Title: The Secular Worldview of Church
Author: Ron
Hale
Category: Church Issues
Subject: Church, Secular View of
The Secular Worldview of Church
Christians view the church as a place to worship God, to enjoy the
fellowship with other believers, and a place to find answers. We see the
church as a place of refuge, rest, and relationships. We forget that the
secular person may have a feeling of awkwardness, even embarrassment, at
entering our stain-glassed buildings. Secular people are ignorant
concerning the ways of Christian worship, Bible stories, and the
traditional language of the pulpit. This means that an unchurched person
can have as much fear at entering one of our church buildings, as it
would for you to visit a Muslim Mosque in Chicago – all by yourself.
Secular people view the church through the prism of their experiences,
upbringing, and prejudices. Many secular people view the church in one of
the following ways. They see the church as a:
1. Nonentity
The church really doesn’t exist in the world they live. They seldom
realize it is there. It goes unseen, unheard, and they are untouched by
it.
2. Novelty
It is nice to look it or even think about, but let’s keep it on the self
for display. They feel the influence of the church should stay inside
the building and never seek to convince & convert people on the outside.
3. Nuisance
They are saying, “We don’t want their (The Church) rules, regulations,
and restrictions superimposed on or over our lifestyle. Or, we don’t want
Christians building large facilities in our neighborhoods impeding our
Sunday morning traffic flow.
4. Neanderthal
The church to them represents some ancient past whose purpose is extinct
and irrelevant in a postmodern world.
5. Narcotic
The intellectual avant-garde still feel that religion (the church) is the
opiate of the people – that it sooths the souls of the under classes and
helps them face their tormented lives. In essence, they see the church as
a crutch for weak people.
If we are to have any positive impact in touching the lives of secular
people, we must learn the spiritual skills of listening, asking key
questions, and communicating the gospel in way they can hear, understand,
and respond to. The following questions can help us start crucial
conversations with the lost.
* Do you have any kind of spiritual belief?
* To you … who is Jesus?
* Have you allowed Jesus to become your best friend, or are you still
working on that? How far along the way are you?
* Where has God helped you in the past?
* If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
* Where are you on your spiritual journey?
* If someone were to ask you, “What is a real Christian?” how would you
answer?
* Do you consider yourself a good person? Based on being a good person –
do you think that’s all it requires to go to heaven?
Key: Learn to share your story (testimony) in a way lost people can hear,
understand, and respond. (Ronfhale@yahoo.com)