Today's church is vastly different from the New Testament church, in my opinion. The New Testament church saw signs, wonders and miracles all the time. In today's church, you're lucky to find someone who even believes that someone can be miraculously healed of an incurable disease or even raised from the dead.
Anything remotely outside of "normal" Christianity gets snubbed, laughed at and seriously doubted. It upsets me to see so many Christians make fun of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ simply because they believe that prayer actually works or that they hear the voice of God speaking to them. Many say that those times have passed or that we don't need the signs and wonders as bad as the first churches did. I say that both statements are completely wrong. The church of America has fallen fast asleep. The church has drifted off into what is known as "seeker-sensitive" services.
Seeker-sensitive services have put nice little cushions and decorations on the Gospel to make it more appealing and comfortable to people. This is not the point of the Gospel. The Gospel was meant to convict you of your sinfulness and cause you to repent and turn your life over to Christ. I think the author of Hebrews says it best when he says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Today's services have left many people with a Gospel stripped of its power. It's just some nice Scriptures that we artfully craft and put on Instagram. We are not told how to apply them or how this should mold our lives. The whole message ends up lacking depth, and the congregation gets a message that doesn't have deep roots.
Seeker-sensitive services have handicapped our people from truly experiencing the power of God. We have become satisfied with just a taste. There is no desire or even knowledge that there is more to God than we could ever begin to know. We haven't even touched the surface and we are satisfied with just being near the ocean of all He is. Psalm 42:7 says this, "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me." To me, this is a picture of the thirst of our souls for God. We hear the voice that sounds like many waters and a thirst is stirred within us to go and search out the source. We ultimately find that source in Christ. There are some who are okay with dipping their hand in this living water and then moving on, and there are those who take off their shoes and get in the river and stand under the waterfall. We let it wash over us, letting it permeate every part of us knowing that this is what our souls have been longing for.
I believe fully in a personal God that is involved in every aspect of my life. I could not believe in anything less. In my opinion, that's what makes Christianity so different than other religions. The same God that parted the Red Sea is alive and well today. So why have we become so scared of expressing ourselves in worship? Expressing our love for other people is normal, yet expressing our love and thanks for God is seen as weird or even fake. Also, why has the power and presence of God been hindered? It is the presence and power of God that sustains us. Without it, we will be "tossed to and fro by the waves" (Ephesians 4:14). When a church decides to be seeker-sensitive, it chooses to harden itself to the presence of the Holy Spirit. A church that does not allow the Holy Spirit have His way or sees the interruption of the Holy Spirit's work as an inconvenience will not last. We must seek the will of God above our own schedule. We should welcome the interruption of the Holy Spirit. To me, the main purpose of the church is so that believers can gather together to encounter God and glorify His name. This world has enough shallow and fake stuff to offer people. What people need is the depth and reality of God and a seeker-sensitive service will not provide that. They may have large numbers, but they will not have spiritual depth.
