The paradigm shift in today's church world has become very distinctive. You have the mega-churches with plenty of people, money, and ministries along with the little country churches that are about the same as they were 50 years ago. You have the congregations in which every service is a huge production and then the regulars that are so unorganized you wonder how they survive.
I have served in both settings. I served on staff in 3 churches that were mega before the term was born. In two of those we broke every attendance record held by our state churches at that particular time. We had more people than we really knew what to do with and the other evangelical churches in the area tried to match what we were doing to grow as we did. That was the day when the church was the focal point of our society rather than an after thought.
Then I have pastored churches in small towns and out in the country where we touched sinners and backsliders almost every week. Thankfully we were on a main highway or at least close to one on most of those occassions. But in most of those situations people that came in wanted to see what they could do to make the church better in every way possible.
Today going to church seems to be nothing more than something people do out of habit, rather than because it is important to have fellowship with God and with other believers. The philosophy today has become what can the church do for me rather than what can I do for the church. It's the same in small towns and cities as it is in metropolitan areas. People today are looking for ministries that can provide for them instead of trying to figure out how they can minister and help others. Because of this pevailing attitude many churches are busy trying to figure out what to do to keep their heads above water. Again, in trying to fulfill this attitude of me first we have almost lost sight of casting out nets to bring in the harvest.
As I said in my blog yesterday these are my opinions. An opinion is only worth what you let it be worth, but hopefully I will write something that will stir up your thinking.
(1) Why have people in general lost faith in the church?
They have heard so much from us vocally, but have not seen it physically put into practice. People have heard politicians and world leaders talk about reformation and change, but have never seen it with their own eyes. That's the same way with the church. We know how to talk a good game, but we seldom ever put it into practice in today's society.
The church I grew up in cared for people of all ages and showed it. We didn't have much money or a lot of training, but we knew how to love people and help them through the transitions they needed to make when they became a Chrisitan. We weren't perfect and yes, we had a few judges back then as well; but the majority of people cared about seeing the lost changed and church was all about them or what they needed. It was about reaching those who couldn't reach up and rescuing those that were sinking. We also cared about discipling them into becoming workers and leaders in the Kingdom.
The difference today is that most churched people say, "What are you going to do for me? I pay the bills, I've been here a long time, so I have certain rights. I should be the one that matters most!"
The church today has become like the complainers in Matthew 20:1-16. If we are going to change the world, we must change the church back to what it is supposed to be-a hospital for the sinsick and a healing station for the wounded. It's not about what we want within the church, it's about changing the opinion of the unchurched by the life that we live in a sin-cursed world.
(To be continued)
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