Some pastors care more about being cool than being Christ-like, says Christine Caine

Some churches have replaced prayer with smoke machines and clever lighting, says Christine Caine (Photo: Unsplash/Rachel Coyne)

Prayer has been relegated to the "basement with the grandmothers" as churches prioritize their "smoke machines" and "skinny jeans", says Christine Caine.

The popular Christian speaker and author said she was on a mission to "pull prayer out of the basement and put it on the pulpit and put it front and center." 

The A21 Campaign leader, speaking during a Virtual Townhall, suggested some churches cared more about being cool, even though being cool wasn't necessarily saving souls. 

"We got a bit embarrassed because in our coolness, in between our skinny jeans and tattoos, beautiful light section and camera, we thought, 'prayer is not cool, prayer is embarrassing. A smoke machine will do the job,'" she said.

"And what we've discovered is smoke machines haven't saved anyone. Look at the mess that the world's in."

Caine suggested churches need to get over being cool and get back to being God-centered.

"Instead of being in the world, not of it, we became of it and we're no longer in it. And so the challenge is then you've got no power, and power comes through intercessory prayer," she said.

"Show a lost and dying world and a religious world, 'I don't care if you don't think I'm cool. I am utterly dependent on God.'"

She went on to say that some pastors cared more about "getting likes and getting clicks" than about being Christ-centered, and that they "need to get over being slick career-builders". 

She said revival would only come when the church cares more about righteousness, and gets on its knees and prays. 

"We got a whole generation that knows how to market themselves, but they're not marked," she said.

"If you are not marked by God in the prayer closet, you are never going to see God open doors.

"God opens doors that no man can shut, and you'll get that in the prayer room with the Holy Ghost."

News
Palm Sunday: the triumphal entry and its meaning for us today
Palm Sunday: the triumphal entry and its meaning for us today

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most sacred week in the Christian calendar.

The backstory to Palm Sunday most evangelicals miss
The backstory to Palm Sunday most evangelicals miss

29 March is Palm Sunday, or the sixth Sunday in Lent, which kicks off Holy Week. The events of this day echo a historical episode from Jewish history which most evangelicals miss. This is the story …

Iraqi Christians told to cancel Palm Sunday and Easter celebrations
Iraqi Christians told to cancel Palm Sunday and Easter celebrations

The Palm Sunday celebrations in Northern Iraq usually are big celebrations to commemorate Jesus entering Jerusalem.

Historic England grants £1m to renovate three churches
Historic England grants £1m to renovate three churches

Funding has also been provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.