|
Dead
and Dying Churches
|
I
was in grade school. One day a neighbor friend[2]
and I got on our bikes and began peddling. We lived
next door to each other in a section of Long Island
known as Hillside Heights. This was during the nineteen
forties. We rode our bikes for a number of miles out
on the island and suddenly came upon an old abandoned
Methodist meeting house. This was in the days when
there was still open land and even farms in Nassau
County. The door of this old Methodist church building
was ajar, so being curious kids Lois and I got off
our bicycles and entered.[2] Oddly enough the building
had not been badly vandalized and appeared as it evidently
had been when the congregation assembled there for
the last time. |
|
|
 |
The
pews remained in place though covered with lots of
dust and cob webs. The cross and other items that
are usually found on what these churches refer to
as an altar had been removed. However, scattered Sunday
School material, Bible maps, some old hymnals and
Bibles remained in disarray on the old crickety wooden
benches. It seemed somewhat weird to encounter this
scene. It was as if the congregation had met one Sunday
never again to return allowing neglect to take over.
This has remained in my mind all of these many years.
Remember, this took place when I was in grade school
and I am now in my mid-seventies no longer living
on Long Island but living in the mountains of central
Arizona in the small rural community of Strawberry. |
|
For
many years church buildings all across the United States
and Canada have been closing. Many of these buildings at
one time housed thriving congregations, but lo, those days
are long gone. Rural congregations have lost their people
to the urban areas. Predominantly white city congregations
incessantly flee the inner city areas for the ‘white’
middle class suburbs. Young people in increasing numbers
see little reason to be part of what they often consider
an antiquated organization refusing to change and be modern.
Increasing numbers of people of all ages are just “turned-off”
by churches for sundry reasons.
|
 |
Apostolic
fire:
The
fire that was generated at Pentecost with the descent
of the Holy Spirit upon the first disciples spread
like wildfire. People came into a new relationship
with God. However this was largely squelched shortly
after by heresy and the growing power of what became
hierarchy. I am of the opinion that much of religious
hierarchy is one of the greatest hindrances of the
original simplicity of apostolic Christianity. By
apostolic Christianity I am referring to the faith,
zeal and practices of the original apostles as the
Christian Faith was spreading and new churches were
being established throughout the Roman Empire in spite
of persecution. |
|
After
Pentecost the fire that birthed what we know as the
church spread from the original company of disciples
to both Jews and Gentiles. God raised-up men and women
who were filled with the Holy Spirit. These Spirit-filled
believers spread the Good News of the Gospel. It could
not be contained. The religious leaders of that day
sought to deter it as did the Roman authorities but
it could not to be controlled. The Message was too
great and life-changing to be kept selfishly to the
original recipients of it. This Message was that God
loved humankind so much that he sent Yeshua[3] to
be the Savior of all who would believe in him as Savior
and Lord. This was the best news that the world had
ever heard up until that time. The four Gospels and
the rest of the New Testament portray the loving nature
of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The
pagan religions of the world worshipped gods and goddesses
whom they feared, but did not love. This new faith
was a Message of grace centered in love: love for
God and love for one another. See – Matthew
22:34-40; John 13:34-35. |
|
|
In
its earliest days of existence while the apostles were still
preaching and teaching and shortly thereafter this Message
of the Gospel spread throughout the then known world. The
early followers of Jesus took him at his word. He had instructed
them to “Go into all the world and preach the good
news to all creation.”[4] And guess what? They took
their Lord seriously.
|
On
to Europe:
The Good News swiftly spread from the Middle East
into Europe[5]. The Holy Spirit instructed Paul
and his coworkers to enter Europe. We read of this
account in Acts 16. The record reveals that the
first convert to the faith of Christ in Europe was
a businesswoman named Lydia: “One
of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer
in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was
a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to
respond to Paul’s message. When she and the
members of her household were baptized, she invited
us to her home.” (Acts 16:14-15a) |
Click
to View Enlargement
 |
|
This
event took place in the city of Philippi which is located
in Greece. It is worth noting that the first Christian
congregation in Europe was begun in the home of a woman
who was the first convert there.
The Gospel spread throughout Europe reaching the imperial
city of Rome. Unfortunately the Gospel quickly began to
be watered down and compromised with the rise of hierarchy
to position and power especially in the city of Rome.
This rapidly escalated after Constantine became Emperor
leading to the marriage [union] of the Church with the
State. This was the major downfall of the institutional
Church. Europe overnight became Christian. However, it
was largely Christian in name only, not in experience.
Many pagan practices were supposedly Christianized and
entered into the life and teaching of the churches. The
religious hierarchy took on the structural pattern of
the Roman Empire with the Bishop of Rome eventually replacing
the Caesars. This was a clear violation of the New Testament
teaching of the priesthood of all believers.
|
With
the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century
the various countries of Europe adopted a State
Religion. Whatever the faith of the political leader
in power of a given area became the enforced religion
of the citizens of that realm. Thus, Northern Europe
largely adopted Lutheranism as its State Religion
whereas England’s reform led to the Church
of England no longer recognizing the Pope but the
English monarch as its head. Other State Churches
included the Reformed in Holland, parts of Switzerland
and other areas, Presbyterianism as the Church of
Scotland, and Roman Catholicism in the rest of Western
Europe with Eastern Orthodoxy married to the State
in Eastern Europe. Each of these State Churches
was intolerant of other faiths not falling in line
with the political-Church leadership. |
Martin
Luther |
|
 |
I
take the Anabaptist position that Church and State
must always remain separate entities. Any form of
bringing the political and spiritual realms together
always births reprehensible results whether it be
Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism,
or Eastern Orthodoxy.
The situation of the churches in Europe is indeed
pathetic. Europe today is filled with a spreading
Christianophobia[6]. It is estimated that only 1%
to 2% of the people in the British Isles attend
any type of weekly church gathering. The same situation
is found throughout the continent. |
|
Today
the Christian Church of Europe is largely dead; spiritually
and numerically. European secularism reigns supreme throughout
the continent although some believe that it may be Islamic
by the end of this century.
In a few of the countries of Europe the churches continue
to receive government support, yet their buildings are
largely empty. People in growing numbers are turning away
from the faith of their ancestors.
Even though the situation in our own country is not quite
as dismal, yet I fear that the day is coming when we will
follow in the footsteps of Europe. George Weigel, a theologian
and senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center
in Washington, D.C. believes that what has happened in
Europe will happen in our nation. In his view he states:
“American high culture is vulnerable to the
same kind of spiritual and philosophical amnesia that
has afflicted Europe. The culprit is the atheistic
humanism that took shape in the 19th century.”
[7]
|
As
Europe goes, so goes America!
|
|
Dead
Orthodoxy:
Few
forces are more noxious to the Body of Christ than is
dead, cold, rigid orthodoxy. The word orthodox basically
means “right or correct doctrine.” However,
it is not enough to be correct in what one believes if
this belief lacks Christlike life and vitality. The Pharisees
during the earthly ministry of our Lord were orthodox
to the core. Yet, they had become so legalistic, narrow
and rigid in their orthodoxy that it had become spiritually
dead. Our Lord rebuked them over and over again, not for
holding wrong doctrine, but for making the faith in Jehovah
lifeless, harsh and austere.
I fear that the Body of Christ in like manner is filled
with individual Christians, preachers and entire churches
that pride themselves in their orthodoxy, in their fundamentalism,
in their evangelicalism or in their progressiveness yet
are lifeless; spiritually dead.
|
Meaningless
Formality and Flashy Hype:
Personally
I am not one of those evangelicals who is opposed
to any and all forms of liturgy. I have always had
a special love for The Book of Common Prayer. However,
I am dead-set opposed to cold formalism. A curse upon
much of Protestantism is that it has developed forms
that it calls “the worship service” that
are largely lifeless. The same rote week-after-week,
service-after-service can be boring becoming meaningless.
In attending many churches I’ve discovered many
are plagued with a format of sameness week-after-week-after
week. Pick-up the average church bulletin and it reeks
with boredom. |
|
|
The
leader of the service dare not vary and/or change one
iota or else all ‘hell’ breaks out among the
members in these churches. This same routine is duplicated
in literally thousands of congregations weekly. It matters
not what label appears on the sign board: Methodist, Baptist,
Lutheran, Presbyterian, UCC, Disciples, the sameness of
format is there.
Lifeless
formality and humanly devised ceremony is causing multitudes
of people to leave today’s churches. Young people
are repulsed by it and so are some of old-timers like
myself. Not all change is bad although on the other hand
change just for the sake of change may not be beneficial
either.
On the other hand there are an increasing number of churches
that bill their services as either contemporary or charismatic.
In many of these churches there, too, is a boring sameness
service-after-service with the worship team performing
rather than leading God’s people into the presence
of God, singing the same number of choruses at each service,
the same people speaking out in what may be called “prophecy”
and/or “tongues” all claiming that it is the
Holy Spirit. Certain individuals who love center stage
doing their thing. I refer to them with tongue in cheek
as “stars for Jesus!” This type of service
can degenerate into what is flashy hype. Churches desperately
need the fire of the Holy Spirit once again allowing God’s
Spirit to be in charge. As Jesus said worship needs to
be “in spirit and in truth.”
Lukewarmness:
The 2nd and 3rd chapters of the Book of Revelation, address
seven local churches. These seven churches were congregations
existing in what today is Turkey. The seventh message
was to the church in the city of Laodicea. This particular
congregation was characterized by lukewarmness. What was
especially tragic in this situation is that this passage
indicates that our Lord was standing outside of this church
knocking at its door to gain entrance: “Here
I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with
them, and they with me.” (Rev. 3:20) TNIV
What
a dreadful situation. Christ standing outside of his church.
I fear that this is too often the case with many congregations
today. Jesus does not dwell in a dead and/or dying congregation.
He simply exists there. He enters into the hearts and
lives of those who receive him. He is with those companies
of believers where there is spiritual life and vitality
where the Holy Spirit is free to move.
|
 |
The
Meeting Syndrome:
Can
you imagine a church without endless meetings and
committees? Is it possible? Why not? We read of
nothing in the New Testament of endless meetings
of committees, boards, or busyness to keep the organization
operating smoothly. All of this developed later
with the breakdown of the biblical teaching of the
priesthood of believers; with the division of “clergy”
and “laity.” An authentic church is
not an organization, it is a living organism. Christian
faith is not religion, it is a relationship with
God in and through Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Church
busy-ness and activity does not necessarily mean
nor indicate that a church is alive and spiritual.
In fact, many dying churches are gasping for breath
in a desperate effort to appear to be alive believing
that they must keep their members busy if they are
to continue to survive. |
|
The
church is more than endless meetings, building programs,
fund raisers, pledges, membership drives, etc. Yet, church
after church is dying. How about your church? |
“We
have always done it that way!”
The
above words and the attitude behind them spells
certain and sure
D-E-A-T-H.
Death to the church plagued with people who are
convinced that what they have done in the past must
not, dare not, better not be changed. The fear of
change that plagues countless congregations is truly
amazing. It appears to me that many churches would
rather die than to change. The Holy Spirit wants
to rebirth congregations, but lo, congregation after
congregation has dug its feet into the ground and
dare anyone to challenge and/or change what they
have been doing. Church after church who in the
past had men and women of vision have stopped going
beyond what their founders envisioned. How many
Lutherans have not gone on beyond Luther? How many
Presbyterians and Reformed Christians stop at Calvin?
Many Baptists appear to have stopped moving beyond
the days of their frontier revivals. Pentecostals
are often still at the Azusa Street revival. Churches
must continually be moving forward, onward and upward.
We cannot, we dare not stop. The church of Jesus
Christ is on a sojourn. This sojourn will continue
until our Lord returns. |
|
|
| So
there you have it.
Are
you part of a dying church?
Maybe your church has already died.
|
|
So
what should you do?
If
your congregation is dead it probably is too late to do
much of anything. However, if your church is in the process
of dying there is much that you can do. The Reformed Christians
have a great motto which indicates that though they have
been reformed they are continuing to reform. This should
be the goal of every congregation: to continue reforming,
to seek the restoration of New Testament principles, and
the renewing of the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact,
this is what true revival is all about. Revival is not
setting up a tent somewhere, bringing in an evangelist,
and holding a series of protracted nightly meetings creating
hype and begging, pressuring and embarrassing people to
come forward to make “a decision”. It is the
Holy Spirit who brings people to Christ, not forced by
a dynamic preacher, hype and/or entertainment so popular
in many churches.
As a follower of Jesus Christ I advocate that there be
some radical changes in the way companies of believers
today function in this twenty-first century. The past
is the past. We have a new day dawning. We are commissioned
by our Master to seize the opportunities placed before
us. The world around us needs to see that the Church of
Jesus Christ is alive and well!
I came across the following description on the Internet
describing the difference between live churches and dead
churches. I’ve edited it somewhat.
|
 |
Live
churches constantly change; dead churches resist and
refuse change. |
|
Live
churches are never satisfied and dream of improvement;
dead churches tell it like it used to be. |
|
Live
churches worship and praise today; dead churches avoid
praise and worship that is alive and look to form. |
|
Live
churches move in faith; dead churches have to see
it first. |
|
Live
churches are full of regular, cheerful givers; dead
churches are full of grudging tippers! |
|
Live
churches move ahead on prayer and faith; dead churches
work only on sight. |
|
Live
churches may have some noisy children; dead churches
are quiet as a cemetery. |
|
Live
churches welcome all classes of people; dead churches
stick to their own kind! |
|
Live
churches’ members enthusiastically support the
ministries; dead churches have no ministries –
only functions, committees and boards to keep their
members busy. |
|
Live
churches’ members look for someone they can
help; dead churches’ members look for something
to complain about! |
|
Live
churches try and try again; dead churches say “We
never did it that way before…” |
|
Live
churches’ members reach out to share their faith
in Christ; dead churches’ members don’t
have enough to share; they share programs, not saving
faith in Christ with the outside community. |
|
 |
[1]
Lois Bligh and here sister Marian were my next door neighbors
as kids growing up on Long Island.
[2]
This was in an area of Long Island known as Plainview.
[3]
Yeshua, Y’shua and Joshua is the Hebrew name whereas
Jesus is the Greek name of our Lord.
[4]
Mark 16:15 NIV
[5]
The Gospel also spread into north Africa and on into Asia
to such places as India.
[6]
I picked-up this word from US New & World Report.
It means the fear of the Christian Church and the power
it has exerted in the past to the detriment of the people
of those lands where Church and State were united.
[7]
From “The Cube and the Cathedral” by George
Weigel.
|
| |
| |
 |
