(By Shane Idleman) A few years back, I listened in astonishment as some prominent “Christian” leaders talked about replacing “preaching” with “having a conversation.” At first, I thought that they might be confusing individual conversations with how we should speak to the masses, but I was wrong. They felt that we should stop “preaching” from the pulpit and start being more passive and less confrontational. Never mind the fact that Jesus said, “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for this is why I was sent” (Luke 4:43). But according to many, it’s time to replace the pulpit with a couch and preaching with conversing.
It’s not my practice to name names or reference churches, but when they depart from truth, they open themselves up for exposure. Sadly, many churches carry their books, promote their material and seek to model their church after them. There is a very troubling trend in the evangelical church as a whole. We are in desperate need of genuine leadership—broken, humble people who are not afraid to admit that they need God; men who are more worried about prayer than about status and recognition; men who petition God rather than position themselves. Many men want the recognition, but not the brokenness; the honor, but not the humility. READ MORE
