by KeithE » Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:43 am
I’ve considered all your comments and here is my reply.
If the spiritually affected like those of the “spiritual-but-not-religious” types hear only you must believe in x, y and z and act in manners a,b and c to avoid hell (or to even belong) when they visit a church (seeking community, solace, conversation or whatever), it is unlikely they will feel welcome or benefit in any way from further involvement. So avoid you-must preaching from the pulpit or coercion towards z,y,z,a,b,c from the laypeople. Stating them is fine, but do so lightly. The heavy handed approach assumes you know what the Final Judge’s criteria are.
I’ll betcha many people in the pews (who one would think ascribed to x,y,z,a,b,c) hold reservations on many of those points.
Love of people wherever they stand is the great salve that makes it all work together. I see no real reason to discourage the spiritual seekers for the purposes of creating a like-thinking congregation. Let the people do their own tethering (that is attach strings from themselves to Spirit-inspired practices {be they loose or tight} and beliefs {be they conservative or liberal}). In fact that is the only genuine form of tethering.
Preaching should be aimed at encouraging Spiritual encounters - that can be received by both the very religious types and the spiritual-but-not-religious types. Forcing z,y,z, a, b, c down congregant's throats or people feeling “justified” by belonging to a like-thinking band, leads to the religion of Pharisaism. I see too little of the bolded italicized above and too much of the underlined above in the America today.
Informed by Data.
Driven by the SPIRIT and JESUS’s Example.
Promoting the Kingdom of GOD on Earth.