Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (2/11)

A La Carte Collection cover image

Mystery Worshipers
An article at the Seattle Times deals with mystery worshipers and online church ratings. Jim Henderson, a Seattle evangelical Christian, came up with the idea to launch ChurchRater, a site that allows people to rate the churches they have visited. In some instances they pay people to rate churches and in other instances they allow anyone to rate a church as they see fit, much like you or I might post a review of a book on Amazon. What’s the problem with this? It is part of the ongoing commercialization of the church where churches are evaluated in the same way, and often by the same criteria, as businesses. The spiritual realities of a church dictate that it is not the same thing as a business. But this kind of enterprise blurs the two. I think there is great value in having an outside person provide some feedback about his experience at your church (something I did quite recently for a friend, at his request, after attending the church he pastors) just as there is value in having a brother or sister in Christ tell you things about your life that you may be unable to see on your own. But to do it in the way ChurchRater does invites abstract, anonymous and mean-spirited critique. Drive-by anonymity, transient anonymity, is not a valid basis for critique of this sort.


Bonus – RYM Offer
Renewing Your Mind is offering a set of five short R.C. Sproul books in return for a donation of any amount.


  • The Stranger

    The Stranger: A Short Film For You

    Based on a true story and inspired by the truth that character comes before competence, “The Stranger” is an honest, light-hearted and meaningful picture of what it means to truly serve others.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 9)

    A La Carte: The singer who changed the course of my life / Stay on the line / Incompatible thick communities / Lulla-Bible? / The solution is not megachurch / Who were the Anabaptists? / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 8)

    A La Carte: 15 ways to discern false teaching / The queering of history / The best part of my day / 6 kinds of hearers of God’s Word / Countering Muslim attacks on the Bible / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Wonder of the Human Face

    The Wonder of the Human Face

    Then there are the wonders of human ingenuity: the machines, the inventions, the works of art. One lifetime is not nearly enough to explore or appreciate even the smallest fraction of them all.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 7)

    A La Carte: A Christian patriot and his wayward nation / Outprinting the prosperity gospel / The organic church / A stranger in my homeland / Friendship’s faithful wounds / Sharing the gospel with someone who keeps rejecting it / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Pray Until You Feel Like It

    It is wise to set aside a time and place to pray—to build the habit and to then maintain it. But creating the habit may not always create the desire.