a. Lukewarmness.
i.
The issue of ‘wealth’: How is this affecting us?
1. It
is a problem in the USA:
(Michael
Hamilton, Christianity Today, June 12, 2000, p35-43) “American evangelicals are
fabulously rich … the Salvation Army has an annual budget of over $2 billion …
the 8 largest evangelical gospel-spreading parachurch ministries have combined
annual budgets of $729 million. … John Wesley denounced wealth as inconsistent with
Christianity. Temptations of pride and
self-sufficiency are concomitants of riches.”
2. It
is also a problems in other parts of the world:
a. Deann
Alford, Pulse, Aug. 4, 2000, p1-2: In S. Korea, missionary zeal has also
declined somewhat, perhaps as a result of the increasing affluence many young Koreans
enjoy.
b. We
also noted this as a concern in Ukraine where we have frequently visited as the
lives of Ukrainians are more and more focused on “making a living.”
ii.
The issue of ‘popularity’:
(Douglas Wilson, Tabletalk, Apr. 2000,
p60f) ‘Modern evangelicalism has been infected by the same diseases that have
decimated the mainline Protestant churches – unbelief and the lust for
relevance. … (We) seek to accommodate the culture … Modern evangelicalism
reflects this in its devotion to the pragmatism of church-growth techniques as
well as its fawning imitation of pop culture in worship.’
(Lon Allison, director of the Billy Graham
Center at Wheaton College, in a column in Current Thoughts and Trends,
12/2000, p2) “The church I now attend is a growing church. The church and its denomination see it as a
success story. Yet we reach very few
unchurched or nonchristian people. We
still put our stock in church size rather than seeking and saving the lost.’
b. Worldliness:
(George Barna, quoted in Luis Palau
Responds E-zine, June 15, 2000) It is possible to argue persuasively that
many Christians have been seduced by the power of the tools they have
acquired. Born-again adults spend an
average of seven times more hours each week watching television than they do
participating in spiritual pursuits such as Bible reading, prayer and
worship. They spend roughly twice as
much money on entertainment as they donate to their church. They spend more time surfing the new than
they do conversing with God in prayer.
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