Gospel Prism

Are there 5 types of Christians? Can a person who doesn’t go to church be a Christian? It seems, according to much of the country, people believe Jesus, the church, and Bible reading are not necessary to be a Christian.

I think what’s interesting about this is Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal’s response to this poll. Here’s what they note:

Leadership discussed the survey results with leading pastors and religious experts to ascertain the ramifications for church leaders. Three critical issues emerged:

* The local church is no longer considered the only outlet for spiritual growth.
* Churches must develop relational- and community-oriented outreach.
* Lay people have to be better equipped to be God’s ambassadors.

The answer seems to lie totally on the response of the church. All three ’solutions’ focus on the church’s failures. While the church must accept its responsibility in its lack of Gospel teaching, evangelism, and love to the world, isn’t there also the parallel reality that the cross is foolishness to the wise and shames the strong (1 Cor 1:18). One critical issue that should emerge is that hearts are naturally hardened against the Gospel due to radical self-centeredness (Romans 1). People are quick to blame the church without a willingness to see their own culpability of sin. I find that the ‘Christian’ that fits into CT’s categories of nominalism are simply plagued with what we are all plagued with, ‘me-ism.’

The article reports on a Mr. James Smith:

James Smith also identifies himself as a Christian. He attended church as a child, but his attendance was minimal as a young adult. He believes in God, occasionally attends Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan when his time-consuming job in the finance district allows, but he does not often participate in other activities to further his spiritual life. He has a Bible but rarely opens it; what leisure time he has he spends with friends, most of whom are of different faiths, and he does not necessarily believe that his God is any different from the one his Muslim friend worships.

There are many who will go to a church like Redeemer who have the same heart and same thought process as Mr. Smith. By God’s grace, I know the Lord can penetrate such a heart, and I hope one day the Spirit will bring this man to a loving worship of Christ. But isn’t Mr. Smith a prime example of why CT’s conclusions are faulty? In this case, Redeemer preaches the Gospel, loves the poor, develops what CT calls “relational and community oriented outreach” and ‘equips lay people to be God’s ambassadors.’ I would say if there is a church that does all that CT is asking for, Redeemer is it. And yet, here is the prime example of who they define as a “Private Christian.”

So the answer is not in what the church should be doing, but rather in the brokenness a sinner should have in light of the Gospel. One conclusion should be that the church should be praying for the Gospel to penetrate wretched sinners. Until that happens, those conclusions CT has come to might actually create more ‘Private Christians’ than Christians.

As for those ‘Christians’ who think Jesus, the church, and the Bible are unnecessary to being a Christian, I wonder how they would respond to these verses:

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)