Pragmatism

T.M. Moore has part three of his Contend for the Faith series at BreakPoint. This time the topic is pragmatism. He does not call pragmatism heresy, but rather a road to heresy. "The pragmatic spirit afoot in the Church today tends to be allied with questionable ends and dubious means—not overtly evil ends and means, just not those God has clearly indicated. Here is where the slippery slope to heresy begins." The slippery slope. Incremental change. Like the frog in the kettle. Says Moore,

"Jesus wants a church growing in unity and maturity, not just numbers and noise. He wants, first and foremost, a community of martyrs, not buildings with staff and programs. A family where the Spirit flows in fruit, gifts, power, righteousness, peace, and joy, and not just a spiritual mall, complete with coffee shops and entertainment. An army following Him into the culture, conquering and to conquer, not a people comfy in their cushy theater chairs and classrooms, admiring the latest PowerPoint on Romans. A people united community by community, region by region, seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and not just a collection of religious organizations competing for the dwindling pool of putative “seekers” after who-knows-what.

Key phrases jump out at me: "numbers and noise" - "coffee shops and entertainment". His article begins by discussing how the tabernacle in the Old Testament was to be constructed according to specific plans, given by God, not Moses. He begins with worship. He suggests that the error of pragmatism is thinking that we can find better ways of doing things than the ones God has prescribed.



I personally have no problem with churches doing things that attract people such as sponsoring fun events for kids, pancake suppers for families, concerts, sports camps and seminars on relevant topics. What I have a problem with, agreeing with Moore, is that in the pragmatic trend of the last few decades, those things become an end in themselves and squeeze out what should be essential, a biblical and historic pattern of worship that includes fellowship, creed, confession, sound teaching and focus on the Lord's death and resurrection at the communion table.

In other words, in doing all the new stuff, we no longer have time for the essentials. We soon forget what Christianity was supposed to be about. We forget "the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer", the very things that gave the church after Pentecost its power. We have approaches to evangelism which cannot speak of sin, we have ideas about worship which focus more on man than God, we have teaching ministries that are devoid of doctrine, and church leadership structures that are devoid of biblical authority.

Another article in CT asks Are the Megachurches Birthing the House Church Movement? It suggests many are weary of the megachurch approach and are instead connecting with smaller, more efficient, more manageable neighborhood groups. It asks hard questions about whether a megachurch with a mega-budget that spends 90% of its funds on maintaining property, staff and programs, is really the most effective way to go. One letter writer Dan McGowan, responding to the CT article asks the telling question about the megachurch approach, "Am I just a club member trying to get more club members for my club?" Well put. What is it that we are trying to convert people to? The apostolic faith or the latest new movement?

But the last line of the quote from Moore above is also striking. Moore senses that megachurches are all dependent on "the dwindling pool of putative 'seekers' after who-knows-what". What happens when the pool runs dry? Can we envision, at some point in the not too distant future, megachurches losing members, as seekers bored with the latest "strategy" perhaps no longer respond to the ad campaigns? Will the big enterprises be forced to reduce staff, sell property, halt programs? Perhaps we will one day drive by, instead of a mall turned into a church, a once thriving megachurch complex turned into a mall.

A good primer on the dangers of pragmatism is Os Guiness' Dining with the Devil. He commented on a study of articles in a major Leadership magazine which revealed almost no references to scripture or theology. The focus was on management strategies, team building, ideas from the corporate world. No denial of essential truth, just no time for it. Over time, what is not actively maintained begins to rust and decay. The point of the many critics of pragmatism is this: Pragmatic approaches to ministry are not heresy. But they do have a tendency to open the door.