Dead Faith and Designer Churches
When church looks alive but has no pulse.
I’m a charismatic, evangelical pastor. I love the church. But I’ve seen too many people walk through our doors carrying the same wounds from different buildings. And every time, the thread underneath their pain is the same: the performance gospel is alive and well. We’ve just got an LCD wall and a contemporary playlist.
In 1517, Martin Luther didn’t just protest indulgences. He exposed a system—a church addicted to control, obsessed with appearances, and built on the lie that you could buy your way into the grace of God. Now we stand centuries later, and we’re back at the same altar, just in different robes.
You want to know what this looks like? I taught on this recently at Church.
Faith With No Pulse
James 2. It’s the passage that makes some evangelicals twitch. Even Luther called it “an epistle of straw.” But it was never about earning salvation. It’s about exposing fakers. The difference between saying you have faith… and actually having it.
I told our church: Saying “I have faith” but living unchanged is like marrying someone just to get a green card. You may live in the same house, you might even take the photos—but it’s not love. It’s a transaction. You can do all the motions, but never know the Person.
Modern churchgoers are experts in this. They turn up once a month. Say the right things. Post the Easter Sunday selfie. But don’t give, don’t serve, don’t show up with a heart that’s actually surrendered. And when they’re corrected? They call it trauma instead of discipleship and vanish.
Faith That Works... Works
We’ve separated faith from works so violently that we’ve killed it. James says: “Even the demons believe .. and shudder.” So congrats. Your faith matches Satan’s.
That’s not me being harsh. That’s scripture being honest.
True faith moves. It risks. It acts. Like Abraham, who raised the knife believing God could resurrect. Like Rahab, who risked everything to protect God’s people. Real faith bleeds into everything.
I shared the story of how we went to a hilltop filled with young people blasting music and selling drugs—determined to share the gospel. We botched it. Awkward conversations. Nothing landed. We drove away embarrassed. But something stirred. We turned back.
No plan. Just conviction.
And God moved.
Words of knowledge hit. Hearts cracked open. Kids got saved, filled with the Spirit, undone. Why? Because we didn’t just say we believed. We walked it. (See my post from early this week for the full story).
This is the Reformation All Over Again
The Protestant Reformation wasn’t just about theology. It was about tearing down a church culture that used God’s name for man’s gain. But we’ve rebuilt it. This time with “Christian influencers” instead of popes. We don’t sell indulgences; we sell promises - blessings for tithes, healing for seed offerings.
And yet we wonder why people don’t change.
Lip Service Christianity Is Dead Faith
You can cry during worship, raise your hands, and still not know Jesus. I met a 74-year-old man weeping at the altar who said, “I’ve been in church my whole life. My son’s the pastor. But I never knew Jesus until today.”
We’re not after attendance. We’re after transformation.
So let me ask you a couple of questions:
You say you believe He forgave you - so why are you still living in shame? Unable to forgive others?
You say you believe He’s enough - so why are you chasing idols?
You say you believe He’s returning - so why are you wasting time?
If your life doesn’t match what your mouth says, you’re not living in faith. You’re just playing church.
Wake Up. Reform Again.
We don’t need a new movement. We need to return to the first one.
Faith is not performance. It’s surrender. It’s trusting Jesus to be everything… and walking like it’s true. Even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially when it costs.
Because if your faith doesn’t breathe, doesn’t move, doesn’t do - then it’s not faith at all. It’s just noise.
But here’s the scandalous beauty:
You don’t earn this. You never could.
Faith itself is a gift.
Grace isn’t a reward for effort. It’s the unearned favor of a God who saw you dead in sin- and still chose the cross.
You don’t need to hustle harder to be loved.
You need to wake up to the love you already have.
And once you see it - really see it - you won’t be able to stay still.
Because grace doesn’t just forgive you. It transforms you.
It breathes life into your bones. It sends you running with good news.
It turns empty words into resurrection power.
So let’s stop pretending.
Let’s stop rehearsing religion.
Let’s stop collecting participation ribbons for faith that never left the house.
If it’s real - walk in it.
Speak it.
Live like eternity is more than a doctrine.
Live like the tomb is actually empty.
Live like you’ve been raised with Him.
You were saved by grace, through faith - not to sit still, but to move in the fullness of it.
So step out.
And watch everything change.