Is Pragmatism The Real Issue?
Since I became a pastor a little over four years ago, I have guarded against pragmatism in our church. I have said that our duty as the church, and especially my duty as the leader of Norton Baptist Church, is to call us all to faithfulness to God’s calling and not to pragmatism. I define pragmatism as “doing what works”, or perhaps the idea of “the ends justifies the means.” If I were leading solely pragmatically, I would begin planning the next steps for our church with the ends in mind, and then figure out the best way to get to those ends. For example, let’s say that I wanted our church to bring in younger families next year, that is the ends I have in mind, so then I would put plans together that I believe would attract younger families. We might change the décor of the interior of the church, we might change the music styles, we might seek to make our kid’s programs seem more vibrant, I might try to shorten up the preaching time because younger people might not have the attention spans, and all of that would be pragmatic to bring about the ends of bringing in younger families.
I want to be clear, pragmatism very often works, and what I mean by that is, I believe we could do these things I just listed and we very well might meet the ends of having more younger families in our church at the end of next year. I have maintained, however, that the church is not called to pragmatism, to focus on what works, but rather we are called to faithfulness. The church is called to do what God calls her to do, and she is not to place her own ideas over, or even alongside of what God says she is to be. The church belongs to Christ, He alone is her Head and possesses the right to rule her, therefore, I have said that pragmatism needs to go out the window, and we must instead focus on faithfulness.
This morning, however, I was writing in response to a conversation with a friend on preaching, and as I wrote and reflected some more, something struck me. I think I am missing something when I say the modern church is being too pragmatic, and I think I am being unfair to what God has called the church to do when I say that it is simply faithfulness and not pragmatic at all. Let me explain what I mean by that.
I think I am missing something when I say the modern church is being too pragmatic, and I think I am being unfair to what God has called the church to do when I say that it is simply faithfulness and not pragmatic at all. Let me explain what I mean by that.
The problem in the modern church is not that they are pragmatic, that they are implementing what they believe will work. In fact, it would be foolish for a church to not implement something that will work. Think about it this way, if we have a worthy goal, we ought to implement the means by which we can practically reach those goals. The issue is not that the church is being pragmatic, the issue is that the church has the wrong goals. Most churches desire to draw younger families, that is why I used that as the example, but where in Scripture is the church called to have that as a goal? Many in modern church leadership will say that the call to make disciples includes young families, and it does, but the call to make disciples does not in any way say we are to focus on any certain age group or family dynamics in making disciples. The call is to make disciples of all “ethne”, every nation or people group or ethnic group. Whether it is young families or single people or the elderly, none of that matters, we are called to reach people. The issue is not pragmatism, the issue is the goal is wrong.
In fact, if we were honest, the goal of bringing in young families itself is often not to make disciples of those families, but rather to have those families attend their church, and those are not always synonymous. I believe preaching is the primary means of discipleship, but if we were to be blatantly honest, there are not many young families who will want to sit through sermons that are rich in doctrine and theology and last up to an hour, but that may be required to make disciples of these young families. So many churches have abandoned faithful preaching, preaching that is rich in doctrine and theology, preaching that is required for teaching them to observe all things, in order to bring in and maintain having young families in their churches. Again, the problem is not doing what works, the problem is that they have lost the goal Christ gave them, which is to glorify God by making disciples. They are aiming at the wrong target, bringing in younger families, rather than at the right target, making disciples.
They are aiming at the wrong target, bringing in younger families, rather than at the right target, making disciples.
Which brings me around to being unfair to what I have often termed as faithfulness as opposed to pragmatism. The goal of the church ought to be glorifying God by making disciples. This is our target, and if we desire to hit our target, the means of doing so is through faithfulness. If pragmatism means to do what works to hit your goal, then the pragmatic means of hitting the goal of making disciples is through faithfulness to God’s Word. I have been unfair to God’s means of accomplishing God’s purposes for His church by saying it is not pragmatism. If our goal is the same as God’s goal, the pragmatic means to reach that goal are the means God has given His church, which is faithfulness. Faithfulness is the only pragmatic means of making disciples that we have as a church. We are not faithful in opposition to pragmatism, we must begin to understand that faithfulness is the only pragmatic means of accomplishing the goal of making disciples.
If God calls for His church to sing the Word, pray the Word, read the Word, preach the Word, and practice His ordinances, then that is the means by which the church will glorify God by making disciples. If we move away from those things, it is not because we are becoming pragmatic, rather it is because we are aiming at a different target. If we were to add some entertainment on Sunday morning, it would be because we are less concerned with making disciples and more concerned with putting people in the pews. Our pragmatic means are only a reflection of our desired ends. We must align our desires with God’s desires as a church, and then our means will also align with His means.
Our pragmatic means are only a reflection of our desired ends. We must align our desires with God’s desires as a church, and then our means will also align with His means.
Therefore, in my opinion, the problem with the modern church is not pragmatism, the problem with the modern church is that she is pursuing the wrong goals, and therefore the pragmatic means to reaching those goals leads her away from being faithful. If, however, we keep our target in mind, glorifying God by making disciples, then faithfulness is the most pragmatic means to accomplish that goal. Keeping the goal in mind will protect us from straying into other means which are unfaithful to what God has called us to do.
