Another Church Closes

Churches are closing all over the United States.   

I’m not referring to the “Big C” church, as we know that the Church is actually the Body of Christ comprised of all believers in Jesus regardless of location, race, denomination, language or tradition. 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 church starts 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 regularly 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 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)

Memorial Day and Remembrance

My grandparents called Memorial Day Decoration Day.   Memorial Day dates back to 3 years after the Civil War (before their time) when the head of an organization of Union veterans established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.  It is believed that date of May 30th was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. 

Another interesting story of the origination of Memorial Day is that African Americans, all former slaves, founded Decoration Day at the graveyard of 257 Union soldiers labeled "Martyrs of the Race Course," a few years earlier in Charleston, SC. 

Regardless of the actual beginning for all Americans Memorial Day is a great day to remember those that have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country.   This day is a holiday, a day of remembrance, a day to remember "lest we forget".

I remember the very first Men's Study that I participated included a book called “The 12 Stones” and was a study of the book of Joshua.  This is why it was called the "12 Stones" 

4 When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the LORD your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7)

These stones that Joshua had been told to assemble were memorials.  It was a reminder to the people that God had done something amazing, that the Jordan River had been stopped for the 12 tribes of Israel to cross over. 

When our two kids were very young my wife bought a book written by Shirley Dobson and Gloria Gaither called, “Let’s make a memory”.   These two women encouraged young moms to be sure to make memories, create traditions for the family that the children would remember.  To this day (and my daughter recently confirmed) the kids remember going out to breakfast the first day of school and dad's famous ‘egg sausage souffle’ on Christmas morning.   

The great memories and traditions are like vacation souvenirs without the dust.

The Bible has more to say about making memories

Deuteronomy 4:9: "But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of our your life; make them known to your children and your children's children." 

I've had a little time to think about it and likely there are three really good reasons that we are reminded to remember..

1. Traditions, memories and memorials help us remember the past.   The significant milestones. including graduations, the birth of children, family vacations, holidays…all help us remember the blessings and good times.  Even the scars on our hands and knees, the previous wounds that have healed help remind us of faithfulness, our healing and restoration.  These all represent and remind us of both the good and the bad that make us who we are
2. Remembering keeps us grounded in the present.   One of the more common movie and TV plots are protraying people with amnesia.  It's always amusing to see all of the problems they get into.  Our remembering keeps us present.  We all have tasks to accomplish, friends and colleagues we interact with daily and much that needs to be accomplished.  We need to remember who we are and what we are called to do.
3. Remembering the past and being grounded in the present keeps us focused on our future.   All of us are headed towards eternity and keeping that in focus provides clarity and comfort in the present.    I remember my first trip to Europe,  I didn’t get to fly business class with my boss and his boss but I flew coach.  It was small plane but the trip passed quickly without much discomfort as I knew where I was going.    It needs to be the same for us with regard to eternity.  

Hebrews 12:1-3 summarizes this opportunity

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Substance Over Form

I’ve dedicated much of the past twelve years to ministry but also to the history of the Church.  You see I love talking about history because it brings so much hope, so much clarity.

It all started, the Church that is, on the day of Pentecost.  Now this was 50 days after Passover, the day that our Lord had his Last Supper with his disciples that we celebrate as well every time we take communion.  On the feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on 120 men and women that were the faithful few.  Tens of thousands had followed Jesus for over three years but when he was arrested, he was left alone.  Now, on the feast of Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes like a mighty rushing wind and it is recorded that tongues of fire danced on the heads of those present in the upper room as their fears were replaced with Faith: faith in God, faith in their mission and faith as well in the resurrection from the dead.

You see, Jesus rose from the grave after three days and appeared to many.  The Bible says that he was present with over 500 at one time.  Jesus walked and talked with his followers as a resurrected-man for 40 days and then he ascended into Heaven.

Peter brought this message of a risen Savior out to the crowd gathered below that were in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost.  They had heard the noise and were able to hear shouts of praise to God in different languages.  Languages what were unknown to the 120 but recognized by those in the crowd that had come from diverse places all over Europe, Africa and Asia.

That Pentecost day the Church took off….3,000 souls were added to the church and the word about Jesus rising from the dead was taken back to various places including "Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and even Rome"

These early Christians had no buildings, no ceremonies or customs that we are so accustomed to now.  Truth be told (I told you I was an historian) at the time there were no priests, no liturgy, no agreement on how often they were to celebrate communion or the prayers that were to be prayed.

The one thing that they all had was the knowledge that Jesus was raised from the dead.  That which was dead and buried was more alive than ever before.  The promises of the Old Testament had been fulfilled and their Messiah had come.

Then, the Christians were persecuted and many became martyrs.   New believers were called Catechumens and these were those that were new to the faith but had not yet been baptized.  History tells us that many, many of these new believers also ended up in the coliseums and were martyred by the Romans. These new believers, while yet unbaptized marched into the coliseums fully confident that because they had placed their trust in Jesus Christ, God would accept them and they too would ultimately be raised from the dead.

Jesus had promised that he was going to prepare a place for his followers.  He said it was certain and that where he was going, we would be there too.

Within a hundred years, the leaders of the church came up with that which was lacking and substance gave birth to form.   Baptism, the sacraments, clergy, duties and responsibilities were all debated and many adopted but the church also became divided.   The biggest division was between those that spoke Greek and those that spoke Latin.  Also, many debated who Jesus really was.  Was he truly God or just a good man, sent by God?

The Emperor Constantine comes to the throne in 312 AD and Christianity was legalized,  In fact in a 70-year period it becomes the official and only religion of the Roman empire. 

Constantine wanted his church to have one doctrine, he wanted one church for the Roman Empire not many.   There were many questions at the time that were being debated including prayers.. were they to be in Latin or in Greek?  also whether the sacraments that had been dispensed by clergy that then had lost their nerve and denied their faith were still valid.   Constantine calls the Bishops together and about 275 bishops gather together in Nicaea. These questions of Constantine were asked but these bishops surprised everyone.

Instead of talking about form….the bishops spoke to substance.  Out from this council we have to this day the Nicene Creed.  I call this simple Creed the "Gettysburg address of the Christian Faith". In it these early Bishops told us what we need to believe.   Let me show it to you:

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen. 

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
Eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
True God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made. 

For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man. 

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.     

Just 36 lines that define the substance of our faith.

What does it take to have faith?  What does it take to believe in the resurrection of the dead and to be able to know that we will see our loved ones again in the future?  It’s not about form….but about substance, about belief.

What do we believe? We believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Born of a Virgin to die for our sins.  It was for our sake that he was crucified. It was for us that he was raised from the dead.  

In the book of Acts, Paul and Silas are preaching in Philippi and end up getting thrown into prison. Something like this happened often to Paul.   In jail, they begin to pray and to sing and suddenly a violet earthquake shakes the prison and the jail cells all burst open. 

The jailer is about to kill himself when he sees all the doors open but Paul shares the Gospel with him.  The jailer says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?  Paul replies Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”.   Substance over form.

What is it that you believe today?   You see, this substance that I talk about is a relationship with Jesus Christ.   Christianity is really not a religion but a relationship. This relationship is with God, made possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

My mom and dad live here in Florida.  If you asked me how my relationship was with my dad you would be listening to clues about when I had last visited him, when we had last talked, when we had last eaten together.  If instead I told you that I was born into his household, that we had lived in Detroit back in the 1980’s and that his name was Bill you would wonder what kind of a relationship is that?

The proof of a relationship is not the form but the substance.   God wants a relationship with us that is living.   He has much to teach us, He longs to fellowship with us.   In the Book of Revelation Jesus says “(He) stands at the door and knocks.  If anyone would open the door he would come in and have a meal with him.”

Substance over form.  Our faith is evidenced by our relationship with God as well as in things like attending church with others that share our faith.  It is evidenced by our prayers for our families and our dependence on God that gives us hope.

Character Development

Child development is a major focus of our society; so much so that the term “child development’ returns over 226 million articles on the web.    Even in the church, much of our efforts are directed to our children and students in developing moral character, teaching the ethics, Christian principles and values that are so important as children move into adolescence and early adulthood.

However, character development is not supposed to stop in our 20s.  Quite the contrary, almost everyone I know understands how much of their character has been continuously developing as they continue to grow and learn and mature.

Every day we make choices.  Character can be defined as the decisions that have been formulated and secured long before the choice is presented.   Joseph showed that in the decision that he had made not to violate himself and offend the Lord and his earthly master when Potiphar’s wife came to tempt him.   In the same way, Daniel “resolved not to defile himself” by eating at the King’s table.

It’s our mission in life to continually develop our character.   The Apostles and disciples of Jesus were merely human.  Their character was flawed, they argued over who was greater and were jealous of each other.   However over time, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, these men and women became strong and victorious.  The Lord had built their character through example and through experiences including suffering.  In Romans chapter 5, the Apostle Paul explains the process starting with our coming to faith:

 “ Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

When we realize how much we have to learn, how much our character needs to be developed we can resolve to keep our eyes and our heart on our personal character development.  In the Book of Hebrews we are encouraged, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith"

A Time Of Preparation

Everyday we prepare ourselves for something.  Presentations, lesson plans, performance reviews, papers, weekend trips and financial planning all takes preparation.   At this time every year, millions of Christians are in a time of preparation.  For some, it is the season of Lent, for others, it is a sometimes unnamed time of fasting, prayer and reflection not so coincidentally culminating with Holy Week and ultimately Easter Sunday, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Preparation, by definition is preparing for someone or some event in the future.  In the early church, before the season of Lent (meaning Spring) was instituted by the church, this time prior to Easter was a significant time of preparation.   Interestingly over the centuries what believers were preparing for has changed.

In the first few centuries, this time of preparation included both the believers and the new believes called catechumens.  Catechumens had made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ but were going through a year of preparation that culminated right around Easter when the church initiated all of these new members into the church through Baptism.    Baptism was a huge annual celebration and many churches built large baptismal with stairs leading into and out of the baptismal.   Both the catechumens and the baptized members of the church fasted and prayed in preparation for this time of initiation.  Both to be closer to God and for the power of the Holy Spirit to accompany the event.

By the fifth century, the preparation was no longer about Baptism as infants were baptized soon after birth.  The time was to prepare to receive communion.    Communion, or the Lord Supper by that time was shared weekly by the clergy but only celebrated at a distance by the rest of the Church.  The term “Easter Duty” refers to the requirement of the faithful to receive communion on an annual basis and the medieval church prepared themselves through fasting and prayer during this time, by then called “lent”.

By the 20th century this time of preparation was the time that proceeded Easter.  For evangelicals, it was an opportunity to pray and fast culminating in what has become the holiest week in the year.  In the Roman Catholic Church, children were now receiving communion along with adults on a weekly basis.  Communion became the centerpiece of every worship service in the Roman Catholic Church and the previously annual 40 day period of self reflection and examination became 40-days-of-giving-something up and meatless-Fridays that still culminated with the celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Fasting and prayer as preparation of the eternal truths of Christ’s resurrection and our redemption should be an integral component in every believers’ life.   Jesus not only gives us eternal life but a life that is abundant, full and purposeful.    Don’t miss the time of preparation regardless of what you call it or how long you chose to fast and pray.

Honor

I had the privilege earlier this month of attending a memorial service for my Uncle Bob.  My uncle was my dads older brother; a highly decorated WWII vet who had lost his leg to enemy fire in one of the concluding battles of the war.

While it may have been only a degree above freezing in early January in Chicago, the graveside committal service was heart warming.  Our family was together and some of us had come in to be there to show our support and to honor this dear and brave man.  

Wouldn’t it be great to understand what it means to really honor someone?  The government has it right regarding honor to our veterans.  Because my uncle was former military a detachment from the US Army served as an honor guard in dress uniforms.  The local VFW provided a volunteer honor guard as well and fired three volleys; I even picked up one of the shell casings for a souvenir.

The two men in dress blues in the honor guard were very young.  They obviously had never met my Uncle but that fact didn’t matter.  They were honoring him not because who he was but because of his identification, his attachment with the military and his former service.

The Bible tells us that we are to “honor our mother and father” (Matt 19:19), and “honor the king” (1 Peter 2:17) as well as many others.  There are more than a few mothers and fathers as well as kings that likely behave in a way that is less than honorable.   However, honor is due not because of the person but because of that which is greater.  Whether it is the US Government, the military, the office of the President or the Kingdom of God, we honor those not because of who they are but because of whose they are.