John,

Thanks for the thoughtful response--I've also been pleased to see the progress of your recovery, and was thrilled that you and Kyle got to mutually encourage each other in person.

It looks like I wasn't clear when I mentioned evangelism. I fully agree with you that correction of such doctrinal errors should normally occur--even though it often doesn't--in the process of discipleship.

To clarify my original statement, the reason I mentioned having to disabuse people of this bad pietism even during evangelism is because, at least in this part of the world, it seems that one is very likely to run into that kind of false teaching even among unbelievers. I can't remember how many times a conversation on the street with a person who refuses to set foot in a real church has led to statements like:

"but that's OK, cuz Jesus is in my heart, and that's all that matters" or
"but I know the Lord hears me when I pray" or
"we pray Buddha--you pray Jesus--both good, see?"

My point is that, at least here, this pietism has not only infected much of the church, but has now spilled over into the unchurched culture, giving unbelievers a warped view of the Gospel itself; therefore evangelism in such cases calls for a measure of instruction not needed where this false teaching has not taken root.

Our church is 4C's (Conservative Congregational Christian Conference); it looks like our low-budget site didn't get that detail up yet! And yes, I think all but one of the member families live in the Bronx (and that one was here before moving), with maybe 75% within a short walking distance of the public school and homes in which we currently meet.

In Christ,
Paul S