26 Weaknesses of the Evangelical Church

The evangelical view of the church–my piece of the ecclesiastical pie–is weak on a number of levels. After 43 years on this planet, and growing up in an evangelical home, and as someone who is deeply invested in the success of Gospel churches, I have seen much.

These weaknesses, in my estimation, lead to lesser and lesser influence in the modern world and dysfunctional ecclesiology. Here are at least 26 weaknesses to be followed by another post with their strengths:

a) it views church worship as a funeral procession for Jesus rather than a triumphant resurrection procession,

b) it disincentivizes male participation,

c) it makes the Bible secondary and human creativity primary,

d) it views Jesus’ authority over the world in similar categories to Satans’ (a misunderstanding of II Cor. 4:4), which means it minimizes the power of the resurrection in changing the world in the first century (I Cor. 15:26),

e) it treats the themes of worship as preferential rather than objective (see letter c),

f) it belittles the sacraments,

g) it is not future-oriented, so it’s bound to do theology only for the present,

h) it is content to keep Christians at a basic level of growth, which means it diminishes rigorous theological dialogue

i) it forgets its origins, thus minimizing the lessons of history,

j) it doesn’t rejoice enough; in essence, there is a low view of feasting,

k) it fails to view the church using the war-like categories of Scriptures,

l) it begins in Matthew when it should begin in Genesis,

m) it forgets the little ones in the life of the church, unintentionally making them second-class citizens,

n) it doesn’t view catholicity in a positive light, choosing tribalism,

o) it doesn’t read broadly enough (see letter n),

p) it fails to encourage women to pursue good theology and their God-given glory in the home,

q) it doesn’t practice church discipline,

r) it doesn’t sing enough; we need a broader repertoire. The church is too rich musically for us to stick with a few,

s) it doesn’t encourage hospitality,

t) it fails to pray for the kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven,

u) it would rather sacrifice at the altar of sports than the altar of God on Sundays,

v) it views food and fellowship primarily as consumption rather than communion,

w) it reads too little Bible, and the parts that are read are incomplete and de-contextualized forgetting typologies and patterns,

x) it is inconsistent in applying the Gospel to society, education, and culture,

y), it’s too casual or non-interested in Creeds, so it is tempted by de-historical realities and Gnostic tendencies and,

z) it is incoherently trinitarian. It functions as practical modalists, thus minimizing/ confusing the role and reality of Each Person of the Godhead.