Another Church Closes

Churches are closing all over the United States.   

I’m not referring to the “Big C” church, as we understand that the Church is actually the Body of Christ comprised of all believers in Jesus regardless of location, race, denomination, language or tradition.  In addition, worldwide, Christianity is not only the largest religion but also the fastest growing religion.  What we are seeing in America however is that many local church congregations, some in nice buildings, some in buildings that have seen better days, are closing their doors each year. 

According to recent reports about 4,000 church congregations close each year contrasted with about 1,500 new churches resulting in a loss of about 2,500 congregations.  Considering a growth in the population in the United States of about .7% and if 40% of Americans attend church, we need 4,200 net new churches every year.

A nation that is unchurched

It’s becoming increasingly clear that each year a greater percentage of Americans are now ‘unchurched’.   While the reasons for this are varied the undisputed fact is that as Christianity has become less relevant in the eyes of the average American.   As a result more and more local churches are faced with very difficult decisions regarding their continued operation, their ability to attract new people and their continued role in the community.

While they are still meeting and the lights are still on, these congregations have the opportunity to revitalize their ministry and to again be an important part of the fabric of their community.  The Great Commission of making disciples of Jesus Christ is not just about reaching new people groups or something that growing and sprawling mega churches do, it’s the basic and the essential mission of every local church.

There is hope!

Rather than abandoning these ministries and hoping that either the buildings can be sold, torn down or otherwise recycled, we need to remind ourselves that there is hope.  Not only is Jesus still the Lord and Head of the Church, we as the Body of Christ likewise can come alongside these churches and provide them with opportunities to rejuvenate and rebirth their congregations.

My observation is that these local congregations start spiraling down and get caught in a number of ultimately fatal traps.   Unless the leadership of the congregation recognizes the trends and understands that unless things change radically, their fate is sealed.  The congregation, the building, the legacy and the local Christian witness will vanish.

The challenge is that the change that is necessary is often very difficult to initiate.    In every generation local churches have struggled when they make even minor changes in worship, preaching style, the environment, attire or service times.    Recently many churches have stepped away from the traditional service patterns of Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Midweek as American culture has become busier and attendance has been declining.

If your local church is thriving and prefers more traditional worship and midweek services, God bless you.   Many congregations believe their culture and traditions are very closely related to their doctrinal beliefs and would rather be satisfied ministering to a declining and likely aging population.  However, they and the community they serve may be missing out on an opportunity to understand and witness first hand that the Gospel is not limited by tradition and culture.

The example of Jesus and Paul

Today more than ever we need more of our leaders to be like the Apostle Paul.  While Paul was a great church planter and was used by God to bring the Gospel to the gentiles in Asia and Europe he was also interested in strengthening and revitalizing the existing churches.  In the book of Acts we see Paul and Barnabas returning to the churches to “see how they are dong” (Acts 15:36).”   Paul was not hesitant to address moral or theological issues, heresy or problems in leadership.

Jesus as well through his angel sent messages to seven churches in the Book of Revelation.  These churches were all unique and each needed to hear a unique message regarding insights into their ministry.  Some were commended while some were severely criticized.   They all had the opportunity to be faithful to the ministry that they were given.  For most of them however that meant they had to make changes.

The bible is clear that we are the Body of Christ and that when one member suffers, we all suffer (1 Cor 12:26).  We are all too familiar with the scandals that spread when a minister falls because of moral failure.  Likewise, churches that begin to embrace the very sin that so easily entangles very quickly bring shame, dishonor and confusion within the Body of Christ.

In the same way, churches that close their doors, sell their buildings and abandon their calling indicate failure.  Their failure means that the message of the church, the life-changing opportunity to embrace Jesus as the Christ, to have sin forgiven and provide a message of hope is somehow irrelevant.

I mentioned earlier that many of our local congregations are spiraling down and get caught in a number of ultimately fatal traps. Often before a church can be revitalized, it has to be pruned and closed temporarily for some major remodeling.   Like an airplane that goes into a stall and starts spiraling down, the very deliberate but often counter intuitive maneuver of pushing the nose down is the only thing that can stop the spiral down.

Six changes to make!

Here are the major things I recommend these congregations look at to make the changes needed:

1. Sever the denominational ties! If you can’t completely depart from the denomination change the name on the building so that the message is clear that the purpose and mission of the local congregation is not about denominational differences but about the essential message of the gospel.
   
2. Focus on the local community!  Local congregations are designed to serve the local community.   People within a few miles of the church need Jesus and having a local church provides great opportunities for fellowship and true communion.
   
3. Worship!  All too often we worship our worship rather than worship the Creator.  There has been more hand wringing and arguments over the style and type of worship in a church than any other issue.  Worship preferences are rarely doctrinal issues and Christians have worshiped God in many different manners over the past 2,000 years.
    
4. Preach the gospel!  As churches become smaller the preacher assumes that since the remaining people already know the gospel, they need to be given other lessons in stewardship, parenting, ecology, history, social services or other useful but nonessential messages.   It is the gospel that brings spiritual rebirth and it is the gospel that people need to hear.
    
5. Evangelize! Evangelism is not a program nor an annual outreach, nor even an option; it is a command.  Evangelism is just another term for our part of the Great Commission, as it was Jesus that said to go and make disciples.   We go, He brings the Holy Spirit.
   
6. Pray!  It is Biblical and it has also been show historically that there are no second generation Christians.  Every believer begins his or her walk with the Lord individually.   Christianity is about prayer, self-sacrifice, humility, discipline and the development of a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  

Jesus said..

Jesus said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church. With that we have to understand that there is a very significant spiritual component as we lead and determine the appropriate actions to take to revitalize our congregations.  We pastors also need to always remember that its not our efforts but each member that contributes to the vitality of the local church.  In Ephesians chapter 4 the Apostle Paul says, “As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing. …” (Ephesians 4:16b, NLT)

Primary Prayer

I have a good friend that was ‘exploring’ Christianity. She previously had been involved in Eastern mysticism, had explored reincarnation but was now embracing Jesus and was interested in this faith we call Christianity.  When she told me she was gong to a weekend Christian retreat I was excited for her.  

However, when she returned the people at the retreat had messed with her mind, as she no longer knew how to pray. They were so emphatic in what she could do, what she couldn’t do, how she was to pray in faith, how she was to pray in Jesus name, how she was to pray and not doubt….that it took months for the rest of us to get her back to the child-like faith that she had demonstrated before the retreat.  While these were all good individual teachings, God is bigger than these limitations. 

I mention this because it is with some caution that I offer the suggestion that we should be praying ‘Primary’ prayers.  By primary prayers, I’m not referring to elementary or childish prayers but instead a primary prayer is a prayer that aligns the petitioner with the will of God the Father

Why is this important?

It’s critical that we pray according to the will of the Father. While this is sometimes difficult to discern it is taught in the Bible: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:5)

How then can we pray according to the Father's will?  How do we do this?

1) Entrust yourself to God’s loving authority

Jesus believed this and taught this: "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me." (John 6:38, NIV)   Knowing that God is sovereign in our lives and that He knows what is best for us, provides us with the opportunity to pray in a manner that it is ‘not my will but yours’ Lord.

2) Focus on God’s Priorities

Jesus said we were not to worry, not to be anxious about life “but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6:33).  So much of our prayers are based on worry and fear,  but we are not to be anxious. Therefore our prayer life needs to be focused on God’s promises for us, His plan for our lives and the lives of those that we care for and pray for as well.

3) Follow the pattern of Jesus

With all that in mind, how can we avoid the frustration that commonly accompanies our prayers? I believe the answer lies in understanding the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven, 

Hallowed be thy name. 

Thy kingdom come, 

Thy will be done, 

On earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our debts, 

As we also have forgiven our debtors. 

And lead us not into temptation, 

But deliver us from evil.

The Lord’s Prayer is a ‘Primary Prayer.’   It identifies that it is God that provides, it is He who gives purpose in our lives.   In our primary prayers, it is we that need to change; we should not be trying to change God.  We pray in a manner that aligns us, and reminds us, with what we know is God’s will for our lives.

Perhaps an example is needed.  A primary prayer is about God's plan and provision, a secondary prayer is about an immediate outcome we want from God.  We are often asked to pray for people that are in need of a job. Rather than praying that John, or Jane, or Rebecca gets the job at ABC company, thank God for his provision (our daily bread); pray that your friends will have clarity of thought, that they will be guided into the position that is right for them. Pray that they will be able to provide for their family, that their children will be blessed by the provision and even the abundance that is provided by God.  Call to mind the scripture that says, “ I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread" (Psalm 37:25).

In Romans 12:2, Paul says, “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  A primary prayer for ourselves and friends would be the same; that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds...that we would know the perfect will of God.

One In Christ

There are a number of places in the New Testament that mentions that we are to be “In Christ”.    While some think of the wording as being rather mystical or symbolic, the Apostle Paul references terms like “en Christo” or “en kyrio” 216 times.   The Apostle John uses the same phrases as well over two dozen times.  It could be that these words including ‘Abiding in Christ” and “One in Christ” may be the heart, the very foundation of our faith.

Serious followers of Jesus Christ know that Christianity is not a religion but is a relationship with God through the God/Man Jesus who was born of a Virgin and was crucified for our sins.    Being “One in Christ” is the union of believers, called the "Body of Christ” that have been redeemed.   Here's another truth from the New Testament as well.....sometime, possibly in the very near future, those "in Christ" will be gathered together along with all of those who also were “in Christ” that have previously died.  Ephesians 1:10 says, "that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

Being ‘one in Christ’ is not only the ultimate fulfillment of our lives and our salvation it is also the key to present day unity within the Body of Christ.    The church you see is not an institution. It is not a denomination, nor a building, nor even a group of people but it is the body of believers that are also at the same time “One in Christ”.

When we fully trust in the gospel of our salvation, when we are sealed with the Holy Spirit which, not only is the promise but also the indwelling deity in our lives, we become “One in Christ”.     At that very moment, we have everything in common with all other believers, regardless of denomination, their location, building they worship in or what they call themselves.  

The truth is that believers in Jesus have much more in common with each other than those that attend the very same churches and denominations that have not fully made a commitment to Jesus, to those who have not yet become “one in Christ”.    

Prayer - the antidote for worry

The Apostle Paul tells us about prayer and how to handle worry in his letter to the Philippians,

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Being anxious and worried may be common but it is also a common problem.  All worry is nonproductive; too much worry can be disabling and lead to panic attacks and other behavioral issues. Paul's encouragement is a simple antidote for worry.  This verse also tells us three important things we can learn about prayer.  

1. Prayer is an act of worship…that is why God is jealous of who we pray to.    Prayer connects us with a God who loves us, cares for us and is our present hope in our time of need.
2. Prayer calls upon the ‘omni’s of god”  They include
   a. God’s omniscience –God is all-knowing
   b. God’s omnipresence - God is all-present/all-seeing
   c. God’s omnipotence - God is all-powerful
   d. God’s omni-benevolence – God is good
3. Prayer provides peace.....it is the peace that passes understanding; it is the true answer in our time of need.

What's In Your Hand?

Back in the late 1980’s TV audiences were introduced to special agent MacGyver.

MacGyver was a resourceful hero as he was able to use everything from household food and cleaning products to industrial solvents to create explosives, disable electronics and in general make things goes ‘boom’!

Like Indiana Jones but with a Swiss army knife rather than a whip, MacGyver challenged our imaginations to think about how ordinary things could be used in extra-ordinary ways.

As believers, we often think that we are ill-equipped to meet some of the significant challenges that we face on a regular basis.  Nevertheless, God has always assured us that ‘all things are possible’ and that we would be able to do more than we can even hope or think.

Moses was an ordinary man who was able to do extraordinary things.  He wasn’t always sure of himself but God showed him that He was able to be the instrument that God wanted to use at the time. Just before Moses was going to go and meet Pharaoh his confidence was a little shaky.  The Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he replied" (Exodus 4:2).

When Moses said, “A staff”, God told him to thrown it on the ground and it turned into a snake.  God will use whatever we have in our hand for His glory.  Centuries later, Jesus would call upon a little boy to use the five loaves and two fish in his hand to feed a multitude (John 6:9).  Today, we have the privilege and can enjoy seeing God accomplish His purpose and His plan through our lives; even through the little things we have in our hand.

The fun thing about watching MacGyver was that it was the ordinary things that were used for a different purpose.  The fun thing about being obedient when God calls is that He uses ordinary people for a higher purpose.

So That The World May Believe

The Christmas narrative taken out of the Gospel of Luke is an amazing story.  Many of us can close our eyes and easily hear Linus Van Pelt in the Charley Brown Christmas special speak so eloquently of the birth of Jesus.  He quotes in beautiful King James English just six verses that tell of the birth of the Messiah from the viewpoint of the shepherds.

There are many different viewpoints in the Gospel of Luke.  There is the story of Zechariah, a righteous priest, and his wife Elizabeth, both advanced in years who have a visit from the angel Gabriel who tells them that they will have a son who is to be named John. Gabriel said that John was to, “Prepare the people for the coming of the Lord”.

There is a similar story of the angel Gabriel who then later appears to the virgin named Mary and tells her that she has been chosen to be the mother of the Christ child.  About nine months later, the narrative picks up again from the viewpoint of Joseph and Mary, who travel by donkey from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem to obey the decree of Caesar Augustus that the entire world should be "registered."

These stories are famous because they speak of the one event that changed history forever. As Christians, we celebrate that annual feast as an yearly reminder of the birth of this Christ child that was to be the King of kings, the Savior of the world. 

It is at Christmas that we all move a little closer to that feeling and objective of Christian unity. Our denominational and silly parochial differences are set aside for a time.  Even if only for a brief season, this is the tangible expression of the unity of our faith. We are united in our faith in the birth of this Child that would ultimately give His life as a ransom for all mankind. 

Jesus prayed in John 17:21,”I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me.”

We are truly one in faith. Let us remember that we have much more in common than we have in difference.  Our worship may be dissimilar, our creeds and some of our practices slightly different, however we are still to be one.....”so that the world will believe”.