The Dangers of Pragmatism in the Church

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 14:12

There is a subtle poison which has crept into the church -- the poison of pragmatism. It does not ask, "Is it biblical?" but, "Does it work?" It does not kneel before the authority of Scripture and inquire, "What has God commanded?" but rather, "What will attract the crowds? What will produce results?" Its ministers boast of numbers. Its gospel is adjusted to the tastes of the age. Its worship is arranged to entertain the flesh. Its preaching is softened lest listeners be offended. Its methods are defended because they appear to succeed.

But what if the thing that fills the building, empties the church of spiritual power?

What if the crowds are not evidence of revival, but evidence of compromise?

What if that which pleases men, is precisely that which grieves the Holy Spirit?

The great error of pragmatism, is that it quietly changes the standard by which ministry is judged. Pragmatism begins by asking the wrong question. It asks, "Does it work?" Scripture commands us to ask, "What has God said?"

And here is the great evil: once visible success becomes the standard, almost anything can be justified. Entertainment can be called evangelism. Drama can take the place of preaching. Concert-like worship can replace reverent adoration. Clever stagecraft can masquerade as spiritual power. Psychological techniques can manufacture decisions. Seeker-sensitive sermons can trim the sharp edges from divine truth. The sinner can be flattered instead of confronted, entertained instead of awakened, soothed instead of wounded, and assured instead of called to repentance and faith.

Thus the church may become crowded, while souls remain unconverted.

O solemn deception!

The devil has never needed to close every church building. He is quite content to fill some of them with people who have never been brought under the crushing conviction of sin, never been stripped of self-righteousness, never seen their spiritual poverty, and never fled to Jesus alone for mercy.

Second Timothy chapter 4, verses 2-4, "Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove and rebuke and encourage, with every form of patient instruction. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine. Instead, with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. So they will turn their ears away from the truth, and turn aside to myths."

The command is not, "Entertain the people."
It is not, "Discover what lost sinners want, and build your ministry around it."
It is not, "Make Christianity attractive, by borrowing the world's methods."
It is, "Preach the Word!"

The Gospel does not need to be made fashionable. It needs to be faithfully proclaimed.

The lost man is not a customer to be won by religious marketing. He is a rebel against his Creator, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, needing not amusement but resurrection. He does not merely need a more appealing presentation of Christianity. He needs to be saved by the sovereign grace of God.

Entertainment may draw a crowd, but it cannot regenerate a soul.
Music may move the emotions, but it cannot give repentance.
A dramatic presentation may produce tears, but it cannot create saving faith.
An altar call may produce a line of respondents, but it cannot produce the new birth.
A skilled communicator may gain admiration, but only the Holy Spirit can open blind eyes and bring a sinner to Jesus.

Yet pragmatism constantly tempts ministers to confuse movement with life, excitement with holiness, profession with conversion, and growth with God's blessing.

Consider how terrible this error becomes, when numbers are treated as the measure of ministry. One church has five thousand people, another has fifty. One preacher is celebrated, another is scarcely known. One ministry receives applause and recognition, another serves quietly in obscurity. Shall we conclude that the larger church is necessarily more blessed?

God forbid!

Noah preached for years while the world remained largely unmoved.
Jeremiah wept while his hearers resisted.
Elijah stood apparently alone.
Paul was beaten, rejected, imprisoned, and despised.
Jesus Himself was forsaken by many who once crowded around Him.

Faithfulness has never been measured by attendance figures.

Indeed, there are times when faithfulness to God and His Word, will reduce the crowd.

When Jesus taught hard truth, "many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him." John chapter 6, verse 66. He did not chase them with a softer message. He did not call a committee meeting to discover how He might make His teaching more appealing. He turned to the Twelve and said, "Do you want to leave too?"

That is a searching question for the modern church.

Will we preach what lost sinners need -- or what they want?
Will we worship as God commands -- or as the flesh prefers?
Will we trust the power of Scripture -- or lean upon spectacle?
Will we be content with holy faithfulness -- or must we have impressive statistics to prove that God is blessing us?

The church has a Master, and He has already spoken.

Colossians chapter 2, verse 23, warns of religious practices that have "an appearance of wisdom," but are ultimately expressions of human invention. There is a religion which looks impressive, feels powerful, attracts attention, and yet is fundamentally fleshly.

How easy it is to decorate a corpse!

A dead church can have magnificent buildings.
A dead church can have polished music.
A dead church can have excellent branding.
A dead church can have overflowing parking lots.
A dead church can have emotional services.
But only the Spirit of God can give spiritual life.
Zechariah chapter 4, verse 6, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD Almighty."

Pragmatism is dangerous because it tempts us to seek by human machinery, what only the Holy Spirit can accomplish.

And here the doctrine of salvation by the sovereign grace of God, strikes pragmatism like a hammer upon an idol.

If God alone gives the increase, then the preacher does not need to manipulate the lost sinner.
If Jesus alone saves, then we need not manufacture shallow responses.
If the Holy Spirit alone gives spiritual life, then entertainment cannot be our confidence.
If Scripture alone is sufficient, then the wisdom of this age cannot improve the Gospel.

The servant of God is not called to manufacture fruit. He is called to sow the seed faithfully.

And what seed are we sowing?
A diluted gospel, produces diluted converts.
A man who comes to Jesus merely because Christianity was made comfortable for him, may never have been brought face-to-face with his sin.
A man who joins a church because he enjoyed the atmosphere, may never have been born again.
A man who responds because the music stirred him, may mistake emotion for faith.
A man who comes because the preacher promised earthly happiness, may collapse when suffering comes.

O pastors, beware!
Beware of counting numbers, when you should be examining fruit.
Beware of rejoicing over professions, when you should be watching for repentance.
Beware of calling a congregation "converted" merely because people repeated a prayer.
Beware of measuring the success of your ministry, by the size of your audience.
Beware of becoming more concerned with being impressive before men, than being approved before God.

The great question at the last day will not be, "Did it draw a crowd?"
The question is, "Was it true to Scripture?"
Not, "Did people enjoy it?" But, "Did it exalt Jesus?"
Not, "Did it produce decisions?" But, "Did it faithfully proclaim the Gospel?"
The question will be whether you were faithful to the Master who entrusted His truth to you!

Therefore, give us no glittering substitute for the glory of God.

Give us the plain Word.

Give us the full Gospel.

Give us preaching that exposes sin, tears away false refuges, humbles human pride, magnifies salvation by sovereign grace, exalts the glory of Jesus, declares the necessity of repentance and faith, and warns sinners of everlasting judgment.

Let the church be small, but holy.
Let the preacher be obscure, but faithful.
Let the congregation be unimpressive in the eyes of the world, but rich in the knowledge of Jesus.
Let us lose the applause of men, rather than lose the smile of God.

For the church does not need the world's methods to accomplish God's work.

She needs the Word of God, the presence of God, and the power of the Spirit of God.

Our calling is not to make Christianity popular.
Our calling is to make Jesus known.

Our business is not success.
Our business is faithfulness.

And when every earthly statistic has vanished, every church building has crumbled, every applause has ceased, and every human opinion has been silenced, there will remain but one Judge and one question:

Were we faithful to God and His Word?

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16–17
(The above was AI generated.)