Today's Christianity, Part 2: Why Isn't Church Appealing to People?

Here are some reasons why people don't find Christianity, or the idea of attending church, appealing today. Whether these reasons are real, justified or just perceived doesn't matter. It's important that all Christians keep these things in mind in order to bring glory to God with how we treat other people.

-"There are too many hypocrites in church" - (See explanation of "hypocrites" in Part 1: Of Christians and Hypocrites). Funny... when it comes to the existence of God, skeptics say they believe only what they can see. But when it comes to the existence of hypocrites in church, many who haven't experienced it are willing to believe what they hear rather than setting foot in a church...

Yet, Christians, what WILL they find if they walk in? Will they find kindness and loving attitudes? Why should non-believers want what we have when they hear about Christians divorcing over adultery or spousal abuse? Or child molestation by a clergy, or the likes of a Ted Haggard, preaching one thing and doing another? What is our everyday character? Are we heard bad-mouthing our pastor's sermon over Sunday lunch at a restaurant? Are we complainers at work? Do we flirt or participate in dirty jokes at the water cooler? Do we show joy even in tough situations, or are we solemn and grump-faced?

-"Organized religion" causes the problems of the world. The brunt of this seems blamed on Christianity for past events like the Crusades and Holocaust, while extremists in other religions have also committed many atrocities. Whatever happened, many sectors of Christianity, both Protestant and Catholic, have tried to make amends and apologize especially since World War II. But it's a grudge society keeps bearing, and there's apparently no making up for it. Especially when so much of what the Church has to say is presented critically rather than with sensitivity, and men like Fred Phelps call themselves pastors while having hate websites.

-Christians spout Bible verses as proof of everything. We should realize, some homes don't even have Bibles in them anymore. We have two generations of kids who've learned that the Bible is taboo even to have in their school locker. Bible verses hold no water with many people, so we must have logical explanations for our biblical worldview, without relying on "The Bible says..." until further along in open conversation.

-Fighting within The Church. The world is a witness to fights and disagreements between denominations, and even between churches within the same denomination. Jesus never said "You there, go be a Baptist" or "You, go be a Pentecostal." Denominations came from men taking their favorite Bible verses and making too much out of them rather than just loving God with their whole hearts, minds and souls.

-Legalism - Christ sets us free, yet the activity of "religion" put us back in bondage. We try to make others conform; if not the minute they walk in the door, then the day they proclaim they've accepted Jesus:
"You can't wear that heavy metal T-shirt anymore"..."Sweetie, your skirt is too short for church"..."That rap music shouldn't be played on church grounds"..."You must say these prayers at this set time."

What happened to "Jesus accepts you as you are?" Once a person comes into the church, if they sincerely want to hear and learn the word of God, it is God who will begin changing some things; inner things more important than outer. Most outward appearance changes aren't necessary to be a "good Christian" ("Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7). As an individual reads more of the word of God, he or she will be convinced in their heart of what needs changing. It could take years. God helped me change some inner things about myself...others I still struggle with over twenty years later.

Legalism doesn't only imprison new Christians. Long-time Christians can become so set in their ways that they're frozen with fear of change...

-Grandma's Church -"we've always done it this way" - Grandmas...gotta love 'em. But look around...are you sitting in the church of Grandma's youth? Does your church have a fear of embracing new exciting methods to attract young people? Many congregations have shrunk to just a few nice elderly folks because they've been doing church exactly the same way for the last 40 years.

On the other hand, some more savvy churches have made everything modern, then realized people are coming just for that and there's no real substance to their level of belief. There has to be a happy medium. The gospel message doesn't need to be thrown away with outdated methods.

I'm convinced that churches aren't solving anything by having a "Traditional" service for older folks and a separate "Contemporary" service for young people. I've seen it too many times - this separation just divides a church body further. It shows that leadership and members couldn't come to a compromise by blending some old hymns with some newer music. They lack respect for each other, and the church fails at being "one in unity" for the sake of worshipping God (Psalm 133:1-3, Romans 15:5-6).

-Churchspeak - using Old English or lofty words that sound silly today and make people feel like they're stupid. Words like "sanctified" and "salvation" are biblical, but may need more explanation now. Then there's Seminary speak. Pastors come out of Bible school talking like this: "As we grow exponentially we will exegese the Bible text to remove extraneous meanings from the eschatology of prophetic visions"... What?? Who's going to understand this?!

And then there are words we think others want to hear, yet will push people further away, like "Love the sinner, hate the sin" - I cringe at this sentence. Many non-church people are absolutely repulsed by it. What a cliché. First, because millions don't believe in such a thing called sin anymore. Second, because none of us wants to believe we're the sinner! And therein lies the problem. We are all sinners and all capable of many sins. As my AC writing colleague Carly Hart commented on Part 1: "If sinning were hard, no one would ever do it. We all struggle in our quest to be good Christians, regardless of our branch of Christianity. Those who think [their] church is full of hypocrites need to step back and think of church fellowship more as a support group for sinners." Thanks, Carly. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).