America’s Achilles’ Heel: Powerless Sermons and Prayerless Churches Shane Idleman
In these dire times, many are looking to the church to offer hope, but true hope and peace only come through conviction of sin and deep repentance. This is how we will truly change our nation. We can’t make bad people good; only God can do that.
The term “Achilles’ heel” refers to an area of weakness and vulnerability. The American church today has an Achilles’ heel—a lack of prayer and powerful preaching. Both are vitally important to spiritual health. Sadly, many Christian leaders focus on image rather than intimacy with Christ, being woke instead of waking up from their spiritual slumber, not wanting to offend the world instead of not wanting to offend God.
Pastors, it’s time to stop tip-toeing through the tulips of political correctness and repair the Achilles’ heel of cowardliness. A. W. Tozer said, “When we become so tolerant that we lead people into mental fog and spiritual darkness, we are not acting like Christians, we are acting like cowards.”
Now is your chance to support Gospel News Network.
We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
God honors a stance for truth and boldness with a mighty empowerment of His Spirit. I’d rather have the power of God upon my preaching than the accolades of men.
Seek Him More Than Cinemark
Unfortunately, although we are blessed to have biblically sound leaders in many churches, we see far too many powerless sermons in prayerless churches. Most churches have a few opening songs, followed by a quick sermon, followed by a closing song. “Get them in and out” may work for a car wash but not for those who genuinely want to encounter God.
We have no problem spending hours watching a movie, but in church, many appear bored to death … spiritual death. Shouldn’t we seek God more than Cinemark? When He is our all-consuming passion, we don’t run to the exit; we run to the altar.
Pastors or Prodigals?
When asked why they don’t speak about sin in their sermons, many pastors admit, “I don’t want to say anything negative.” This is why their sermons are powerless. They are painstakingly careful not to offend the secular while crushing the sacred. They avoid words and phrases like “absolutes” and “doctrinally sound” and exchange them with smooth words designed to appease the unconverted, who say, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies” (Isaiah 30:10). These leaders are either false prophets or have become prodigal pastors because they’ve chosen the world over the Word of God.
