Why are Churches Dying?

Perhaps the scariest word in the English language is change. It plunges us from the security of the customary into the unknown. It threatens to take us to strange places and surround us with the unfamiliar. Change causes fear and contention in the church. People count on their church being something they can rely on, something that remains stalwart in the midst of all the craziness of a swiftly moving life and a constantly changing culture. As the old saying goes, “The only one who likes change in the church is the wet baby in the nursery.” Yet, it is in this culture and at this time that the church needs to make necessary changes in order to build God’s Kingdom by reaching this generation. Young ministers and young members are calling for different ministries, different priorities, different buildings and different organizational structures.

The need for change comes from more than the restlessness of a new generation.Churches are dying. In too many cases, church members will hang on to the familiar and watch their church die rather than make, or even allow, the changes that are necessary for it to bring new people to Christ. The church must always stay in tune with the times. After all, our God himself is eternally contemporary. In Exodus chapter 3 He told Moses that his name is “Yahweh” which means “I am.” Not “I was,” not “I will be,” but “I am.” God was then, and always has been, in the present tense. We do not serve Him by trying to preserve the past. The great saints and their accomplishments should be celebrated, but it is not our task to duplicate their work; instead, we must build on it. The methods we use to extend their work may be very different from theirs, but our goal is the same— to make Christ known.

This resistance to change has become so great that many young pastors are choosing to go through the hardships of planting a new church. Church planting is a brave and honorable calling. New churches are desperately needed, but some young pastors feel forced into church planting by the circumstances in the established churches. They find that the difficulties of starting from nothing are preferable, when compared with the fight they face trying to turn around a plateaued or declining church. Consequently, the large investments of emotion, spiritual and physical energy, and money that past generations gave are being lost as those churches die and close.

I completely understand the position of these young pastors. If they start a church they only have to fight one enemy: Satan. If they take a set-in-its-ways older church, they will have to fight not only Satan, but also the church people that are supposed to be fighting Satan alongside the pastor. Many of the best are saying “No thanks” to that proposition, and God seems to agree with them. Unless churches that are declining or stuck on a plateau in regard to attendance make major changes, hundreds, if not thousands, of them will close in the next two decades. Small tweaks to program, style and structure will not bring about lasting improvement. Declining and plateaued churches need to repent of their complacency and selfishness. Then, they need to ask the Holy Spirit for a new burden for souls and a new vision that will enable them to bring this generation to Christ.

Here's the Hope

What is it that motivates people? Perhaps the simplest answer to that question is: felt need. When people know that they really need something, they do everything they can to get it. When I am hungry, I eat. When I’m thirsty, I get a drink. When I am tired, I sleep. A good salesman creates a need for his product so that somebody will feel the need for it enough to pay money to acquire it. Yes, felt needs motivate.

But that is only part of the answer. Many people in areas of Africa and Asia are hungry, but famine has made it impossible for them to answer that felt need. Rather than motivate, their need disheartens and depresses them. To be motivated, people need to see a possibility for them to answer that need. Hope is the necessary ingredient. That is why people, like our ancestors, left lives they knew and came to America. They felt some need: hunger, religious freedom, equality, etc.) and found that in America there was the hope of having that need met.

What is it that motivates people to start coming to church? More to the point, what motivates people to choose to follow Christ? Is it the need for forgiveness, fellowship, a more orderly life, or help with problems? Probably it’s those things and more. Then, why don’t more guilt-ridden, lonely, disorderly, confused people find their way to church? Listen to the conversations of people who don’t know Christ. You will hear many hints that they are weighed down by enormous needs that aren’t being met. The sad fact is that, while there are churches on every other corner, most people don’t see them as places where their needs can be met. Often the church, which is supposed to be in the business of sharing the good news of Jesus’ love, hope and forgiveness is the last place men and women look for help when their hearts cry out.

Folks don’t look to the church for the help they need because we (church people) are not good at communicating the fact that Jesus is the answer to their, hurt, guilt, or life out of control. People don’t see the loving Christ when they see the church. Instead, they tend to see us as people who live by an uptight set of rules, and have a negative outlook on people, fun and life on earth. They know more about what church people are against than about the love we have found and which we are commanded to share. We need to communicate that there is hope in Christ for everyone by the way we live, and by what we say. They need to learn what we have learned: no one has to be in need all the time. The church is the place for hurting people to meet God and His people, and to find answers to life’s deepest needs. There are disheartened, despondent people all around us who have needs they can’t find any way to fill. We need to hold up Christ as the answer. We, who are hope-finders, need to become hope-givers. When they begin to understand that the church is made up of needy people who have discovered that God takes care of our deepest needs, hope may well be born in them. Then they will be motivated to join us in following Jesus.

Mike: Seeing What God Sees

Mike: Seeing What God Sees

Eight o’clock on Wednesday night and it was over. It never really started. Youth Bible study at my house, and only one boy came, Mike. He was a good kid, but I couldn’t help being disappointed. At other churches I had started Bible studies, and within a few weeks, I had a houseful of high schoolers who were really interested in what the Bible had to say to them. This church was different. Have a party; they would show up. Go on a trip; they were there. But I could not get this bunch interested in the Bible. I had tried everything that had worked before, everything I read about, even a few things that I didn’t really know how to do. Most of them were church kids, but they would not make commitments to Christ. Several of them were in trouble pretty often. As I look back on it, they were probably acting out their rebellion against their parents. One boy was the leader, if I could have reached him, the rest would have followed. He knew he was the leader and he wasn’t about to follow me. The other youth groups I led before were easy, but this one was difficult. I should have realized it from the beginning. I was the third youth pastor to serve that church in that year, and I came in July. I guess I was over-confident. Youth ministry had always been so easy before, that I am afraid I thought it was because of me. That night, I was disabused of that notion.

So I tried to pour myself into that one boy. Many Wednesdays it was only Mike and I. He was very bright and eager to learn. I encouraged him to go to a Christian liberal arts college. By the time he graduated he had been accepted there, and had received some pretty substantial scholarships. He even intimated that he thought the Lord might be calling him to the ministry. Though I had never reached the numbers I had hoped at that church, this one boy would make up for it. Late that summer, Mike’s plans changed. Instead of going to the Christian college, he chose a state school that was known as a major party school, in a town that didn’t have a church related to ours. You can’t imagine my disappointment. I left that church a few months later. During the next few years I heard from, and about, Mike from time to time. It was encouraging to hear that he had become involved with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.

Mike graduated with a degree in computer science at the time when personal computers were beginning to come on the scene. His future was bright and I was happy for him, I wondered how he would use his degree. Soon after graduation, I got a very newsy letter from him. Not only did he tell me he was getting married, (and ask me to officiate), he also told me of his plan to take his bride to Turkey ostensibly to work in computers, but actually, to be an underground missionary. You could have knocked me over with a feather. What a courageous couple! They spent 20 years in Turkey. From time-to-time I he sent me newsletters. Among other things, Mike had a role in producing a modern Turkish translation of the New Testament. I am proud to call him a friend.

From the perspective of today, I can see that the time I spent with Mike was worth more than I could have ever known. I wish I had any idea what God was up to. I probably could have taught Mike more, or been more enthusiastic about our times together. I guess the moral of the story is to always do everything you can, especially when working youth or children. You don’t really know who you are dealing with. When he was in high school, I saw Mike as a smart kid who played soccer. I didn’t see the underground missionary. Who is your in class, group, or your family? What will God make of them? Do your level best to prepare them for whatever it is.