I love the church, but something is happening to the church that I don't like. Over the past year I have visited a number of independent evangelical churches in the area where I live and my visits have left me feeling uneasy.
This is not because the Christians that I have met are ungodly people, or because the Bible is not being taught week by week, or because major heresy has crept unnoticed into church life. No, I feel uneasy because of the 'church culture' that seems to pervade many of these conservative evangelical churches - a culture that hinders Christian growth and denies outsiders the opportunity of hearing the gospel.
I do not claim to have a comprehensive grasp of the UK church scene, but I am sure that the churches I visited are representative of many others. I offer, therefore, a mixture of personal observation and biblical analysis of contemporary church life. If my analysis is correct (and I would love to be proved wrong!) then it is time to re-evaluate our priorities and our church practice.
