Apostolic or Apostasy? More Churches
Include Cold Beer in Church Growth Strategy
Apologia
Church has come up with a disturbing way to raise funds for its church plant in
Hawaii. Marcus Pittman, its leader, offered tattoos and a Bible conference
complete with a beer flight, a sampling of beers much like a wine tasting, to
pick up some cash. (Tavallai/Flickr/Creative Commons)
It's not easy to plant a church. Even with a
strong launch team, you still need a prime location—and that takes lots of
money.
Apologia Church has come up with a disturbing way
to raise funds for its church plant in Hawaii. Marcus Pittman, its leader,
offered tattoos and a Bible conference complete with a beer flight, a sampling
of beers much like a wine tasting, to pick up some cash.
"This is actually a
fundraiser for our Apologia Kauai church plant, so people of the church are
donating to have another member of the church tattoo them so they can go to
Kauai and we can plant a church there," Pittman says in a YouTube
video. "So, it's pretty cool."
As he sees it, the tattoos and beer flights are
cooler than a bake sale. It seems many of his followers agree. The ReformCon
conference invites people to talk theology over beer at a bar.
"This ticket allows you
to get a beer flight from Boulders on Broadway. All the proceeds from this
benefit our Kauai church plant!" the website for the event
reads. "Boulders is all about the
food, craft beer, bike riding, rock climbing and adventure! With 30 draft
handles and 70-plus bottles of craft beer. Bring a friend and check out our
selection."
The trend of mixing beer with the Bible is not
new. I previously shared with you how Rev. John Donnelly of Christ Church
Quaker Farms launched a group called Beer, Bible and Brotherhood. The
first meeting drew 10 men who downed beer while contemplating Bible verses, the
AP reports. He's hoping to build the group of suds-sipping seekers to 50.
Donnelly's club may be a sign of the times.
There's a definite cultural shift in the body of Christ to open the bottles,
er, the gates to alcoholic beverages. But that's not where it ends.
I also told you how 30 to 40 people flood
Zio Carlo brewpub in Fort Worth, Texas, to nosh on pizzas, kick back pints of
beer and fellowship. This so-called Church-in-a-Pub also has a worship service
complete with Communion.
Irreverent? Sacrilegious? Even Christians who
aren't teetotalers may have a problem with washing down their Holy Communion
with beer their pastor brewed in his backyard. But it seems quite popular with
the 20-somethings.
Then there's the church that organized "Beer and Hymns Sunday"
to kick off a discussion about the future of the Christian church around the
world. In speaking about this stunt, Evan Taylor, outreach pastor at East Side,
says, "We like to rattle the cage a
little bit."
Why is it so necessary for the church and the
gospel to fit into modern-day culture? Modern-day culture should not dictate
the messages we preach or the outreaches we arrange. The gospel of Jesus Christ
is not obligated to meet the culture where it is—the culture is obligated to
bow a knee to Jesus Christ.
Are beer-based outreaches really edifying in
the end? If we compromise the purity and holiness of the Christian faith to win
souls, are we really leading them into a true salvation after the bottle of
beer is empty? Or are we merely compromising the gospel in the name of
soul-winning without fruit that remains?
Are churches that frown on Christians drinking
alcohol legalistic and majoring in the minor, or is the acceptance of alcohol a
gateway to apostasy that will usher in sexual immorality and all manner of sin?
Would you want to attend a church where the pastor downs a few brews with the
boys in a bar over Bible study? Or does that send the wrong message?
Call me conservative, but isn't promoting
brewsky on tap for the sake of being nonreligious to attract more people to
your church a prime example of being of the world rather than just in the
world? (See John 15:19.)
Whatever happened to separating the profane
from the holy (Ezek. 22:26)?
Having church or doing evangelism is one thing,
but basing your church-growth strategy on beer is quite another. Have
evangelism and church-growth strategies really come down to compromising with
the spirit of the world? God forbid!
Related
Posts:
Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, co-founder of awakeningtv.com, on the
leadership team of the New Breed Revival Network and author of several books, including The Next Great
Move of God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening;Mornings With
the Holy Spirit, Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God; The Making of a
Prophet and Satan's Deadly
Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer onFacebook or follow her on Twitter. Jennifer's
Periscope handle is @propheticbooks.
Draw closer to God. Experience the presence of the Holy Spirit
every month as you read Charisma magazine. Sign up now to get Charisma for as
low as $1 per issue.
Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is
the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose
turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.
Did
you like this article? You'll enjoy Jennifer LeClaire's book, The
Spiritual Warrior's Guide to Defeating Jezebel
http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/watchman-on-the-wall/58173-apostolic-or-apostasy-more-churches-include-cold-beer-in-church-growth-strategy
No comments:
Post a Comment