|
death
of the church
church
is dead! for all intents and purposes church, as we know it, is
dead - and that, believe it or not, is a good thing. over
the past 10 years, according to the United Brethren, the church has
declined over 9%, while, according to Barna, we have spent over 500
billion dollars in evangelism and the population of the USA has
increased over 20% - now that is, in all terms and understandings, a
failure. over the years the church has lived under four misunderstanding's
first
misunderstanding:
"while
other churches are dying, we are growing!" wrong!!! I
here this one a great deal - but it is not true, when you look deep.
according to "church growth" stats, 80% of
their growth comes from "new believers." but this is not
true - 99% of the growth actually comes from people who attended another
church, be it traditional, main line or old line, and looking for
something a little different then their old church. most churches
define these people as "new believers" because they did not
believe the way the new church believes.
for
example - if you come from a tradition that allows "infant baptism"
and join a "non-denominational church" (I
use quotes around non-denominational because most of these church trace
their foundation to Campbell and Stone and The Church of Christ -
baptism is required for salvation) or southern
baptist church - you are classified as a "new believer"
because you did not have "the right" baptism. this is
not "growth" - it is a wash. if there are two churches
in town, one methodist, with 500 people, and one sbc, with 500 people,
and 50 move from the methodist to the baptist the baptists claim
"we grew with 50 new believers this year" - when in reality,
there was no growth at all in the kingdom - it was a wash. now,
if you look at in the "brand name factor" the sbc did
grow - but I'm not big on brand loyalty. besides, my brand is
Jesus Christ and God's Kingdom - nothing else matters.
second
misunderstanding:
I remember talking with
a pastoral friend who told me, "the church will last forever,
Christ told us 'the gates of hell will not prevail against
it.'" but is that true? did Christ make such a
statement? and if he did, did he really mean the church, or
something else? I don't
think Jesus was talking about the church when we made this statement:
"'and how
about you? who do you say I am?' Simon Peter said, 'you're
the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, 'blessed
are you, Simon, son of Jonah! for this was not revealed to you by
man, but by my Father in heaven. And I will tell you that you are
Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades'
will not overcome it.'" (Matthew 16:15-18 NIV)
we all know that the truth that Jesus
built his church upon it that He is the Christ - the Son of the Living
God - not on peter, or anything else. and it is that truth that the gates of hell have no power
against - the fact that Jesus IS THE CHRIST - the church is fare game -
both Scripture and history has proven this to
be true. over the past the churches
have broken apart because of something as stupid as the color of the carpet, or if
air-conditioning
should be installed.
third
misunderstanding:
this one
is the one that drives me up a wall - it is what I call "the
christian copout." it is when you question the church, and
people in the church, as to why they are so cruel and unforgiving, we
are told - "the church is filled with people, driven by human
nature" - these are the same people who then claim the church is
for believers. but, not you can doubt it if you like, as "believers"
the church must be filled with people who are above human nature - and
into God's nature. when churches and pastors hide behind their
humanity, they fall prey to the bonds of humanity. when the church
claims humanity as it's guiding force - it is not different then the
world we live in, and that's just not cool.
over the
years I have been confronted with some of the meanest, cruelest, judgmental
people ever - in the church. I read, and I am not sure where, that
some 93% of all the people you know desire that you fail, and the same
is true in the church.
fourth
misunderstanding:
most
christians use the copout of "I don't know how to share my
faith. the pastor never taught us how." this is the
biggest bunch of "@@" ever. if you saw a good movie you
would spend hours talking with your friends about it; if you eat at a
good restaurant would you tell your friends all about it - no one needs
to "teach" you how to share, you just do. if your faith
is so weak you can not share your excitement with a friend - you need to
look deep into your heart for the spirit of God to guide you.
let's be honest, you can't share what you don't have.
closing:
for all intents and
purposes, the church is dead - or is it? and if it is, can it be resurrected?
think of it this way,
would you invite a friend to your church, knowing all the garbage that
fills the building each and every sunday? most, as time has
proven, will not - because if we did, the church would be filled with
people - true new believers, not believers from other churches. what are we
doing wrong? I believe it all centers on worship - or the lack
there of.
according to
Barna, over
40% of evangelical christians say they do not feel the presence of God
in worship - that's just wrong, at all levels. why?
here's a simple list of
basics
-
the message is
outdated and has no meaning to the needs people have today.
-
the music is off base
- when I hear organ music I start to crave hotdogs
-
the setting is
uncomfortable
-
the message does not challenge
you can add a
million. ask the people, who stopped coming why they stopped
coming - the answer might surprise you. don't ask the people who
attend the church, they think what you have is great, ask the people who
are not in the church - why? if you truly desire to open the
doors to the church and let in the hurting, it will take true movement
on your part to get the ball rolling - change is good. to truly
get the church alive again we need to allow the resurrection spirit of
Christ to have the first and final place in the church. the church
is dead, long live the church!!
john o'keefe
|
