On "Criticizing the Church"

Why so negative?

One of the responses we get the most at Focus Press is “you guys are so negative” and “all you do is criticize the church.”

So, since I’ve been in the response business lately, I figured I’d tackle that one before getting back to the premium subscriber series on how culture affects us.

A few quick points before getting into the “why.”

First, I do write and speak on positive things from time to time. I can’t help that those things get less social interaction and therefore fewer views than the more critical or controversial things. That’s out of my control.

Second, there are plenty of places you can go to get pats on the back for getting baptism and instruments right. We should revisit the fundamentals every now and then, sure, but since there’s enough of that going on already I am wholly uninterested in those discussions. At some point we have to move the conversation forward from milk to meat.

Third, pointing out shortcomings in what we do is not taking a swipe at Jesus’ design. If you see a Lamborghini driving on the wrong side of the interstate, it is not a slight against the Lamborghini corporation’s car designing capabilities to point out something is wrong in this situation.

Finally, I will concede that I can (and want to) do better about incorporating the joy of the Lord as one of our incentives in pushing for higher standards. I’ve written on that, but it should be a more regular feature.

Now, as to why I feel the need to call for change:

Why should I say things are good? Would that be honest?

Our youth dropout rate is well over 50% and we are statistically in decline pretty much everywhere. We’ve squandered centuries of buildup to the point that large buildings sit empty and once-thriving churches now go on elderless, stuck in a generational death spiral. And, most of our colleges are halls of compromise that actively weaken the faith of our youth.

The message from many of our pulpits is one of accommodation aimed at achieving shallow unity. Many Christians look, act, and talk exactly like the world around them, and, rather than calling this out, many preachers fiercely defend people’s comfort with shouts of “YOU CAN’T BIND THAT” anytime someone pushes practical holiness. But you better believe we’ll pound the pulpit on third-rate doctrinal disputes.

And, our impact on the culture is less than zero.

Ignoring all of this, we’re bombarded by Facebook posts from preachers at the big lectureship/camp/competition of the week saying “I know some people say that the church is in decline, but those people clearly haven’t seen this.”

Yeah, people were posting that same thing 10-15 years ago. And yet churches all over America can’t locate many or even most of those LTC/L2L/camp/Bible bowl kids that were held up as evidence the church was doing great.

Maybe if we heeded the warning of the “negative” guys back then and changed course instead of repeatedly spiking the football on the 45 yard line we could have avoided this outcome.

As Lewis put it, “If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake.”

Or, as somebody else put it, “The first step is admitting there’s a problem.”

It’s not “negative” to urge that we push things back uphill before we allow it to slide any further.

Doomed to repeat it

But if you line up all of these elements—generational decline, cultural compromise, accommodating prophets—it’s hard not to see a comparison between ourselves and divided kingdom Israel. And what they needed was not coddlers who told them how great they were, but prophets who called out the drift.

It’s especially reminiscent of 2 Chronicles 18:7, where Ahab didn’t want to let Jehoshaphat consult Micaiah because “I hate him, for he never prophesies good of me, but only evil.”

Paraphrased, Ahab told Micaiah, “You’re too negative.”

Ya think, Ahab?

God’s men can’t call evil good or good evil, nor say peace, peace when there is no peace.

What we need is the same message Elijah preached, adapted to a new culture: “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him. But if self, follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21).

So call us negative, call us heretics, call us whatever you want. But don’t tell me we have to pretend things are great. It’s time for a change.