How To Dumb Down A Church

How To Dumb Down A Church
By Bruce Oyen

If pastors want to dumb down churches, here are some things to do. They are not listed in order of priority, and this is not a complete list.

1) Preach mostly devotional and relational sermons, instead of doctrinal ones.

2) Follow the advice of church growth experts to assure numerical growth, even if the advice is not Biblical.

3) Equate numerical success with the blessing of God.

4) Use music with catchy melodies and repetitive words, instead of solid Biblical content.

5) Seek acceptance in the communtity, even if it requires compromising sound Bible teaching.

6) Promote a "don't be judgmental" attitude toward unbiblical churches and religions.

7) Don't hold church members accountable for sinful behavior and false doctrines.

8) Equate faithfulness to longstanding church traditions with faithfulness to Bible teaching.

9) Make nonChristians the main focus of church services, instead of God and Christians.

10) Don't emphasize the importance of dedicated Christian living.

11) Don't give opportunity for anyone to be saved at church services, and don't challenge Christians to give out the Gospel during the week.

12) Don't emphasize your church's doctrinal distinctives.