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The reason I left the PCA was specifically because in my immediate area the church simply was not engaged enough in the lives of its members or the community. However, I do not think you can divide correct doctrine from engagement. Correct doctrine motivates engagement from the right motives. This is what liberals lack. If you seek to love others as Christ did, but do not really know how God really loves us, then you will fall very short.
But, Acts 2 is always pointed out as the "perfect" church, yet it was taking care of its own and that was the thing that made it so attractive to the people who hadn't joined yet.
The reason I left the PCA was specifically because in my immediate area the church simply was not engaged enough in the lives of its members or the community. However, I do not think you can divide correct doctrine from engagement. Correct doctrine motivates engagement from the right motives. This is what liberals lack. If you seek to love others as Christ did, but do not really know how God really loves us, then you will fall very short.
When I was Methodist, we did everything we could for people. Word got around and people would be waiting outside the office when the pastor arrived in the morning. We were a church that helped people in meaningful ways.
NONE of those people ever attended a single Sunday service. People say, "well, that shouldn't be your goal!!" It wasn't. But it was an indicator of the amount of commitment to a life in Christ our charity created. Some of them would show up for the Wednesday night dinner, but would never stay for a bible study. "Not really into that" was their answer when we would invite them to stay.
Then, we went through some hard times and couldn't support people as we did. People would show up for their monthly "they're gonna turn my lights off" story and the pastor had to say, "I can't help you."
More than half of them cussed him out. We had to lock the church doors during office hours and put an intercom outside so the secretary could feel safe. We had given one woman (a single mom) over $3000 in the previous year. When the pastor told her no, she left and sent her husband back to yell at the pastor. Yes, the "single mom" had been married all along.
Eventually, they all found a different church that was "involved with the community" and had the all-important deep pockets.
The people who have been given the faith to believe come to the church for God, Jesus, fellowship, and if they need help, for help. The thing that appeals to them is not the handout. It's the hug. Its the community of beleivers who love God and love each other that is attractive to the outsider.
I learned a lot about people in that church and I learned a lot about the liberal religion.
The more emphasis a congregation or denomination places on Personal Holiness, the less it will place on Social Holiness and vice-versa... as soon as you move to the middle, the factions at one end or the other will declare the middle ground to be "too far in the other direction".
The "poor" here have iphones. . .
That's an excellent point. Another good point my current pastor often makes is that once you let the congregation's focus shift from winning those you might gain to keeping those you might lose, you begin to stagnate and die.
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