Has God Changed?

Lately I hear a lot of talk about all of the "new" things that God is doing. Or come to church and God will show you how he wants to make you new. There are all sorts of things focusing on the "new". The idea that God is somehow doing something different for people now then he was say 10 years ago or at the beginning of Christianity seems to be the common ploy to get people in the pews.

Maybe I missed something but I'm pretty sure the saving grace that was given to us from God by Jesus is not changing at all. God is the same today as he was when he created the heavens and the earth. By getting people into church by saying that church in this time is "not your parents church" seems to be a deception. While worship might be conducted in a slightly different way than it was a generation ago, is the message any different? If God has changed the way that he chooses to save people I suppose I am behind the times, but I'm pretty sure he is the same God he has always been.

I guess it bothers me that the new wave in Christianity is that of "you were right the church isn't doing what it is made for, let's redesign its purpose so more people can start coming." In my opinion if you change the function of the church from equipping people and strengthening their faith and turn it into a form of entertainment just to get people in the door the point is being missed.

Can tradition be changed to help the church gain more members? Yes, as long as that change is made responsibly and not in such a way that people feel they are a new type of Christian. Nor should the church be willing to change just because people are not "feeling" as good as they used to when they leave the church. The bottom line is God is still operating the same way as he always has. If we try to say that there is some new form of Christianity out there we are only harming the people we want to help.