{"id":732,"date":"2019-08-05T14:19:37","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T18:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=732"},"modified":"2023-05-26T14:29:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T18:29:53","slug":"pastor-david-jeremiah-warns-forgotten-church-supposed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2019\/08\/pastor-david-jeremiah-warns-forgotten-church-supposed.html","title":{"rendered":"Pastor David Jeremiah Warns That We Have ‘Forgotten What the Church is Supposed to Be’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lightstock | Inset: Ldula \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David Jeremiah, pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in California, is concerned about where the modern church is headed. In an interview with The Christian Post<\/em><\/a> about his new book, he expressed \u201cThe Church is coming under attack; it\u2019s forgotten what the Church is supposed to be.”<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re not an entertainment service; we\u2019re not here to see how close we can get to what the world does. But there\u2019s so much of the world in the Church and vice versa that we can\u2019t tell a difference. We have to hold to the truth. We have to get nourished. If it\u2019s not happening, you\u2019re a social organization and not a church,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

It’s true that there is a national decline in church attendance, but Jeremiah believes that far too many churches are now becoming “obsessed” with staying relevant and getting people through their doors to a fault.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an incredible motivation on the part of everyone to be successful, and a lot of times people program their churches to see how many people will sit in the pews on Sunday,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing wrong with getting people there, as long as you share the Gospel. But there\u2019s no glory in just a number.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worship at the attendance altar,\u201d Jeremiah advised. \u201cA lot of good things happen in churches when there aren’t huge numbers but the pastor has prepared a good message and there\u2019s worship. We get off on this thing that we have to be bigger than the guy down the street and how to get more people in the building. When you\u2019re focused on that, you\u2019ll never preach anything that\u2019s controversial and you\u2019ll always be trying to figure out how to get more people to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furthermore, many churches are abandoning traditional traditions in favor of more progressive entertainment, such as praise bands instead of hymnal books, to try and attract a younger audience. Jeremiah says this is the wrong approach and is doing the opposite of what churches are intending.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in California, we see interest on the part of millennials and younger for the Bible and for truth. Most of the time, we see statistics about how people are leaving the Church, but in many respects, young people are demanding more truth, more teaching, and less entertainment. They\u2019re not interested in shallow expressions of religion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Jeremiah, pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in California, is concerned about where the modern church is headed. In an interview with The Christian Post about his new book, he expressed \u201cThe Church is coming under attack; it\u2019s forgotten what the Church is supposed to be.” “We\u2019re not an entertainment service; we\u2019re not here…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":600,"featured_media":6699,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,140],"tags":[143,398,397,396],"class_list":["post-732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-news","category-church","tag-church","tag-church-attendance","tag-modern-church","tag-pastor-david-jeremiah"],"yoast_head":"\nPastor David Jeremiah Warns That We Have 'Forgotten What the Church is Supposed to Be'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Prominent pastor David Jeremiah believes the modern church is too focused on entertainment and attendance and forgetting it's true 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