
· The Church of Social Service and Need Fulfillment—No need is
too great or too small.
· The Church of Heavenly Investment with Earthly Dividends—For
the amount of money I contribute, I expect a significant return.
· The Country Club Church—Gather to celebrate that you can gather
together and that others can’t…at least, not with you. Caters to the
right kind of people. Long-term members get the best tables and the best
parking spots.
· The Church of Heavenly Fun and Sanctified Pleasure—Keep me and
my kids occupied so they don’t get into trouble. If you can’t fill my
nights and weekends with fun and excitement, then I’ll have to take my
business/membership elsewhere.
· The Church of the Grand Stadium-Watch the gladiators of God do
battle with the team of evil.
· The Church of the Self-service, Spiritual Garage—Gives a
periodic oil change (or anointing).
· The Church of the Fast-food Restaurant—Get what you need,
quick, easy, cheap. Just enough to sustain you for another week.
· The Church of the Celestial Savings and Loan—Stop by and make a
few deposits, because you never know when you’ll need to make a
withdrawal.
· The Church of the Dining Resort- Come here and be catered to.
Others will do your bidding and pamper you.
· The Church of Hellfire—Turn or burn, shake or bake, deny or
fry. Others are going to hell…and aren’t you glad?
· The Church of the Citadel—It is a fortress on a hill. Builds
buildings, starts programs, and concentrates its efforts within its
walls. If it doesn’t happen on this property, it must not be of
God.
· The Church of the Mega Mall—Has what the other churches
don’t—and, quite frankly, does it a whole lot better. Whatever you need,
it has it, tailored and fit to your specifications. Bring the whole
family—it’s your one-stop shopping center. If you can’t find it, the
church will create if for you, since its job is to keep you happy in
Jesus’ name. It won’t threaten you, guilt you, worry you, or overburden
you. It wants your time here to be enjoyable, so that you’ll come back
and do business again.
· The Church of Evangelistic Fervor—All activities during the
week and on Sunday mornings lead up to one exciting moment; the altar
call. Get ‘em to the front and get ‘em saved.
· The Church of Sanctified Information—Pours out a stream of
biblical material. The people eagerly fill their notebooks; the one with
the fullest notebook and the fullest head gets the title “Most
Spiritual.”
· The Church of the Latest (and Largest) Program—Presents one
extravaganza after another: musicians, preachers, concerts, dramas. The
one with the newest, most expensive, and largest attendance wins.
· The Church of Holy Tradition—A museum of and for the saints.
The people gather to dust off old relics and be touched by the
sacrifices of the past. Nostalgia is everything. Worship amounts to warm
feeling about God.
· The Church, Inc.—An organization run like a small business or
large corporation, depending on its size. The CEO sets the direction and
has little contact with the rank and file. Buy into the vision, baby!”
The excerpt above was taken from a book by
Glen Wagner entitled,The Church You’ve Always Wanted
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), p. 29-31.