So you're going to spend more time slandering . . .
Wouldn't your time be better spent building up the Body of Christ here?
I guess that's just not your thing . . .
So sad.
An Illustration from Real Life
I went to a Baptist high school for five years (it was in the fundamentalist stream of Baptist, GARBC) that regularly chided and joked about the 'liberal church down the road', a 'Bible Church', which also happened to be my home church. It was in no way a 'liberal' church - its doctrine was (and I assume still is - I have not lived in that town for many years now, but the church is still there and thriving) very sound.
The Baptist church would fit nicely into the template of the right side of the column of the OP - it did all the 'right' things.
The Bible Church would mostly fit into that template, as well, though over time, since these churches are in a town with both a major university and a fine arts college, the Bible Church began to reach out to the college community (or 'cater to' as you might proclaim) in ways relevant to them. They were good, decent people, their morality being the Fruit of who they were in Christ, demonstrated in how they loved those around them.
A really interesting thing about the Bible Church was the cultural diversity there. There were college students, college professors, educators from the local community, farmers, and others who were just regular folks from around the area.
Yet the Gospel proved to be the uniting factor across all of those demographics - Christ was the center and the focus, and it WORKED.
The Bible Church grew and grew, needing to add onto their existing building and go to multiple services.
They churned out people who were New Creations in Christ and were loving others well, drawing those in their spheres of influence into the Kingdom with their gentleness and care. Another really interesting and really cool thing is that there were many international students who went to that Bible Church for the duration of their studies at university, grew and matured in Christ, and then went back to their home countries taking Christ with them! The fruit of that Bible Church is far-reaching - global, in fact!
The Baptist church was stagnant. The community was cliquish, rarely inviting outsiders into their midst. The young folks went because they knew there would be hell to pay if they didn't. Many of them had children out of wedlock; few of those who married had marriages that survived. And others did leave - their faith shipwrecked by extra-biblical demands of how church 'should' be,
though the doctrine preached from the pulpit was basically sound.
Though the doctrine was basically sound, how they walked out their day-to-day lives was devoid of love. They preached focus on Christ, but then instructed focus on self - do this, don't do that - and all it bred was rebellion. One of my classmates told me that her mother was forbidden by her dad to hang clothes out on the line on Sunday for fear that others who went to their church who lived on their road would see that she was working on the Lord's Day. She was permitted to use the dryer, however
. And these were sweet people - I loved them! But their motivation was not Christ and love-centered, it was fear based. That friend, btw, has left her husband and her faith in favor of New Agey stuff. Of the three children in that family, 2 of the 3 have divorced and left the faith that their family brought them up in.
The judgmentalism in that Baptist church was palpable. Constant scrutiny and an encompassing critical spirit . . . the results - the fruit - is not good. I know several of the walking wounded today and it breaks my heart. I try to be an encouragement to them, but so much damage has been done. The school no longer exists; it died a natural death.
What's important in a church is not style or culture. What's important in a church is that people are being pointed to Christ and His Work and that they are well-loved, because those two things transcend style and culture. That they are being taught the Good News of His Work and all that that means to us and for us is what matters. If a church is pointing to Christ and loving each other and others well, then Christ has a way of working out the kinks and details as long as the inflexible people are willing to get out of HIS way! The results? Local bodies of believers who are overflowing with the Love and Good News of Christ!
So many look for the 'correct formula' for 'doing' church.
The only formula is the Good News of the Work of Christ, learning how to love people well, and then letting HIM fashion each local body into what's needed in their communities.
By trying to simplify and provide a consistent method of worship and teaching, they have actually complicated what 'church' should be and many have forgotten to let Christ make their local bodies into living, loving, growing, reproducing places.
-JGIG
