I want to point out up front that I'm no expert on ANY side of this conversation. I will never pretend to be. I also do NOT want this to turn into a debate on whether or not God is real. Save that for another thread. This is focused on Christianity, so leave other religions aside unless its related to the point I'm trying to make/understand further.
That being said, are any of you familiar with the app Nextdoor? It's actually a pretty badass app that creates a forum, just like this, but is limited to the people in your neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods. It's a fantastic way to talk about local news, try and sell stuff, give others heads up about events, crime in the area, recommendations for home services, etc. Whatever you want to talk about, it's an open forum moderated by "leaders" from each specific neighborhood. This is a random plug I guess because the app is great an all of you should look into it where applicable.
I'm bringing this up, because someone made a post about their desire to find a good church that's more on the contemporary side, and great for kids. With this being an international forum, I don't know how things are outside of the South here in the US where I live.....but over the past 5-10 years we have seen a huge growth in "mega churches". As in.....monumental growth. The money pouring into these churches would make your head spin. 18 out of the 23 people who responded all recommended this person go to the local mega church.
I get it.....traditional church for most is boring. The mega churches have capitalized on this, and turned church into a full on production of awesome music and cinematography where it's more like something you would pay to go see. There's value in that no doubt. The more you can get people to attend church, the better IMO. That being said, I have a real problem with these churches for a lot of reasons.
I just don't see any validity in their existence. This seems to be the case with all evangelical churches to me. A select few decide what they're going to teach, wrap it up into a compelling production, turn it into a money churning business, and it draws the masses. My concern is that there is no foundation. Anyone can take the Bible, pick and choose their sermons, decide what they feel is most relevant and "contemporary" because it draws the crowd, and run with it. When is the last time you heard Joel Osteen talk about the things that send you to hell? Their teachings change with the tides.
Again I don't want this to be a debate on creationism vs evolution, I'm just interested in hearing perspectives on this new style of faith versus the traditional Christian churches.