The Sinfulness of Content-Only Christianity

Last week we had the honor of hosting our local network’s annual meeting. First Coast Churches (formerly the Jacksonville Baptist Association) does great work at linking churches in our community together for gospel-centered ministry. This year, our featured speaker was Trevin Wax. Trevin serves as the president of research and resource development for our North American Mission Board. He is a theologian and formerly served as a missionary in Romania. He is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today. He has authored numerous books, including The Thrill of Orthodoxy and his latest Life of Jesus in 30 Days.

He shared a talk titled “Discipleship in a post-COVID world” that addressed much that already suspected as pastors and church leaders, but also delved into the myths that have propagated since 2020 regarding church attendance and religious activity.

The full video is available at the First Coast Churches site here, but I want to focus on something he said that immediately resonated with me.

Online Church

Trevin addressed the reality of church decline in our nation. Yet he reminded us that COVID likely did not speed this up, but just revealed more clearly what was already occurring. Trevin spoke of the growing use of livestreaming and online church throughout the nation. There are good things that going online has allowed.

Our church began streaming our services about one month before the lockdown. In God’s providence, we believe this enabled us to stay connected somewhat to those who regularly gathered for worship on the Lord’s Day at our church.

Here we are three years later, and we continue to livestream our services on Sunday.

It is good for those physically unable to leave their homes due to health. It is good for those who may be traveling and wish to at least watch the service. Yet, and every pastor I know acknowledges this, it is also a way for those who just choose not to engage with other people to believe they have gone to church simply by watching online.

Yet, while the good is clear, there are some negatives that have become more obvious since 2020. Even the most ardent online proponents will admit that online church is not truly participatory. Commenting in the chat room during the online service does not make it participatory. Just imagine if people entered the worship center on Sunday during the service and announced themselves as they do online! It would be hilarious and disruptive. John opens the door of the worship center and states loudly during the opening prayer “I’m here to worship today!” Or during a song he holds up a placard with “The drums are too loud!” or other suggestions on it. In case you’re wondering…these are not good ideas. But online, it happens every week.

Content Over Community

However, the big downside to online church (and no, we’re planning to stop streaming at this point) as Trevin stated is that many view church as simply content. It is the message, the music, the program, etc. It is more about content than the community of faith.

That statement hit me like a ton of bricks.

This is our challenge. For decades I have heard people tell me about their local church. They tell me why they go. They tell me why they leave. They tell me why they joined the new church in town and left the one they had attended for decades. They tell me why they left the new church and went back to the more traditional one. They tell me why they stopped going to church altogether.

Honestly, in some cases, there are good, right, biblical reasons for each of these.

Yet, in many cases it is now clear that for decades we may have unintentionally led church member to believe that church is simply about content.

Wow!

I hate when I realize I am guilty of something that is so wrong and yet, should have been so obvious.

For example…

If someone leaves church A (we’ll presume all the imaginary churches from here on are good, biblically-sound, doctrinally-correct, gospel-centered churches led by faithful, honest, godly, equipped, and qualified pastors) for church B because “I just wasn’t being fed” then they are actually saying, “The preacher at church B is better than the preacher at church A and thus, the sermons are better.” Content.

If someone leaves church A for church B because the music is better or more their preferred style, then it is about content.

If someone joins church A because of the youth group, it is likely about content.

When churches began to go online en masse in 2020, church members suddenly were able to pick and choose the best produced, professional sounding singers, most well-spoken preacher in the nation as “their church.”

Suddenly church became something you could binge like the latest series on Netflix.

I think we get this. I don’t think we get what this has done though. Not unlike streaming services that fill our televisions with thousands of episodes of old shows, new shows, movies, documentaries, children’s programming, and more, so too has the online shift many have used at least for a bit when it comes to church becomes more and more about content and less and less about community.

Don’t get me wrong – content matters immensely. So, don’t read what I’m not writing here. Content matters, but church simply as content eliminates every single “one another” commanded of the believers who call themselves the family of faith.

“Jesus and Me” Sinfully Eliminates the Church

This propagates an “All I need is Jesus and my Bible (and my smartphone or tablet) and I’m good” theology (or better stated – meology) that sinfully eliminates the role of Christ’s bride, the local church, and the fellowship of the redeemed. Church is not an individual exercise. It never has been. It cannot be.

Sadly, for many church has become an individual endeavor designed for personal growth, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Christianity packaged as simply behavior modification is little more than the culturally approved self-help focus wrapped in Christian spiritualism. If the church is not aware of this, then I fear we may continue to propagate churchy TED Talks with lead in concerts and believe we are being faithful.

There’s more to this reality, but not less. I continue to pray for God to reveal where I fail and our church may be missing the mark so that we may rightly serve together for his glory, our good, and the propagation of the good news in our community and world. I pray our sister churches in our community and beyond do the same.