Our pastor spoke a couple of Sundays ago and used a statement that he has used a number of times and that I have heard in other places as well, people ages 18-29 are leaving the church in droves. I can say from personal experience that this is true. It is also an alarming statement.
The question posed by many church members and pastors is, "why are so many people leaving the church so quickly?"
The answer can be found by looking at ourselves. A church self-inventory, if you will.
First of all, let's look at the original purpose of the church in the Bible.
- "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold their property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47
First off, the church was established as a place of teaching. We are to go to church and surround ourselves with other believers, in order to establish a base and strengthen our faith. What would be the purpose of that? For God to get glory! Through our faith being strengthened, we grow closer to God and then we begin to reflect Him through our lives and therefore He receives glory! Secondly, the church exists for the fellowship of believers. God works in that fellowship and establishes an attitude of sacrificial love. In the early church, they met in their homes and gave each other what was needed. That means they gave other members who were struggling a little help. It wasn't like they had the Fortune 500 businessman or someone else hoarding their money, they gave to each other as needs arose. They spent time together beyond a Sunday morning! Notice the passage says EVERY DAY. They spent time together. They got along. Did they have worries and busy lives? I am sure! First off, they faced constant persecution! Beyond that, they all had families and other responsibilities, but the church and the mission of Jesus Christ came first!
Today, I feel like we, the church as a whole, have moved far away from what this early church was. The original church stood to be a beacon to the world of Christ! Today, I feel as though much of the church has become a "country club" or "department store" of sorts with the mission of accommodating members and soothing them. I say all this as one of the poster children of this whole kind of movement. I am as guilty of partaking in all of this, and soon, I will make a list where I will be just as guilty of every point as any other member of the church.
As "American" Christians, I think we have pushed ourselves even further away from our purpose. I feel as though we hunker down in our churches and avoid what we should be doing. While our mission should be spreading the gospel to anyone who will hear, we shy away from doing it. We produce plays and programs and musicals, so that we don't have to get one-on-one with someone and share our faith!
So, where else are we falling short? I've compiled a list of points which, I feel has been a part of the encouragement of the mass exodus from the church!
- We are not undignified in our worship.
- David celebrated before the Lord. He did so HALF-NAKED! (2 Samuel 6) That is certainly an undignified approach to worship. We should do the same. We struggle to hold up our hands or actually worship because we worry what someone is going to say. If we followed David's true example, we would manage to be people after God's heart!
- We don't show unconditional love. We allow and "celebrate" our pet sins, but shun others.
- God looks beyond every sin and every shortcoming we have and loves us all the same. He doesn't keep a ranked list of sins and doesn't put one child before the other. We have not adopted this same mindset. We shun many, while accommodating others. We have created a ranking system for sin and portray that to the world, but that's not God's design. No, we are not to make concession for any sin! The business man who cheats on his taxes is just as sinful as the teenager who is having sex with his girlfriend. The guy who's addicted to pornography is just as sinful as the homosexual. There is no difference in any of us! We have all fallen short of God's glory and we cannot save ourselves! Only God can save us! However, here is the deal! If we seek God's forgiveness, leave our sin behind us, and never turn back to it, we are on the right track! It is when we return to our sin of any type that we are wrong.
- We treat church like a recharge station.
- "I've had a rough week, I need to go to church for a recharge." If I didn't charge my cell phone every day, it wouldn't be of any use to me. The same goes for my life. If I don't "charge" by spending time in the Word and with the Lord, then my life is of no use!
- We have adopted the attitude of our society.
- Our society is "ME-centered". Everything is done for what I can get out of it. I need a church that has the best sound system, a Starbucks, a valet service, and a pastor who will speak just enough truth to suit me, not the pastor that let's God speak and pierces my heart to the core. Kalon, you're being extreme. Maybe, but probably not! Like I said before, the early church met in houses in the community! I guarantee there wasn't some amazing rock n' roll worship band or the richest coffee this side of Colombia!
- We're stiff.
- We have our assigned seats. Church has to be out at 11:30 so we can go eat and get our nap in. How dare that Worship Pastor go "off-bulletin" and sing a song that wasn't on the powerpoint! That person is raising their hands, they must be nutty. Oh no, look at what that kid is wearing to church! All these statements are things I know happen in churches across our country. Mainly because of my next point.
- We don't really do what Jesus would do.
- In Luke 4, Jesus tells us his purpose. "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
- We don't trust the message of the Gospel.
- We feel like we have to dress up the most powerful message in the history of the World and repackage it with cute ribbon and bows. Here's the deal: God is it! Everything we need is in Him! Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, He brought sight to the blind, made the lame walk, raised the dead, then died a brutal death on a cross, was buried, and rose from the dead three days later; and the thing is He did it for each and every human ever! That narrative doesn't need a make over! It doesn't need cute packaging! It works on its own! We have to trust it!
- We don't have concern for the lost.
- We are so content with our weekly refill of God on Sundays, we fail to see the tragedy that surrounds us. Our family, friends, coworkers, and the whole world who do not have a personal relationship with Christ have one thing waiting for them, an eternity in Hell. Hell is real and we should be concerned with the souls of the people around us! If we had the cure for cancer, wouldn't we share it??
So why would people leave? Why aren't people coming?
We are not different!
Why would people want to join anything where they can continue to do what they do, but with guilt?
We have to revamp our churches and our lives to exude our relationship with Jesus Christ! We need to get ourselves back to the church from Acts 2:42-47! That is why America is in the toilet! We have hidden out in our buildings and peeked out the window! We should have been out putting the powerful love of Jesus Christ to work! We must strive to love as Jesus did.
We've got to stop trying to fix everything and speak the Gospel and stand back! Let God do His work!
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