Bigger means better? Northway Fellowship does NOT get it...
This is a hard post for me, but feel compelled to do this. Having been to Northway a few times and meeting the Pastor personaly, as well as having friends there, I can say I am NOT impressed.
Pastor Buddy Cremeans is after one thing as far as I can tell, and that is growth. From his own words "by then a church of 10,000. I will be starting strategic churches throughout the Northeast, authoring several books, traveling the world" Where is God in this, you can read the full story here.
It is not for me to judge, but it is for us to be witnesses for Christ, and I can say that I know of several folks who helped build Northway are felling a bit left out. Left out in seeing where Gods place is in Northway.
When wanting to ask Pastor Buddy about these concerns they are simply pushed aside, left feeling used and betrayed. Perhaps they misunderstood why they branched out from another Church in the first place.
Growth in a church is one thing, but when that growth comes at such a cost, is it Godly?
posted by martin @ 12:56 PM
7 Comments:
i've been in ministry for almost 10 years and i've seen the good and bad. Sounds like some of those friends you know have a bad case of the "me, me, me's"
if growth is one of the churchs main goals (as it should be to avoid a worldly lable of holyer than thou snobbery)then it does come at great cost. greater than most people think. to grow an effective Christ centered church you have to let go of the ones who are more self absorbed and concentrate on what God has called you to do. or what He has called the leaders of the church to do.
as part of a similar church myself, i know the criticizm that comes with the sacrifices.
If a church is growing and lives are being changed and people are coming into the Kingdom... thats probably the church one should be a part of. and thank God there are lots of them in this country. unfortunately there are so many more that have it the way your friends seem to prefer.
it to sounds like a prefrence thing and gossip more than a unity in Christ thing.
peace
anonymous,
I can not agree with you on this. yes a Church needs to grow. My friends are not the me type I can assure you, they are very devout Christians, and as such are concerned that the message the Church gives is a sound one.
However, the message here is what we can call Church lite, in that the message does not have substance to it, and it is simply growth nothing more! No one fett are being held to fire so to speak.
And yes, if new people are coming into the Kindom great, I can agree with you, however, this is not the case. Most of the new people are coming from other Churches they get caught up in the music the glitxz and the excitement. After the glitz wears off what is left?
They are too ashemed to head back to their home Church and either stay away and become discouraged or they stay with the mega church and go through the motions without conviction.
I do feel bad for your friends. if i was in the same situation, i may feel similar. I've heard and read several negative things about Northway Fellowship in the "Christian community"
but i've heard nothing but good things from unchurched people and from people who are new Christians. I understand people have been hurt and even i have been hurt by churchs in the past.. but because of the good i am hearing, i must stand with Northway Fellowship on this.
You say "it's not for you to judge", in the original post, but that's exactly what you are doing. Right!? I've known Pastor Buddy long before Northway started. Let me tell you something, his life is centered on Christ. I have grown more as a Christian since knowing Buddy than ever before. He teaches me how to live the way God wants me to live. That's what Jesus wants! That's substance! I've seen his tears shed for the people in this area who don't know Christ yet. That's the people he wants to reach. The same people Jesus wanted to reach. That's the 10,000's of people he wants Northway to reach in the next 10 years. Maybe one of his dreams is to write books to share his experiences with others. So what! Do you condemn Billy Graham for writing books? Probably not, right? All I'm saying is that your opinion is not based on reality, but like you said yourself, you don't really know him anyways and you've only been to northway a few times.
All I'm saying is that your opinion is not based on reality, but like you said yourself, you don't really know him anyways and you've only been to Northway a few times.
Ouch, strong statement there. I do know enough about Northway to know that the drive about numbers. It is NOT about reaching individuals in most cases. If even one person is turned off and pushed aside so that more can be reached, is this what God intended?
Ask yourself that. Use the lost sheep as an example when making that assessment. Did not the Shepard go after the one lost sheep, or did he let is tray so to protect the herd? Or do I misinterpret that?
I know quite a few of those lost sheep from Northway not just one!
Actually, you did kind of misinterpret that parable. Jesus would leave 99 christians like you and me to go find that one lost drug addict who doesn't know him yet. Why should he stick around 99 christian complainers when there is somebody who really needs Him? (Remember, 'healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do.')
You said this is a previous blog: "What we need to be passing around is Christ’s message. We need to stop buying into the negativity and move on to the positive and stop passing around parodies and start passing around the true meaning. We are not being Christians if we buy into the negative stuff."
God doesn't want you to be negative, right? So, I read you want to do a missions trip. That's awesome. Good for you! I hope something works out there.
OK.....your turn. Say something positive about the many unchurched people who have found a relationship with our God through the ministry of Northway. C'mon..God's waiting...
Well, you are correct. I did know that parable was not intended that way when I threw it out there, it was sent in hast. I know the meaning of it, you hit it on the head.
However, I feel it only fair that instead of my talking to anonymous, I may know with whom it is that I am sparring. Only fair
You took my quote, but seems I may have strayed from it a bit with this one! However, I feel compelled to talk about this issue, and to answer you about something positive for new believers, well I don’t know any of them unless you are one. Then again I don’t know you.
I do know the folks who are being pushed aside in order for the growth. Were they deadwood, not at all, they were contributing members, and founding members of Northway and feel they are being discarded, that is the issue.
They have approached the Pastor, and have tried to speak frankly but will not be heard. I am not saying the Pastor is not a man of God, I am sure he is. I have no doubt that he feels he is doing the right thing. But, I am asking where is he leading the Church to, and why is it ok to push aside some in order to gain larger numbers. You cannot cast the believers aside to gain non-believers. Yes they need to come to Christ, but not at that cost and you know that.
Pastor Buddy I have met on several occasions prior to Northway as well as at Northway at its inception, and I too thought him a passionate Christian. My beef if it were, is with the folks I know personally and how they have been treated. They were there at the start, they supported gave their time their strength and commitment and prayers. I myself was beside my friend late nights building Northway from a Gym to a Church so I know his commitment.
Now they feel cast aside to make room for the new folks. This is a valid concern you cannot deny that. One has gone back to temple, he is a close friend I have supported him for 20 years. We attend Temple with him and his family from time to time, but as I am a member at my own Church and am actively involved there I can not attend Temple regularly.
He has approached and voiced his concerns to Pastor Duke as well. I cannot say what they talked about or the result, as it is not my mine to do so. My concern is my friend’s spiritual well being, and right now, he is struggling with this. He will not voice it himself but feels betrayed by Northway.
So his talents will go with him, and I can only hope his faith. He has been a man of Christ and strong convictions in the 20 years I have known him. He is a peer for me in keeping me directed, as I tend to stray from time to time. He however has not wavered once in the 20 or more years. He is my guide and to see him in this is troubling.
You can see my issue here I am sure, as I think you are a Pastor or something similar. Perhaps you are in the leadership at Northway yourself? If so, then you can see what I am saying here, and if you cannot, then there is the issue.
Hopefully you understand what the issue is and how I feel about it now. I am not slamming Pastor Buddy, I am only questioning his direction. Great that he wants to be like Fellowship and all, big campus, lots of people so on and so on, but, again I ask at what cost?
Maybe I am the minority; I am from a small local Church and like the traditions that go along with it. However, I am as convicted as the day I became a believer, and feel it is my place to voice my concerns where I see something that needs voicing.
As it is I am late, have Service tonight, so I will end this here. You may post here or you are welcome to use my inbox it is linked on the side bar to continue this thread. You have me at a disadvantage by not know with whom I speak.
Post a Comment
<< Home