The Changing Face Of Church Culture

In my pentecostal upbringing from the 1970’s through the 1980’s Churches were labeled by the group they were affiliated with (Assembly of God, Church of God, etc.) as well as the location (Penn’s Grove Assembly of God, Forest Hills Church of God, etc.) Then came the charismatic movement in the late seventies and eighties and churches were re-named by the tag-line “Christian Center.”

The emergence of what some call, “vintage” church movements where thousands of younger people are leaving the traditional mega-church and head for the much looser, more hip, worship experiences. The exodus is great; thousands of people leaving traditional churches for something more relevant and applicable to them.

The only problem is as a culture, we have taken it so far as to turn what is supposed to be an emerging gospel into a negotiable gospel in order that I can control my acceptance of what the gospel really is. God is not re-packaged in order to fit our commitment issues.

The need to find God in something that more resembles a coffee-shop or your living room, than something that resembles a theme-park or a shopping mall. Adherents to this emergent movement are generally under 35, well-educated, and computer savvy.

The generation born in the mid-twentieth century to late twentieth century has generally had a “modernist” point of view in culture. This modernist generation typically accepts larger corporate organizations and more formal structures within an organization. The younger generation born around the turn of the century is the “postmodern generation.” These young people do not value institutions for themselves. They place a greater emphasis on relationship. This has enabled them to reform their ideas of church structure. Church to them is not an institution, but a spiritually-related family.

Culture change, however spiritually speaking, is not when I have a Starbucks in the lobby of my church or when I have a shorter church service so people can get out faster, or even when I have a webcast they can sit at home and attend church without ever leaving their couch. Culture change is not when I have a high-dollar amount technical presentation, or even when I am paying the big bucks for my Christian program to be seen on primetime secular networks. All that is simply the fruit of the times we live in.

One must actually ask the question, “What is any of that if I cannot seriously alter the thinking, acting, and lifestyles of the world around me?”

Secular, godless society is not driven because of what they can download on an iPhone or view on YouTube; they are driven by what motivates their worldview. The purpose of the local church is to alter; not simply modify the worldview of its generation. And when we have a generation of such epic church ministry but with very little generational reform, then we are not being the church to a profound enough degree that would fulfill Biblical Kingdom rule.

Changing church culture is not about modification…it is about alteration. Modification is about changing presentation…alteration is about changing worldview which changes lifestyle. Modification is not bad in the sense of updated to meet the times, until it becomes a recycling of what we have always been except with fresher packaging and trendier terminology. Alteration actually changes a person’s entire worldview for existence.

With modification in Church ministry we appeal to what we hope entices the willing support of what we need God’s people to give much like pleading with a four-year old to finally give up their “binky.”.

Alteration however is based on what people have been radically challenged about their motives for existence, that they will now readily bring without pleading; big difference.

Unfortunately in many of our churches, the emphasis becomes placed on altering the people who support us, only to the degree of procuring more support. Our alteration efforts stop usually at the comfort level of our appeal as a means of enticing a less threatening connection. We are altering the thinking of faith partners and conference attendees, far more than the behavior of society.

We are building bigger buildings for more people to come in and be who they are inside of our buildings, and not building the infrastructure of that which is so far out of order with the world around us.

The change is in the message.

In the movie, The American President, Michael J. Fox makes a flurried statement in his role as special aide to acting President, played by Michael Douglas. The exchange went like this: “People want leadership, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they will listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They are so thirsty for it they will crawl through the desert towards a mirage, and when they discover there is no water, they will drink the sand.”

The gospel of what God wants us to have, is not the same as the gospel of what God wants us to do. The gospel of becoming a better person is not the same as the gospel of taking our place of rule as believers on the earth. The gospel of getting our needs met is not the same as the gospel of taking up the needs of God. The gospel of multiplication is not the gospel of justification and re-generation. The gospel of the “sinner’s prayer” is not the gospel of a saved life. It's high time we know the difference.