Almost without exception, though admittedly to varying degrees, these “churches” are completely centered around their skinny jeans pastor, who rather than exhibiting Godly humility instead seeks attention by acting “radical” and constantly focusing his “message” on his own stories and musings rather than on the Bible. The most charismatic of these also barely even mention scripture, instead seeking mystical experiences and direct revelation via those experiences. This type of “church” is clearly condemned in scripture multiple times, most famously as the types of people who seek false teachers to tell them what their “itching ears” wish to hear. We are supposed to rely upon the truth as already revealed in the written word, not upon unknown and possibly dangerous spirits whispering into our ears as we writhe in false ecstasy during some hyper-emotional experience. The very reason God directs us toward the written word is that, similar to our constitution, it is not subject to the whims of individuals, but instead provides a single immovable rock that can be depended upon to provide truth and wisdom, and especially to provide the one and only true Gospel. When instead everyone chases either imaginary or demon-delivered alternate “personal revelation”, then chaos reigns and there is no way, absent application of solid Biblical discernment which these “churches” absolutely detest, to determine the truth.
A true pastor is there to do one thing: Preach the Gospel by exegeting what is plainly written in the Bible. That’s it. He’s not there to entertain or to go on and on about his own opinions. These so-called “skinny jean” pastors act like they think God’s written word has no power unless they give it some kind of help by acting like an entertainer. And in many cases this misguided behavior is not by accident, but is instead a deliberate attempt to make the congregation dependent upon their celebrity pastor and his off-base opinions instead of upon the unchanging word of God. The reason so many of these “churches” barely touch the Bible except to occasionally twist a verse or two is that they know that the written word handcuffs them and prohibits their emotion and narcissism-driven desire for mystical experiences and to be personally important, believes themselves in many cases to be modern-day prophets or apostles.
If you ever read prophecy and wondered what the coming apostate church would look like, well it’s here and this is how it looks.
Most prominent example of this is Andy Stanley.
Agree!
Entertaining experiental motivational speeches with a bit of inappropriate humor and finally little bit of jesus thrown in...(small j in “Jesus”, because they try to diminish Him)
May I suggest a search and understanding about ARC...”Association of related churches”? A church to avoid! They have a searchable map of their member churches. Not all are shown, because after paying off the huge debt to ARC, some have left but still not abandoned the false gospel. They look the same as you described. Skinny Jean flood pants, hip hop tunes, jeans with holes in the knees. “Pastor” with the groovy hair style, leather jacket.
Perfectly describes what you posted!
Agree!
Entertaining experiental motivational speeches with a bit of inappropriate humor and finally little bit of jesus thrown in...(small j in “Jesus”, because they try to diminish Him)
May I suggest a search and understanding about ARC...”Association of related churches”? A church to avoid! They have a searchable map of their member churches. Not all are shown, because after paying off the huge debt to ARC, some have left but still not abandoned the false gospel. They look the same as you described. Skinny Jean flood pants, hip hop tunes, jeans with holes in the knees. “Pastor” with the groovy hair style, leather jacket.
Perfectly describes what you posted!