Survey: Americans switching faiths, dropping out

Sure, we can somewhat define “religion” as a marketplace as denominational influences come into play, but what is the “product” we’re marketing?  Is it the denomination or Christ?

It’s a sad reality when the various faiths take precedence over the basis of their belief system.  I was very careful to be generic in that last statement to allow the discussion to include those groups that don’t reference Christ at all.  I’m interested in how Islam, the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, etc. view the marketplace.

As for Christianity, we’ve known for a long time that Christ as a “product” is taking a backseat due to our craziness, but what about the various sects within Christianity?  We’re really all “advertising” the same thing, no?  Okay, maybe not, but we should be.  Biblical truth and Christ.

Update: An individual is commenting on this article with a clear agenda to speak out against Expelled.  If you search for the username, you can find out a great deal more.  Since this is evidently not a comment spam attack, I’m leaving these comments in tact to allow all sides to have their say.

It seems that at some point in the future, there is going to a church plant for every individual on the face of this planet. So, my question is, where do we draw the line?

In all of my talk about the “Christian Bubble” one of the underlying themes centers around the definition of church. So many times when we talk about church, we talk about a building. However, even those who aren’t talking about a building, but the people who gather in that building, are still talking about a singular entity, such as the First Baptist Church of Ellisville. We must realize that the church (with a lower-case ‘c’) is simply a subset of the global Body of Christ known as the Church (capital ‘C’).

A local church in St. Louis just held their annual (maybe it’s semi-annual) baptism service where they baptized 300 new believers. I didn’t hear about it until after the fact. How amazing it would have been to participate in that celebration! Unfortunately, that particular event was a celebration designed for their congregation, not for the community.

I’ve heard pastors speak from the pulpit about what great things other churches are doing. Later that week, those same pastors received mail suggesting they shouldn’t promote other churches from the pulpit? What?

When asked for advice about what church to attend or visit in an area, I don’t automatically recommend the one I attend. I try to learn more about what the person is looking for so that I can recommend a church that fits their needs.

Why is it that we get so focused on our own building, congregation or even denomination that we forget about the Kingdom at large?

Individual churches are important for evangelism, discipleship and equipping, but all are simply pieces of the larger puzzle that make up the Church.