[HarleyD]

All (respectable) churches do evangelism. That is the call of believers. It is not the call of worship. They are two distinct things.

I will admit that throughout the ages churches have overemphasized one form of worship for another. Too much doctrine verse too much music for example. Scripture is a little vague on the right mix and format. But the worship service was always meant for the worshiping of God. Never evangelism.

To try to lure people into a service to "give them what they want" is a little disingenuous at best. It is not a fundamental principle of what church is about.

[xzins]

Harley, please read post #362. Thanks.

[blue-duncan]

"give them what they want"

What they want is to be saved; to receive the grace of God in Jesus Christ. That's what they were preordained to receive and therefore they are there at the irresistible urging of the Holy Spirit. The church, being salt, just makes it inviting and appetizing.

[P-Marlowe]

Never evangelism.

What do you call giving the word of God to an unbeliever? I call that evangelism. The only way a Church can avoid evangelism is to not allow any tares or visitors into their church and never to preach the word.

If you preach the word from the pulpit you are engaged in evangelism. If you obey the words of Christ you will go out into the streets and compel those on the streets to come in.

Harley you have a very twisted view of evangelism. How does your church evangelize the lost? Oh wait, your church obviously NEVER evangelizes. That is not the calling of the Church. (/sarcasm).

[Lord_Calvinus]

***To try to lure people into a service to "give them what they want" is a little disingenuous at best. It is not a fundamental principle of what church is about.***

A gimmick service will produce a gimmick faith, every single time. It is only by the grace of God that we escape into something better.

If Jesus entered at the back of our church on Sunday morning, would we all clap our hands, dance & sing, "Happy Days are Here Again"? Are we going to show Him our "God is rad, he's my dad" t's? This is not to say that one style of worship is better than another, but if you are set on getting people into church by giving them what they want instead of what they need, you tend to make your church look like the world and send yourself to a position of irrelevancy. Plus, you willfully deny them what they desperately need in the first place.

I find that I am particularly unimpressed with the "Try Jesus/ Got Jesus" trick the church seems to be on these days. It is as if God is just another kick or another way out. It is to say to people who have tried every other self-help cure we now bring out God for a test drive. This creates an antroprocentric message and faith.

It is time to turn from a bargain-basement God to the truth again. People so desperately need to hear that they truly are dead in sins and that no matter what they choose or how they act, their destiny is in God's hands. In short, what was once called "the Gospel" and has gained the interesting nickname of Calvinism must be preached again.

Instead of making unbelievers comfortable with a surrounding that is very worldly, nice drums & a decafe latte, we need to be concentrating on a message that makes them a bit nervous. They need to be told that their ultimate fate rests, not in their own hands, but in the Lord's hands.

We need to quit trying to reconcile God to men and begin reconciling men to God as we once did. We need to put away the gimmicks and dust off the Gospel.