Here are the most common factors:
- There are very few attempts to minister to those in the community.
- Church business meetings become arguments over preferences and desires.
- Numbers of members in the congregation are openly critical of the pastor, other church staff, and lay leaders in the church.
- Any change necessary to become a Great Commission church is met with anger and resistance.
- The past becomes the hero.
- Culture is seen as the enemy instead of an opportunity for believers to become salt and light.
- If the churches are a part of a denomination or similar affiliation, meetings of those denominations mirror the churches in lost focus and divisiveness
- Pastors and other leaders in the church become discouraged and withdraw from effective leadership.
After reading this article, I began thinking about how it relates to my church. I have been going to the same church since I was 13. That's almost 10 years now. I spent most of my middle school and high school days there in youth group. In college, it was my home church. I began serving as a 1st & 2nd grade Sunday school teacher, chairman of the missions committee, member of the youth committee, chaperoning, attending college group every Saturday. When I met Julio, my husband, he was not Christian. He went to church with me, asked questions, found answers in the Lord, and got baptized. This church and the people in it are my family and hold a special place in my heart. So I wondered, does it fit any signs of a declining church?
There are very few attempts to minister to those in the community.
The church should be ministering to everyone, but especially the most marginalized people in society: the poor, the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the sick. Our church is excellent in ministering to the sick. The previous chairman of the missions committee is a doctor. Her and her husband founded the medical clinic that serves two Saturdays per month. It's extraordinary. A few people in the college group were ministering to the homeless people in John Prince Park one Saturday per month, but it appears to have dwindled. Whenever a church member passes away, the church is good about being there for that person. It doesn't always happen though.
We have a few recurring events during the year like Trunk or Treat and an Easter egg hunt to minister to kids. The church is extremely welcoming to people who visit, but members hardly invite anyone to church. It is quite inward focused and has events planned mainly for existing members. Why don't we do this at our potlucks????
Luke 14:15-24
The Parable of the Great Banquet
15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
Numbers of members in the congregation are openly critical of the pastor, other church staff, and lay leaders in the church.
I'm combining these two because they go hand-in-hand. Church meetings can be productive at times. As a leader though, we try and plan around the things the congregation will like. We changed the music, people complained and didn't want to come anymore. We split into a traditional and contemporary service to appeal to both older and younger generations, people complained. You can't please everyone. Does Jesus care what time you worship Him? No, He only cares that you do. Does Jesus really care whether you sings hymns or with drums and loud music? No, He only cares that you sing and praise Him. If He doesn't care, why do we make such simple matters the main reason we cannot focus during worship or want to go to another church? I don't know either. You see, when we approach ministry in this manner, we are not leaving room for the Holy Spirit to move in our hearts and church. It needs to be focused on HIM instead of us.
Any change necessary to become a Great Commission church is met with anger and resistance.
Matthew 28:16-20 The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Acts 1:8
"8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The idea is that you tell people the good news about Jesus. You start in your neighborhood, your city, and go throughout the world. The youth group, in all honesty, is the only part of the church fulfilling the great commission. They go on a missions trip every other year for one week during the summer. Typically through World Changers. You have a few members who support missions or have a sponsor child in another country. Or they might support a missionary in another country. This is only a small percentage of the congregation. As a whole, our church is not mission-oriented. We are focusing on ourselves and barely on our community.
A few months ago the missions committee held a prayer conference. We prayed for guidance on international missions. It has been a topic in our committee meetings because our church has only gone on one international missions trip since it was founded over 40 years ago. Yes we give to the FL Baptist conventions that support the North American Missions Board (NAMB) and International Missions Board (IMB). It is not the same as going with your hands and your feet to share the love of Christ and redeeming people from darkness.
The past becomes the hero. AND Culture is seen as the enemy instead of an opportunity for believers to become salt and light.
These go hand in hand. The past is important because it reminds us of where we came from. It shows us how far we have come or how little we have changed. I often hear about how our church had so many visitors in the beginning that they had to add chairs in aisles because there were overflowing pews. Whenever we would discuss outreach ideas, we would recycle the same things we have used in the past. When new leadership arrives, they are compared to the previous one. "I don't like the new teaching material. I don't like how we no longer do blah, blah, blah. I don't like the new style of music. I don't like our new procedure for voting. I don't like how the young girls are dressing." Go on and on with people's complaints about how they prefer the old way and the new way is horrible.
You see, when I became a Christian I realized my old self was dead and I am a new creation in Christ. I had to take away some of the bad things and eradicate my sin to make room for the new holiness and righteousness that God was going to create in my heart. The church needs to be the same way. It needs to be open to evolving, to new ideas, to new people, to new growth. Because a church that doesn't grow becomes static. A static church becomes an passionless church. A passionless church dies.
If the churches are a part of a denomination or similar affiliation, meetings of those denominations mirror the churches in lost focus and divisiveness.
Although I attend a baptist church, I consider myself non-denominational. I believe denominations have nearly destroyed the Church, the bride of Christ. It seems it has divided the church rather than united it. We argue over petty things about the communion, whether or not we can drink alcohol, how precisely God works in baptism, etc. Be one in Christ and His salvation He offers.
Pastors and other leaders in the church become discouraged and withdraw from effective leadership.
I was placed in several leadership positions. As a Sunday school teacher, I taught first and second graders a Bible lesson every single Sunday at 11am. Then 9:30am when we changed back to our old schedule. I was present for family meetings, available to give people rides home, got to church early, was a VBS teacher, and the like. As a member of the youth committee, I chaperoned events, filled in for the awesome youth pastor when he left, taught lessons once in awhile, hosted an all-ladies bible study, and spent countless hours giving rides, hugs, and my heart to youth I still love. They are now becoming adults, but they are still the youth I love and served all those years. As a member and chairman of the missions committee, we met once per month, planned events and outreaches, started the homeless outreach, and more.
What did all of these leadership positions get me? Much joy in the beginning. I was incredibly happy to serve because once we know and love God, it is our job to make disciples and pour into others. I was volunteering at my church, my favorite place in the world. Then time passed. I no longer looked forward to committee meetings and seeing my friends there. I would loathe making the agenda and literally waited to do it the day of our monthly meeting. I stopped putting my heart and soul into my Sunday school lessons. When kids didn't listen, which was quite often, I lost my patience and became frustrated. My hard work and effort in creating the Bible bucks system crumbled. I stopped looking forward to hearing sermons and attending church. I stopped looking forward to going to college group and praying. I stopped looking forward to opening God's word and listening to what He wanted to tell me.
My heart was made of stone. Nothing moved me. In these leadership positions, church had become an obligation instead of a place of worship. Outreaches had become simple events and planning details instead of a mission field where I expected God to move hearts to salvation. I was burnt out. I cried before church because I could not understand where my love had gone. Where was the passion?
Then I heard a sermon on this:
To the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans,which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
It clicked. For the first time in over a year, I was moved. I understood what God was telling me. I could not put my church, my leadership, my relationships, my work, or anything else above my Lord and Savior. I needed to say NO. I said no to teaching. I said no to missions. How can an empty well pour love and knowledge into others?
Since this time, it took a few weeks before I could open my Bible. I began doing a reading plan on Biblegateway.com that takes you through the whole Bible in 90 days. I spend about an hour reading my Bible everyday. I'm almost halfway through it now. Once I finish this plan, I will do a less intense one. I have read almost everything about 5-6 times in my life. For the first time ever, Job makes sense. I am listening to God like never before.
I still have not returned to church for about two months. I went to another church with my mom once since she asked me to go. I plan on going back to my home church soon. Now it is because I want to worship God with a community of believers I love.
I want to make my reason for writing clear: I feel like there are many others in my shoes who have not acknowledged it. These words are not meant condemn anyone or any group. Rather, they are meant to shed light on the things that are dwindling our church and affecting our walk with Christ. As a Christian, I am fallen and in need of my Savior. It is so easy to focus on the finances of the church rather than the mission of the church; staying in our comfortable pews rather than meeting people in their dirty sin and uncomfortable places; closing our hearts rather than opening them to change; and following our plans rather than God's plans. It is time for a change and for us to start listening to where God wants to take our church to serve the community around it. I'm ready to listen.... are you?
