The Happy Church

My message today, friends, is entitled The Happy Church. The Happy Church doesn't meet in traditional church buildings, but prefers strip malls, movie theaters, or high school auditoriums. The Happy Church distinguishes itself from ritual by placing emphasis on relationships.

It advertises itself as being radically different from established religion in an effort to attract the unchurched or those fed up with organized religion, with a hip message that Jesus just wants to love on you with no strings attached. It's very similar to most millennial casual relationships today that lack commitment and fidelity. They want the free milk without owning the cow.

The Happy Church is a spin-off from the larger religious denominations. They just don't use the label Baptist or charismatic or reformed. They are the new church in your town, more hipper than your parents' church and more identifiable with you as you are.

The music will be loud, bright, and energetic. The message given by the blue-jean pastor will be upbeat, exciting, and one of self-empowerment to drive your life vehicle with the motor being God. It's a great big love machine driving through your neighborhood with the love of Jesus honking its horn of acknowledgement and acceptance of you to climb in just the way you are.

Once you climb aboard, the love of Jesus will give you an incredible ride and take you higher all the way up to heaven when you die. The blue-jean pastor may use slang and even kind of cuss a little to show you this isn't your grandmother's orthodox boring religion. E.B. White said it well in his book, Charlotte's Web, that if you put something into print like Radiant Pig, enough gullible people will believe it.

To call a social gathering a church and an emergent movement Christianity is the height of gullibility. These gatherings lack the two required doctrines of true biblical Christianity, repentance and regeneration. You don't have to repent to become a believer, and you can stay as you are while you just come along for this incredible ride.

What they don't tell you, because they don't realize it themselves, is that this incredible love journey has one destination, and that is hell. You won't be allowed into God's holy heaven unless you repent, even if some big seminaries tell you otherwise. Jesus said, but except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish, and in Acts 17.30 we find the central doctrine of Christianity, and the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.

And you won't see the kingdom of God unless you're born again through the supernatural act of regeneration, which God wrought in a work of grace upon the heart. Jesus plainly told Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Like I said, friends, the two doctrinal pillars of biblical Christianity, repentance and regeneration, are absent from the happy church, because who wants a judgmental God that's just a killjoy? This new breed of church, and even much the older church today, omits both of these central doctrines in the salvation experience.

You can have Jesus and his sacrificial love without any sacrifice or change required on your part. It's a great relationship with benefits and no strings attached. You may have a fun time in your weekly gathering of the happy church, and no demands of the cross or discipleship will be placed on you.

Unfortunately, you will also miss the benefits of that bloody cross and a crucified Christ. You can come as you are, stay as you are, and then go on to hell as you are, as an unrepentant, unregenerate church member, outside the pardon and blood of Christ. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Let us pray.