{"id":55563,"date":"2005-11-07T13:41:00","date_gmt":"2005-11-07T19:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=55563"},"modified":"2022-11-07T13:47:22","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T19:47:22","slug":"the-church-will-never-be-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-church-will-never-be-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"The Church Will Never Be the Same"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Bob Plunket<br \/>\nvia The Sower, Vol. 54, No. 3, May\/June 2009.\n<p>Several years ago, Time Magazine carried an article, with the caption, &#8220;The Church Will Never Be The Same,&#8221; because, they say, &#8220;The baby boomers are coming back to church.&#8221; The article said among other things, &#8220;These returnees are described as traveling from church to church or faith to faith, sampling creeds shopping for a custom-made God.&#8221; It said of churches, &#8220;In an effort to attract them, more and more churches are becoming customer oriented.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This reminded me of some striking parallels between the &#8217;60s and the church in our day. I found some common denominators among those who are causing confusion in churches, including churches of Christ.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The boomers of the &#8217;60s were looking for highs. They could not live on the plains. They had to be on the mountain peaks. They needed a smoke, a pill, or a needle. What are you hearing today from those pulling away from the church? &#8220;We want a worship that makes us feel good or high.&#8221; I might add, never mind how God may feel.<\/li>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/11\/hippies-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>Another similarity between the &#8217;60s and our day is: They both dislike order. In the &#8217;60s they wanted a spontaneous lifestyle doing whatever made them feel good. We hear the same cry today in the church: &#8220;We want spontaneous worship. We are bored with order.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Another similarity between the &#8217;60s and our day is: They both dislike authority. They want to do it their way. In the &#8217;60s they rebelled against parental, governmental, and religious authority. The new hermeneutic virtually eliminates apostolic authority and does away with pattern theology. Everyone does that which is right in his own eyes.<\/li>\n<li>In the &#8217;60s they wanted to do what came naturally. Then they did not wear socks, ties, or underwear. Their motto was: &#8220;Just hang loose.&#8221; Personal freedom and comfort were their objectives. Does this remind you of today?<\/li>\n<li>Another striking parallel is this: They tolerated everything except the established order. They would neither judge nor condemn any. Today those pulling away from the church have tolerance for virtually anything with the exception of the established church.<\/li>\n<li>Both have the same theme. Remember in the &#8217;60s the peace sign. Truth, they said, was unattainable. Thus came consensus and situation ethics, but real peace eluded them. Today we are being told among our ranks that peace is the message. I disagree. Truth is the message. Peace is the hope.<\/li>\n<li>Both then and now they believe love is a cure-all. But, what kind of love are they talking about &#8220;Love Sweet Love&#8221; or agape love that suffereth long and is kind&#8230;rejoices in the truth (I Corinthians 13). I see the &#8220;Me&#8221; generation in both of these.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I beg those, who are swept up in this movement, to take another look. I beg the elders, churches, and schools, who are catering to this movement, to take another look before we lose the church that Jesus purchased with His own blood.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Bob Plunket via The Sower, Vol. 54, No. 3, May\/June 2009. Several years ago, Time Magazine carried an article, with the caption, &#8220;The Church Will Never Be The Same,&#8221; because, they say, &#8220;The baby boomers are coming back to church.&#8221; The article said among other things, &#8220;These returnees are described as traveling from church&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[448],"class_list":["post-55563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66453,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/discouraged-disappointed-disenchanted-disconnected-disillusioned-disheartened-disengaged\/","url_meta":{"origin":55563,"position":0},"title":"Discouraged. Disappointed. Disenchanted. Disconnected. Disillusioned. Disheartened. Disengaged.","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jonathan Perz When one's expectations for local churches full of imperfect people drive their faith, they often end up facing one, if not all, of these \"D's\" in the title of this article. I talk to so many who have walked away because they are hurt by the church.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70712,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-all-churches-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":55563,"position":1},"title":"Are ALL Churches OF Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall I belong to a local congregation called \"Millersville Church of Christ.\" When asked what church I belong to, I often add, \"But any other name in the Bible, we go by that one, too.\" That usually brings a smile. If speaking biblically, there is no official name\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5739,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sponsoring-church-arrangement-what-was-the-issue\/","url_meta":{"origin":55563,"position":2},"title":"The Sponsoring Church Arrangement: What Was the Issue?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 by Bill Hall I can't say enough about the encouragement it is to me to see your continued interest in this effort that we're putting forth.\u00a0 Your willingness to come and study with us -- it means so much to me.\u00a0 When this was planned, I thought we could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/localchurch-300x128.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33097,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-cant-all-the-elders-in-a-city-get-together-to-direct-all-the-churches-in-the-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":55563,"position":3},"title":"Why can&#8217;t all the elders in a city get together to direct all the churches in the city?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First, I would like to say thank you for posting your informative studies. I currently attend a church that has dissolved the eldership and has been operating without elders. After reading Keith Sharp's article on Autonomy I still have a question about elders. Our biblical example is one church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66619,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-ordain-in-all-the-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":55563,"position":4},"title":"I Ordain in All the Churches","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Text: I Corinthians 7:17 There was no such thing as each church making up the rules for themselves. From the very beginning, they \"continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine\" (Acts 2:42), and when the apostles taught something, it was meant for \"all the churches\" to teach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19293,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-makes-the-church-of-christ-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":55563,"position":5},"title":"What Makes the Church of Christ Different?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Billy Moore Question: \"You say the Church of Christ is not a Protestant denomina\u00adtion, but I know you protest the Catholic religion for I have read a lot of your writings, so what makes you different from the other churches. You look like one of many churches to me.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}