Why Attractionalism Hurts the Church
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.” (1 John 2: 15-17, NASB)
“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].” (Romans 12: 1-2, AMP)
As long as the church survives, there will be a conversation about growth, numbers, and membership. Pragmatically, for many of them, a church is not only a spiritual house, but a business. More numbers means more tithing and giving means more resources and that helps ensure that the church not only remains open and serving the community, but that it continues to glorify God– or so you hope.
No matter where you go, what theology that church teaches, there will always be that goal: to reach unbelievers, new families, and trying to get more people to stay and engage. But over the past 20-30 years, with the addition of social media, globalization, and mega churches, that idea has lent itself to a whole new pitfall of false gospel: attractionalism.
Essentially, attractionalism is the idea that in order to get more people to come to church and be involved in my church, I have to look and feel more like the world the unbeliever inhabits. In short, churches with attractional models believe that in order to draw a non-believer in, you have to create services in which non-Christians feel comfortable. That’s where you start to see worship services formulated to look and sound more like Coldplay concerts, the pastors and leaders look more like Justin Bieber, and the community depends more on branding and online presence than the actual sermon sounding from the pulpit.
And in order to make a church like that flourish, certain things have to be forfeited. Instead of attracting like-minded, Bible-believing Christians and discipling them to have a deeper understanding of God with a mature faith, you attract consumers that are looking to have their existing needs met. What does that mean? It means that in order to keep worldly people in the seats, attractional churches have to constantly appeal to non-believer’s standards and expectations. They can’t call their members deeper into the Biblical transformation we are called to in Romans 12 because that change requires worldly man to forfeit their values and customs in order to follow Jesus. The honest truth is, if you rely on carnal means to fill the seats, you have to silence genuine Holy Spirit and the characteristics of Christ that lead us into real salvation and intimacy with God.
Does that mean you have to go to a stuffy, religious, traditional church? No. Does that mean that the entirety of the contemporary church today is lulling people into a false sense of salvation? No. What it does mean is that there are certain signs to us that a church is more community center than house of worship. The thing is, the Bible is clear. When we pick up our cross to follow Jesus– from the moment of salvation– we have to be willing to disconnect from the self-glorifying customs and values that we loved about the world.
The things that helped us conform to the world have to be sacrificed. The lusts and prides of life that we placed in front of Jesus have to go. Because a love of the world and love of God cannot co-exist in our hearts. And don’t misunderstand me, does that mean we can’t love certain things in our lives, or how beautiful the actual earth can be? No. The key is that we should no longer place them at the center of our lives or at the forefront of who we are anymore. From the moment we receive salvation, all else becomes secondary to Him and who He is.
So if those loves of the world supersede our love of God and living a life in sacrifice to the glory of Him, then we have a serious issue in our hearts. If my partner, children, career, sex life, comfortability, entertainment, social media– you name it– comes before being progressively transformed by the renewing of my mind to the will and glory of God, then I do not have salvation. I would have the pretense of it.
So if your church is constantly a revolving door of new faces and the culture of the church is always to “save the lost,” and not continue to disciple, convict, or call people into deeper relationship with Christ, you may be in an attractional church. If there is little pastoral care or discipleship outside of the Sunday morning service– Bible studies, prayer or worship services, opportunities for one-on-one counseling with your pastor or discipleship with elders– you may be in an attractional church. If the message from the pulpit rarely has to do with gospel message of the cross, rarely convicts you of sin, or focuses more so on a worldview of morality rather than a Biblical worldview, you are definitely in an attractional church.
If you’re in an attractional church, you should heavily pray over and consider leaving it. Because the truth is, the longer you stay in a church that does not convict you of sin, teach you the Gospel, and call you into the deeper things of Christ, the more compromise you allow into your heart and mind, affecting your discernment of Truth and false gospel.
Our heart, as people that know the riches of Christ, should indeed be to reach the lost. But it should not come at the cost of compromising God’s desire for us to always draw nearer to Him. We shouldn’t have to worry about appealing to worldly people in order to share Christ with them. God gave us the Holy Spirit and has the power to draw man to Himself without our involvement in “creating the atmosphere” for Him to do so.
There is nothing wrong with lights, contemporary music, or wearing street clothes on the altar to serve, but if those things come at the cost of Christ Himself and the preaching of His word, then we need to take a serious step back and evaluate our priorities. There is no equation to a spiritually successful church with a high growth track. He doesn’t need us to curate an environment where souls can be strong-armed into being captivated by Him. He is perfectly able to do it Himself.
