Life.Church – A Discussion and Warning About This Growing Church

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It may seem odd to speak to Christians worldwide about one specific church. However, this discussion is important because Life.Church isn’t just a local church, but a church continually creating a global outreach. Not only do they have churches in 12 U.S. states (including a recent church plant in my own state of Iowa), but they have a compelling and approachable online presence. 

While Life.Church may not have such obviously false beliefs that we can make a blanket statement of “No Christian should go there,” there are several things worth considering beyond the surface level evaluations we hastily make. To that end, I think it would be most beneficial to look at a variety of things to help people better evaluate if Life.Church is a safe place for Christians to learn, grow, and trust their spiritual health.

I’ll be discussing the various aspects of Life.Church under three broad categories:

Green Flags: Those things I believe the church does well
Yellow Flags: Things that are problematic, but don’t reject sound biblical teaching or compromise the gospel
Red Flags: Reasons Christians should avoid or outright reject Life.Church and their teachings

Table of Contents

A quick summary of Life.Church

If you’ve never heard of this church, or you’re only vaguely aware of it, these are some basics of the church, both things that are important to the church and ways it may deviate from a traditional church.

The “Who We Are” section of their website gives a good summary. Other things worth knowing for this discussion include:

  • The church focuses heavily on creating an online presence
  • They place a high value on their LifeGroups
  • They are the creators of the YouVersion Bible app that many people use for reading and daily devotions
  • Despite having multiple sites, there is only a single message that is live-streamed from one church to the rest
  • Craig Groeschel is the lead pastor, but they frequently have other speakers preach the weekly sermon
  • Life.Church is part of the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination

Preparing for this article

The goal of this article isn’t to pick on a random church, but instead to create a resource for those in my area who are becoming interested in attending Life.Church locally. I didn’t want to hastily dismiss the church, so I gained a better understanding by:

  • Listening to over 20 sermons, mostly from Groeschel
  • Reading and watching all the resources on their website aimed at people who are either new or want to take the “next steps”
  • Reading a handful of discussions about Life.Church and Groeschel, both praising and critiquing
  • Exploring their denomination’s website to get a bigger picture of the things I may not have seen

While I haven’t exhausted everything about Life.Church, I did spend over 20 hours researching important areas so that I can give a fair and measured evaluation for this article.

Green flags

Calls to holiness

Life.Church wants people to be who God has called them to be. Within that goal, they recognize that our holy God has likewise called us to holiness. In several sermons, I heard Groeschel appeal to people’s need to stop living for themselves and instead be obedient to God and the holy living He calls us to.

Emphasis on community

The church wants its members invested and part of the church outside beyond just the weekly service. They have LifeGroups for people at all stages of life, and the material I found shows that they emphasize growing together in a community of other Christians. If you watch a sermon on their website, there’s a built-in chat feature with “hosts” who strike up conversations and even seem to recognize frequent attenders. Speakers will regularly call for the online chat to type things in the comments, whether it’s something fun or proclaiming their new decision to be a Christian.

Overall, Life.Church seems to desire their people to walk together.

Welcoming

This is obviously closely related to community. However, while some churches can have a strong sense of community, they can become so insulated that outsiders feel intimidated. Life.Church seems to recognize this and takes good steps to make people feel seen and free to ask questions or join in the discussions. Even in the online chat, I saw several instances of new people being welcomed and engaged.

One of the phrases on their website is “No matter who you are or where you’ve been, you’re welcome here.” From what I’ve seen, they stick by this.

Tackling hard subjects

If you visit their YouTube channel and sort their videos by “most popular,” their most-watched video is titled “Your Porn Battle Plan.” The sermon is exactly what you’d expect it to be, and it’s encouraging to see that a church is willing to speak bluntly to a major problem.

They’ve discussed some other subjects many Christians wonder about but may struggle to find answers to. They even did a 3-part FAQ series where Groeschel gave answers to several biblical topics including:

  • Homosexuality
  • Masturbation
  • Premarital sex and living together
  • Birth control (including calling out those who refuse to have children for faithless and selfish reasons)

And in many of his answers, I found myself in agreement. 

Can give good context

In some sermons, several speakers have taken the time to explain the historical context of the verses they were using. I’ll discuss this more down below, but Groeschel and other pastors have demonstrated that they do understand how to do exegesis.

Always giving a gospel presentation

In the 20+ sermons I listened to, I don’t think a single one ended without the gospel. And if someone grew up learning what the Bible says about sin and what Christ did on the cross, it’s a very solid presentation of the gospel. 

(See the red flags for the gospel presentation from the perspective of someone who doesn’t understand sin or Christ’s atonement)

Caring about purity

Of all the themes frequently repeated, purity is one that really stands out. I don’t know if Groeschel frequently deals with sexual purity issues with his own congregation or if he just speaks to the culture around him, but he frequently calls people to embrace a biblical understanding of sexual purity and marital faithfulness.

I think they take prayer seriously

I don’t mean for the label to sound sarcastic by saying “I think.” Their website and online chat have numerous ways for people to request prayer. In several instances, I saw a host in the online chat type out a prayer after someone requested prayer for something like healing. I wasn’t comfortable with using their “request prayer” feature on the website just to see what would happen, but I imagine someone on the other end truly does pray for the requests that are sent in.

Genuine concern and care for the flock

Groeschel’s heart is for his people. While I have many concerns for the ministry, and even Groeschel himself, I haven’t doubted that Groeschel does love those who are hurting and desires for them to live out his understanding of a successful Christian life.

Yellow flags

It’s a multi-site church

There are many critiques we can bring against any multi-site church. Having multiple buildings across a state or country gives the image of being more successful, but many compromises are made for the sake of these larger numbers. The personality on the screen can’t shepherd a flock three states away, the local pastors don’t fulfill a primary function of teaching, and the church that isn’t the pastor’s primary location becomes more like a franchise than a local church.

For further reading, 9Marks has an excellent breakdown of 22 problems with multi-site churches.

Purely topical preaching

Topical preaching is so common throughout modern churches that many people may not realize there’s anything else. This practice essentially begins with the pastor choosing what they want to discuss, then finding a passage or mixture of verses to support their point. Otherwise it begins with grabbing a random set of verses and creating a sermon with little regard to the bigger context.

This isn’t inherently wrong if it’s handled well, but it does present some problems. It teaches people to pick and choose verses regardless of their context; it puts the pastor’s opinion at the core of a sermon; and it doesn’t require the pastor to study or grow in understanding because it’s easy to avoid confusing or difficult passages.

Instead, it’s best for a pastor to practice expository preaching. That is, to stay firmly rooted in the passage and draw the lesson from the biblical text itself rather than starting with an opinion and finding whatever verses might support it. This is best done by regularly going through an entire book of the Bible so that the pastor and his congregation can better see and understand the entire context.

Teaching through experiences, not the Bible

This could easily be a red flag, but I will discuss something even more concerning there. While this is closely tied to topical preaching, it’s more extreme than what many pastors are guilty of.

Topical preaching can still heavily feature God’s word. However, much of what I encountered made the Bible a guest in the sermon, rather than being the star. A typical sermon would begin with a long and entertaining story, the speaker would then read some verses, then launch into more stories or share experiences about what this passage can mean.

In a 36 minute sermon, less than five minutes may be spent actually interacting with God’s word or explaining what’s being said. The rest of the time is spent getting people emotionally invested in entertaining or heartwarming stories, motivating them with clever ideas or saying, and doing anything other than actually discussing what God’s word teaches. The only reason this isn’t a red flag is that the stories (usually) drive people to understand biblical truth.

Approachability at the expense of depth

Life.Church doesn’t present any barriers for its listeners. Someone who’s never heard the Bible before can understand nearly anything being taught during a sermon. Pastors rarely use church language or theological terms, instead keeping things approachable for everyone listening.

While that’s fine, and maybe appropriate for an audience full of new Christians, the problem comes when that’s all they offer. In 1 Corinthians 3:2, Paul chastises the church for still being spiritually immature and weak in their thinking and understanding. Life.Church’s content presents a similar problem – it goes down easily for everyone, but the natural outcome is that no one is being trained in things that are difficult to chew. The church may excel at creating baby Christians, but the environment does little to help them grow up.

Worship is a concert

This is nothing new to Life.Church. Much of the music they sing is fairly typical for a contemporary church, but the way they do it creates a feeling of a concert more than buildings of people worshipping God together. Online participants see the concert from multiple camera angles and the event features lighting and other visuals you’d expect at a concert meant to entertain, rather than a time of corporate worship.

On its own, this can come down to preference more than concern. However, the way music is approached feeds into the bigger issue of this church being a means of entertainment.

Tithing, not giving

From Life.Church’s website:

Tithing is a biblical principle. God calls us to give the first 10% of our income back to Him. We’ve seen God provide abundantly in our church, and we know He will provide abundantly for you and your family when you put Him first in your finances. In fact, it’s the one area in the Bible where God tells you to test Him.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Malachi 3:10 NIV

Tithing is an Old Testament demand on Israel that isn’t in effect today (because we aren’t Israel). Many churches, whether innocently or manipulatively, tell people that God demands 10% of their income. However, this is completely contrary to both understanding Old Testament context as well as what God reveals:

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Is it God’s will that we serve Him with our money? Yes. Is regularly giving money to support our local church biblical? Of course. However, the idea of mandatory tithing is deeply entrenched in Christian tradition. Life.Church may not promote this misunderstanding on purpose, but tithing is a major part of their church and it begins with a false foundation.

Subtle insistence on giving

In several sermons, examples of ways people doubt God would always include some form of “maybe you need to trust God with your money and give.” Sometimes it would be giving to those in need, but the implication was to trust God and tithe to the church. This is often given under the banner of “irrational generosity,” which is the idea of giving beyond what makes sound financial sense (and is beyond the 10% tithe that God allegedly demands).

This is often a tactic used in the Prosperity Gospel. If someone really had faith, they would give beyond what makes sense because they believe God will bless them abundantly for it. 

Life.Church isn’t blunt or manipulative enough to create a red flag with this (since trusting God does mean obeying the Holy Spirit in our giving), but there’s an undertone of Prosperity Theology with how many examples of lacking faith include not giving money to the church.

Hints of the Prosperity Gospel

Beyond money, a lot of motivation for life changes plays to our selfishness. We want to do things to be happy, or change because we’re miserable. People are empowered to be who God wants them to be. Blessings and rewards are promised to those who do the right thing.

Again, much of what is said sounds like a soft version of the Prosperity Gospel. Perhaps, if pressed, the various speakers would better clarify their statements. However, the message being preached to thousands of people is that God’s will is for them to make choices that will ultimately lead to their happiness and self-betterment.

False sense of being part of the body

There’s no doubt that Life.Church makes its content easily accessible for people around the world. However, this comes at the expense of people truly being part of the body of Christ. In the past I’ve talked about why watching sermon isn’t church as well as whether Christians should take communion at home. Watching a sermon allows us to enjoy one aspect of church, but it also denies us the ability to fully take part in a community like God has called us to. We aren’t called to just grow personally, but to grow together.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Social media has taught us that online communities may be active, but they’re often hollow. Watching a sermon online or chatting on a website may give a sense of community, but not being part of a local body makes the bolded sections of text nearly impossible.

Strange statement on hell

From their church beliefs (emphasis mine):

People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life in Heaven. Heaven and hell are real places of eternal existence.

This is… weird. They talk about eternity apart from God in the same way someone may talk about living through war or working at a horrible job. When we say “it was hell,” we mean that it was a miserable experience.

Notice the quoted text. Heaven is capitalized (meaning it’s a proper name), but hell is lowercase (meaning it’s not an actual location). Likewise, they describe separation from God as “hell,” meaning that hell is simply a way to describe the experience. 

This of course contradicts their last sentence that says hell is a real place, but by not capitalizing it they aren’t committing to a biblical definition of Hell. Like I said, it’s a really strange statement.

Here is a video where Groeschel takes a firmer stance on Hell. One thing he says is: “If you don’t accept the reality of Hell you’ll never appreciate the glory of the gospel.” 

If pressed, the only way I can make sense of this is that their website is available to anyone, and talking about a literal Hell may be off-putting or offensive to newcomers, whereas a full sermon allows them to fully explain their position. However, shying away from a stance on Hell for sake of approachability or gaining favor is problematic on its own. 

Denominational stance on social justice

Life.Church is a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). Although a single church doesn’t always line up with every part of their denomination, it’s worth pointing out that ECC takes a clear stance on integrating racial reconciliation into the church (read about ECC and Racial Righteousness). This is a subject that is not only divisive for the church, but has even become a gospel issue.

Red flags

Many sermons don’t need the Bible

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Sermons are complex, intricate, and complicated pieces of art. However, if we were to boil sermons down to their bare essence, we could lump them into two groups:

  • The pastor’s words/opinions fall under the authority of the Bible
  • The Bible falls under the authority of the pastor’s words/opinions

In other words, how necessary is the Bible to any given sermon? Is the Bible so prominent that you could remove its use that the sermon would absolutely fall apart? Or is what God’s word says of so little importance that it would be removed and much of the pastor’s sermon would still make sense?

This was an alarming reality I noticed as I listened to sermon after sermon. Sometimes Craig Groeschel or a guest speaker would keep returning to the context of a passage while giving a topical sermon (yellow flag). However, far more sermons were about what the speaker had to say, then they’d turn to an out-of-context verse to support their point (red flag). 

Sermons like these prove one thing – the speaker believes people need their opinion, not God’s absolute truth. What they think matters most, and God’s word must bend to fit that belief. Often, this is also a sign that the speaker doesn’t actually know how to read and understand the Bible. For a person in the audience, that’s heartbreaking. For a pastor who leads God’s people, it’s completely unacceptable.

2 Timothy 2:15 calls for us to know how to handle God’s word well.

2 Timothy 3:16 sets the pace for how, and why, we treasure God’s word.

Life.Church frequently fails to live up to both of these, and as a result, faces problems in many other ways.

Female pastors

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.  I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (1 Timothy 2:11-12)

Life.Church follows the modern trend of making the pastor a gender-neutral role. Craig Groeschel’s wife, Amy, is even called “Pastor Amy” on their own website. If God desires that only men are in the role of pastor, then Life.Church is functioning and teaching in rebellion to God.

“3 Month Tithe Challenge”

“Test me in this … and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Malachi 3:10 NIV

This verse is featured on Life.Church’s “3 Month Tithe Challenge” web page. Although their poor interpretation of Malachi 3:10’s relevance is troubling (this command was to the nation of Israel, as was its connected promise), the extreme they take this to is blasphemous.

The challenge is simple, and I will again quote their website:

If you’re not tithing already, a great way to start is with the Three-Month Tithe Challenge. It’s based on the promises of God in Malachi 3:10, and essentially it’s a money-back guarantee of sorts.

If you tithe for three months and don’t see God’s blessings in your life, we will refund 100% of your tithe. [emphasis mine]

When you click “Take the Challenge,” you can read this under the terms:

7. I would like to test God’s faithfulness by accepting the Three-Month Tithe Challenge. I agree that for the three-month period, my household will contribute to God, through Life.Church, a tithe equal to 10% of our income. At the end of the three-month period, if I am not convinced of God’s faithfulness to bless my life as a result of my obedience to His Word, then I will be entitled to request a refund of the full amount of contributions made during that three-month period. [emphasis mine]

Life.Church is committing God to something He hasn’t committed Himself to. Because of their poor exegetical understanding of Malachi 3:10, they are bold enough to promise that God will bless those who give 10% of their income to the church. And they’re so confident that God will keep His promise that they offer a 100% money-back guarantee.

This sounds good until we realize that if God hasn’t promised this, they open God up to be a liar (which they acknowledge in their terms). What happens when someone tithes for three months and their earthly circumstances are worse than they were at the beginning and their faith is weaker? The church will refund the money, but they must also admit that God didn’t keep His promise of faithfulness. Life.Church must shrug their shoulders, say “I guess God was a liar this time,” and refund the investment of someone who trusted God for three months and saw that He isn’t everything they were promised.

They’re using God’s name and saying He’s promised something that He hasn’t. This is something God isn’t too fond of.

Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. (Jeremiah 14:14)

Yes, this is talking about false prophets. But God was condemning them for speaking where He hasn’t spoken. I quote this verse to point out one thing: God does not tolerate people using His name for their own ends. 

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

Taking God’s name in vain isn’t just using it as profanity. It’s using His name in any way that is disrespectful, false, or misleading. The false prophets claiming “God said this!” were taking God’s name in vain. They were blaspheming the name of God.

Life.Church, likewise, makes promises for God that He hasn’t made. They tell people to test His faithfulness, set Him up to be a liar, and thus blaspheme His name.

Groeschel’s mockery of exegesis

This clip made the rounds on social media, but I first encountered it naturally while listening to what I assume was “just another sermon.” I don’t say this to be dramatic, but I literally had to pause and rewind to make sure I really heard a pastor say what I thought he did. Here’s the clip (it goes from 9:30-10:10):

While the whole rant is odd, I still can’t believe this part was said (and celebrated):

“‘My church is right. We don’t teach that feel-good, soft message. We preach the unadulterated word of God. The exegetical verse-by-verse teaching like Jesus DIDN’T do…’ oh I’m sorry, that just slipped out.” 

This mentality, honestly, spins my brain in circles. Groeschel rightly believes that Christ is God. He also believes that the Bible is God’s word. So His criticism is that God didn’t submit Himself to the context and authority of what was written in His own word (even though Luke 4:16-21 highlights Christ’s respect for context).

So Groeschel is essentially saying that his words, especially as he teaches his church, don’t need to fall under what is established in God’s word. He doesn’t need to be mindful of things like the historical context, the original audience, word meanings, or any of that other “exegetical, verse-by-verse” stuff that helps us understand why things are said. And those who do are worth his entire church mocking right alongside him.

There are many pastors who are simply ignorant of exegetical preaching. They haven’t been properly trained in understanding and teaching the context of a passage to protect themselves from making God’s word say whatever they want.

However, Groeschel clearly understands it. He just doesn’t care, nor does he want his people to value handling God’s word carefully.

Embracing secular psychology

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Groeschel is famous for integrating secular psychology into his teaching. He even has a popular book called “Winning the War In Your Mind.” Here’s the summary from Amazon (emphasis mine):

Are your thoughts out of control–just like your life? Do you long to break free from the spiral of destructive thinking? Let God’s truth become your battle plan to win the war in your mind!

We’ve all tried to think our way out of bad habits and unhealthy thought patterns, only to find ourselves stuck with an out-of-control mind and off-track daily life. Pastor and New York Times bestselling author Craig Groeschel understands deeply this daily battle against self-doubt and negative thinking, and in this powerful new book he reveals the strategies he’s discovered to change your mind and your life for the long-term.

Drawing upon Scripture and the latest findings of brain science, Groeschel lays out practical strategies that will free you from the grip of harmful, destructive thinking and enable you to live the life of joy and peace that God intends you to live. Winning the War in Your Mind will help you:

  • Learn how your brain works and see how to rewire it
  • Identify the lies your enemy wants you to believe
  • Recognize and short-circuit your mental triggers for destructive thinking
  • See how prayer and praise will transform your mind
  • Develop practices that allow God’s thoughts to become your thoughts

God has something better for your life than your old ways of thinking. It’s time to change your mind so God can change your life.

As I’ve discussed in my series on psychology, worldly thinking and the Bible just don’t work together. So many Christians, including Groeschel, try to make the interpretations of a secular worldview find harmony with God’s truth, but in the end they weaken both psychology and the Bible. Psychology is based on the interpretations and understandings of people whose worldview is anti-God. Trying to affix Bible verses to these conclusions feels good, but in the end it still makes us inwardly focused.

Groeschel largely embraces cognitive behavioral therapy – the idea that our greatest problem is negativity, self-doubt, and destructive thinking. Freedom from this is in framing our responses to these things in a way that is positive, empowering, and productive. 

Whether or not we try to put a Christian wrapper on it, this worldview says that our greatest problem is that we don’t love ourselves enough, and we need salvation from our bad thoughts. To integrate Jesus into this, He must stop being our Savior from sin and instead be our Savior from us not thinking highly enough of ourselves.

Romans 12:2 reminds us that we can have our thinking molded by the world or transformed by the power of God. Not only does Groeschel frame his Christian worldview around secular thinking, but he leads his whole church in doing the same.

Open mic for false teaching

I don’t know much about Michael Todd (other than him recently spitting on his hand and rubbing it on someone’s face during a sermon), but this sermon he gave at Life.Church is essentially the Word of Faith. It’s a false teaching that says we speak or believe our dreams into reality (if you remember the popular book “The Secret,” it’s the same thing):

In a nutshell, it’s a feel-good story about how his church got a building because they believed they would. It’s 35 minutes of telling people that they don’t see results because they don’t dream big enough. He also shares ways that God directly spoke to him about these things.

There’s nothing biblical about the entire sermon, even though he abuses Hebrews 11:1 and 2 Corinthians 10:5. However, it’s exciting to hear, and people are drawn to the idea that they can have everything their greedy hearts desire if they just believe hard enough.

Most false teachers live and die by their stories. The Bible is lightly sprinkled in, but the real feature is stories of incredible things happening. People aren’t excited about what God reveals in the Bible, but instead live through the stories and experiences of others while dreaming of someday, somehow, having their own experiences.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:28-30)

Historically, Groeschel has also supported false teachers like Steven Furtick and Joel Osteen. YouVersion, the Bible app created and supported by Life.Church, also features various devotionals by false teachers such as Kenneth Copeland.

Groeschel and the other pastors are meant to protect not only themselves but the people that God has given them to care for. At worst, Life.Church actually agrees with the false teachings coming from their guests. At best, they are being wildly irresponsible by allowing false teachers to come in and speak with authority and support. Either way, a pastor who promotes wolves is not fit to be a pastor.

Sermons are motivational

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

This is a basic culmination of everything discussed about sermons up to this point. The themes and emphases repeated week after week tell the congregation what is important in life. It also shows us what the church leaders believe about God and our purpose in life.

When sermons appeal to people’s emotions, rather than appealing to God’s word, they’re equipped to be led by emotion. When the power of a message rests in the personality, charisma, and cleverness of the speaker instead of the power of Christ and the Bible, then people aren’t changing because of truth. When people are told to change out of self-interest, then they believe the Christian life is about self-empowerment and, ultimately, feeding their greed.

There’s a reason so many pastors teaching using that “exegetical, verse-by-verse teaching” that Groeschel so bitterly mocks. It points people to God’s word and draws its teaching from what God has revealed, not the clever words of a motivational speaker wielding a Bible.

Emphasis on us, not God

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

The basic reason for change at Life.Church is so that we can be the person God wants us to be. On its own, that statement may not be inherently wrong, but in the context of everything else said from the stage, it highlights a false understanding that weaves through everything Life.Church does.

Essentially, life is about us. Everything we do is focused on how it benefits us. And if we want to achieve ultimate happiness and success in life, we need to stop sinning and follow Jesus. Jesus is the one who helps us be who we’re meant to be.

But in this scenario, Jesus is our means to an end. The Holy Spirit helps us be the best version of ourselves. It has nothing to do with who we are in Christ, but instead who we can be because of Christ. It places us in the spotlight, and as a result, people are regularly told that sin simply keeps them from realizing ultimate happiness, with little-to-no mention of how our sin positions us against the holiness of God.

Wrathless gospel

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:18)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

As I researched Life.Church, I was surprised to see solid Christians giving their (sometimes begrudging) support. The comments would often be along the lines of “The sermons may be shallow, but the gospel presentation is clear.” And as I listened to my first few sermons, I likewise found myself impressed with how clearly they give the gospel.

However, I realized I was hearing the gospel as someone already familiar with the reality of sin, God’s law, holiness, and what Christ accomplished on the cross. It occurred to me that I was filling in certain blanks with my own understanding, possibly because a pastor who gives the gospel in every sermon may not fully emphasize something due to innocent oversight on their part. But as I listened to more sermons, I realize that those gaps I mentally filled in weren’t accidental slips, but intentional omissions.

Here’s the basic layout of a Life.Church gospel presentation:

  • God loves you
  • We all sin by messing up
  • Jesus died for your sins
  • Let go of negative things and repent of sin (self-doubt, anger, negative thoughts, or whatever the sermon was about)
  • Pray this prayer and ask Jesus to forgive you and save you from your sins

That sounds good because we know that none of these things are absolutely incorrect. However, in every sermon I heard, I don’t remember two necessary questions being answered: Why do we need forgiveness of sin, and why did Jesus need to save us sin?

The answer, based solely on the gospel presentations I’ve heard, is “I have no idea.” And if someone were to attend Life.Church with no background in Christianity, they would likewise have no idea. Based on the context of the motivational sermons and the gospel presentation, Christ came to save us from negativity and offers us freedom to be happy.

We all know the Christian lingo of “repent and ask Jesus to save you from sin.” And many of us may be neglectful sometimes by not fully explaining what exactly we mean. Again, I’m not talking about a one-time poor explanation or accidental omission. There’s a vast difference between being neglectful during one sermon and having a formulaic gospel presentation that purposely ignores the wrath of God against our sin. 

However, I can’t end this section without being clear about one thing: Life.Church does talk about God’s wrath when the sermon topic demands it (such as Groeschel’s specific discussions about Hell). Sometimes, the gospel presentation will even lightly mention it. So the red flag isn’t that they don’t believe in God’s wrath against sin, but that thousands of people have asked Jesus to save them, and those without a background in “Christian-ese” likely accepted a false gospel of self-help and positive thinking, which is not a saving gospel at all.

Sin is “messing up”

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Some may have noticed this in the previous point, but it needs to be directly pointed out. Sin is never specifically explained in the majority of sermons unless the sermon topic is about a very specific sin (porn, anger, etc). During the gospel presentation, sin is regularly explained as “messing up.”

Describing sin in this way is like telling someone to be afraid of a spaghetti noodle. We “mess up” when we dial the wrong number, misspell a word, or mistake tablespoons and teaspoons when adding salt to a recipe. Standing guilty before a holy God whose wrath is on us because of our willful law-breaking is immeasurably beyond just “messing up.”

However, the weak emphasis on sin isn’t surprising based on everything else discussed. It’s clear that Groeschel gets part of his worldview from secular psychology, which emphasizes the basic goodness of people while minimizing their wickedness. A low view of the authority of the Bible means that what it says about the severity of sin doesn’t matter if it doesn’t fit their model on being approachable, motivational, and uplifting. 

But in the end, “the wages of messing up is death” doesn’t really make sense. God storing up wrath because we mess up makes Him sound like He’s making mountains out of molehills. That’s because messing up only matters when the emphasis is on ourselves and how it affects our lives. But when we focus on God and the reality of how He views our sin, we understand why He hates it and why we need Christ.

Just praying a prayer

One of the most damaging things in Christianity is “easy believism.” It’s an approach to the gospel that tells people that if they just pray a prayer, they’ll be saved. It doesn’t matter what it takes to get someone there, whether it’s a sermon that preys on someone’s fear of Hell or a fluffy sermon that makes people want a therapist named Jesus. The ultimate goal of this is simply to get people to say “yes” and pray a prayer. 

Like so many churches across all denominations, Life.Church is guilty of leading so many people to a false sense of salvation. Without an accurate gospel presentation, or even personal discipleship, it’s impossible for these thousands of new Christians to truly know if they understand what they’re being asked to do.

Here’s a basic example of how people are told to repent of their sin and trust in Christ for salvation (if the video doesn’t automatically begin there, it’s at the 29:40 mark):

This is disastrous. 

The number of hands raised or comments written in the chat give Life.Church a sense that so many new Christians are being redeemed by Christ. However, with everything discussed about how Life.Church presents Christianity and the gospel, the vast majority of these people are likely just saying “yes” to anything that promises to make them feel better.

I don’t discount God’s sovereignty in saving His people no matter how bad we may fumble things. However, we also want to make sure we are in obedience and surrender to Christ as we take part in the redemption of His people. Encouraging false conversion by telling people to just “pray a prayer,” not even encouraging them to understand or believe what they’re saying, does not honor God. 

Justifying it all through numbers

Craig Groeschel is a businessman at heart. He runs a successful leadership podcast, a resource on their website is an ebook called “Measuring What Matters” which is essentially a “how to grow your online business” for churches, and in an interview he said they measure success by the number of people participating in various aspects of the church (new visitors, engaging in serving at church, participating in small groups, etc).

And here’s the thing – by all measurements, Life.Church is wildly successful. They frequently have new visitors, their online platform is active, their community is bustling, and many people claim to ask Christ to save them every week. 

However, the purpose of any goal is to reach it. If their goal is to reach certain numbers, or see a certain growth percentage, then they need to not only frequently gauge the success of the gospel by what analytics say, but they must also have the agility to pivot and change tactics when something isn’t working.

Another danger is that anything is justified when the numbers support it. If a weaker message gets more clicks, then clearly that’s God’s will. If removing wrath from the gospel presentation resonates better with the audience, then that’s what must be done. And if a simple “click a button or raise your hand if you want to be saved” gets ten times the numerical results compared to biblical discipleship or an intentional, personal gospel presentation that accurately explains what salvation is… no businessman in their right mind is going to shy away from the bigger results.

And I suspect that replacing absolute surrender to God’s word in favor of a business mentality is where Life.Church finds many of these red flags I’ve discussed. They take Christ’s call to make disciples as a call to treat the church like a business. More numbers equal more disciple-making. And so they willingly compromise anything, including accuracy and obedience to God’s word, if it means the numbers will reflect well at next week’s meeting. 

Conclusion: Is Life.Church safe for Christians?

Some may reach the end of this article and be furious because it feels like an attack on a personal experience. I’m sure people have stories of how God spoke to them or changed their lives through Life.Church. To that, I can only ask that people examine what has been said here and decide whether an individual’s positive experience negates the clear, objective problems discussed. God often brings good things from bad situations, but the good result doesn’t mean the bad situation shouldn’t be avoided by others.

I will say one thing with certainty: I have no doubt that God has saved people through the teaching of Craig Groeschel and the other speakers of Life.Church. They don’t teach such absolute heresy that it’s impossible to come to a true understanding of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

However, there’s much more to a church and its leaders than whether people have the capacity to be saved there. And despite the good things that Life.Church may do, there are many more problems that overshadow that good.

In the best scenario, a Christian will attend Life.Church and remain spiritually immature forever. They will continue attending and feeling like they were filled, but only because their spiritual maturity is so weak that they don’t know any better. To that end, anyone who regularly listens to Life.Church and comes away feeling like they heard a deep or challenging message is almost guaranteed to be either spiritually immature or not saved at all.

That seems harsh, but that’s the reality of what Life.Church offers. Even someone who isn’t a Christian can sit under the teachings of Groeschel and his guests for years and walk away feeling motivated and empowered to change their lives. The sermons may bring out a simple spiritual truth, but the delivery is often so light and motivational that any relevance to God can be easily dismissed. 

Christians can get things out of the sermons just as an adult can get nutrition out of baby formula. However, in both cases someone who is mature should immediately realize that something is not only lacking, but they’ll realize that they need more for the very sake of their health.

Yet Life.Church is more than just a fluffy, come-as-you-are church with motivational sermons. The things they say, do, and believe are outright dangerous. Consider the ways Groeschel lacks the basic discernment and maturity necessary for a pastor:

  • Freely associates with false teachers
  • Blends atheistic psychology with Bible verses
  • Ignores God’s clear teaching on the requirements of a pastor
  • Seems ashamed of the reality of God’s wrath over sin
  • Leads thousands into false conversion for the sake of numbers
  • Chooses not to rightly handle the word of God and mocks those who strive to do so

I’m not questioning whether Groeschel is a Christian, nor am I saying that he is a false teacher, because I don’t think there’s clear evidence for either accusation. However, in light of everything, it’s difficult not to question how fit he is to be a spiritually mature pastor, and by extension whether Life.Church is walking in obedience to Christ.

With articles like this, I try to be balanced in my conclusions. As far as whether Christians can attend or listen to Life.Church, I can say is that it’s better than attending something like Bethel, Hillsong, Elevation, or Lakewood that are clearly and unquestionably led by false teachers. 

However, growing in spiritual maturity isn’t something we should gamble on, nor ignore for the sake of entertainment. God is good and can grow His people in any circumstance. However, Life.Church is much more likely to weaken, stunt, or even destroy a Christian’s walk with Christ by replacing it with a selfish, shallow, and even unbiblical substitute. Worse still, many will spend years in Life.Church with no idea that they aren’t truly saved by Jesus Christ.

As someone who wants God’s people to grow in spiritual maturity, I cannot recommend Life.Church under any circumstance. The few benefits they may offer are nothing compared to the serious issues faced by the church and its leadership. If nothing else, a Christian must simply realize that in the best situation, Life.Church will leave its people stuck in a state of spiritual immaturity. 

Making Life.Church a part of your walk with Christ risks far too much for so little gain.