RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2021-01-06	Why So Many Unconverted People Come to Church
		A lot of people come to church to be entertained. Many go to church to make relationships. A great number go to church out of religiosity Unbelievers go to church, not for God, but for what God would provide for them. So they are not after the Giver, but they are after the gifts. They are there for all the wrong reasons. They are not there seeking God. They are simply seeking for example “common grace” things. Common grace things is the fact that God does bless the saved and the unsaved (Mt.5:45; Ps.145:9). Mat 5:45  …for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works. They see God blessing believers, and they simply want themselves to be blessed without any commitment to God. There are too many churches that are intentionally designing their work to be attractive to the unbeliever. This means they are imitating the world. Also in many instances, even inadvertently, this happens when we sincerely desire to reach people. But in leaning over to reach the world the church sometimes falls into the world. So there no longer is a distinction about the unique function of the church. Too often local churches are becoming an “old Adam” improvement society, rather then presenting the gospel so lost people would become new creations in Christ (2Co.5:17). Everything we call “ministry” must be Christianized. This is a least common denominator style of ministry. It is not hard to see how this is becoming more prevalent in our churches today. I was saved in 1981. Since that time I can see huge changes in the culture concerning “church.” There was a cultural respect for going to church. Unbelievers would say, if going to church is right, then not going is wrong. People would amen that. There is no longer that cultural respect for going to church. The premise of going to church as right is no longer believed. 1Co 1:18  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Compromised churches spray perfume on the message of the cross. And it is no longer foolishness to the unsaved mind. If our preaching is not “foolishness” to the unbeliever, then we are not preaching the cross. The preaching of the cross is the wisdom and power of God to those who are called. To the unbeliever hearing the gospel it ought to make no sense that God would send His own Son to the cross and bear the sins of all mankind. The eternal destiny of every person who has ever lived depends on whether or not they know or do not know this Man from Nazareth. These compromised churches will preach a series of messages on how to have a happy life, or whatever. They would preach sweet, feel good messages, rather than preach a bloody cross. The problem with preachers today is that no one wants to kill them anymore. I say that tongue in cheek but you get the idea. Too many preachers want to be the captain of the Love Boat. They just want to make everyone happy in the church. This is not our calling! There is an offense to the cross in the carnal mind. When an unbeliever hears the message of the cross he should feel an offense, because you have to get the bad news before you can receive the good news. And these compromised churches never preach the “bad news”. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Independent and Evangelical Church

23304 E Wellesley Ave. Otis Orchards, WA 99027 Church Office: 509.926.9552 tomelseroad@gmail.com