Of course your going to defend Craig and his church. It’s where you go. Everyone that goes there is going to defend it. The fact remains that it is NOT biblical no matter what you say. Just because he may use scripture doesn’t mean it’s a biblical congregation. Lots of places use scripture but they use it deceivingly. There is a reason the Bible teaches that congregations are supposed to have elders and deacons. One man isn’t to be the head of the congregation. Yet Groeschel is. Life church is a business plain and simple. There is nothing wrong with applying scripture to today. Scripture never goes out of style. The problem with his church is the fact that it’s about bringing in as many “people” as possible. It’s not about them being saved and spreading the gospel. I know a girl that I used to worship with for years. She left our congregation and went to the Shawnee life church. She said she was a “leader” (Sunday school teacher). I asked her what she has been teaching about salvation and she couldn’t even answer me. Yet she is teaching young kids. Not everyone is meant to be a teacher, a preacher, an elder or a deacon.
If groeshel was only interested in spreading the gospel and helping people find Christ, he would have used scripture alone to start a new congregation. But he didn’t do that. Life church is like a party place. Worship is supposed to be orderly and conservative. Per Corinthians. They are neither of those. Their service is a joke. I also have a cousin that abandoned the faith to start going there. Why? Because he liked the “atmosphere”. I can guarantee if Paul were to come back to life and visit there he would be fuming. Heck he lit people up for being divided back then. It reminds me of people that refer to themselves as Catholics, Baptist’s, Methodists , Episcopalians, etc. I am a Christian, period. That is the exact thing Paul was rebuking people for. They were saying they were of Paul, Peter, etc. He asked them if they had died for them or was it Jesus. We all know the answer to that. Referring to oneself as anything other than a Christian is wrong.
Scripture has been twisted over the years and that is why we have places like life church now. Many of the folks that go there are clueless about scripture. Heck that goes for a lot of places. Craig is no different than Joel Osteen. Both seem like amazing people, but in reality they aren’t. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. Because if you or all the other people that go there knew scripture well enough you wouldn’t be going there and you wouldn’t be defending him. Look I just want people to see the truth. What good is spreading the gospel if it’s not the truth?
I remember my cousin telling me that they were passing around the offering plate and Craig said, “ if anyone is struggling just reach into that plate and take what you need”. Really?? That is ridiculous and for show. It makes him look like he is amazing. Number one, based upon scripture he shouldn’t be allowed to do that. The elders should. Wait a minute! Life church doesn’t have elders. A druggy could come in there and take every dime out of it. That money is to be used to help spread the gospel. That is why elders are to control the money. Not just one man. Again, this is against scripture. So if Craig is such a great person and “pastor” and knows the Bible so well, why would he ignore this instruction? It ain’t hard to figure out why. And why would he ignore the instructions on how a congregation is to be set up and ran?
Also, no church needs an HR department. No congregation is to be controlled by a headquarters. Each individual congregation is to be lead by elders and then deacons that use the Bible as their guide. They do the hiring and firing based upon scripture. They also decide how to use the money that is brought in. The main reason so many go to life church is because it makes them feel good. That’s it. It’s not because it most closely follows scripture. I’ve even had members tell me that. I go where I go because out of everyone I have researched it most closely follows the Bible. No other reason is needed. My boss goes to life church yet he grew up believing the way I believe. I asked him why one day and he said “ because it’s fun and not traditional. He said “my old congregation was too traditional and conservative”. I tried to explain to him why it’s that way but he wasn’t having it. Out of all the people I share the gospel with , none ever accept the truth. But all I can do is plant the seed. The devil has infiltrated many “churches” today. That is a fact.
