On an ecclesiastical level the churches and parachurch organizations that are most likely to be successful, if you define success as “nickels and noses,” are the very ones who are giving people what they want to hear rather than what God wants them to hear. People want to hear about how to be successful, how to have a happier marriage, and how to feel good about themselves as opposed to biblical concepts of how to glorify God, how to have a godly marriage, how to deny self, how to take up one’s cross and follow Him.
Gary E. Gilley, “It Works For Me…, Pragmatism and the Twenty-First Century Church,” PFO’s “The Quarterly Journal,” Jan-Mar 2015, p.8-9
Hi Glenn,
ReplyDeleteOh yes, my husband and I have had the "nickels and noses" (we call it "bucks and backsides" - bucks in the plate, backsides in the pews) discussion with more than one pastor, informing them that the world's definition of success is not the Lord's way of building His church. Sadly, most of the time our words were in vain.
-Carolyn