Do Churches Confine Christianity To Ear Relevance?

Have churches confined Christianity to ear relevance?  Have we turned our faith into a collection of religious ideas that we listen to on Sunday mornings rather than a lifestyle of interaction with and obedience to our living Savior?  Are we hearers of the word instead of doers of the word?

Lectures, lessons, and liturgy are fine, but Biblical faith must penetrate more than the ear.  It must apprehend the human heart and set it aflame with passionate love for Jesus that results in disciplined obedience to His Word and to His Holy Spirit.

When the church passively presents Christianity as only ear relevant, then society sees it as irrelevant.  People move on to attitudes and behaviors that they see as more exciting and more fulfilling than religious ear tickling.    

Mere verbal lessons are for beginners.  But word lessons need to move into experience.  Someone who hears lectures on plumbing, auto repair, or medical procedures must soon move beyond the lectures into actual hands on instruction and then into the real performance of what she/he has learned.  Why should Christianity be any different?  Why should our faith be bound up and reglulated to ear relevance?

Perhaps it is time for believers to take the Bible lessions that we have learned from years of sitting in on sermons and go live out what we have been taught.  Maybe we should move our faith in Jesus from ear relevance to lifestyle relevance. 

If we would only actively and passionately live out 10% of the religious information we have been taught in church, we could transform our lives.  And we could change the world.  

Here is a link to a video where I talk about a Nashville church that is letting people actually do the Bible on Sunday mornings:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG3Lkd5t4w8

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