Not Surprised-When God is God-Playing Religion

Another hindrance to the growth of the church is what I would call Religiosity. There are people who at some point in their lives became associated with the church by going through the motions of what their denominational system required. For some this includes infant baptism and confirmation, others walking an aisle to pray to accept Christ and later be baptized, still others being born in a faith and following the decrees of the church. You can debate the validity of these paths if you like, but the fact is that no path guarantees that a person actually become a born-again, Holy Spirit filled follower of Jesus. In fact Jesus said it this way…

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 7:21 NIV

In every church there are those who have jumped through every hoop and completed every ceremony, but seemingly have no idea what it truly means to be “in Christ”. For them, church attendance becomes their weekly dues…but don’t ask them to pay more than is required. Church better not run long, and the music better not be loud, the youth pastor better keep the teenagers quiet, and…well you get the picture. Again, it is easy to see how having too many religious but not born-again attenders can slow the growth of the church.

During my first few weeks at a new church where I pastored, a couple approached me and commented that the services seemed to be running longer since I came to the church and they wanted to know if this change was going to be permanent. I explained that we had extended the services 15 minutes to allow for more worship and creative elements. They announced that this would be their last Sunday at the church, that church was “supposed to be an hour”, and they would be transferring a church that had services that lasted an hour.

I could give countless other examples, but really this attitude comes down to one prevailing thought, "what's being offered for me?" Worship is supposed to be the offering that we bring to God, not something that is offered to us by God or the church. Who would really want to be part of a church where people were focused on what they want all the time?

Not Surprised-When God is God-Competing Priorities

It is interesting that the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against the church, but some homegrown apathy and half-hearted commitment can bring it to a near standstill.

Why?

While there are many factors that have contributed to the decline of the American church and it would be impossibly difficult to really nail down one particular cause, let me suggest a few over the next few days...

Competing Priorities

We live in the busiest culture on the planet. We rush from one commitment to the next. Too many people simply feel overwhelmed and struggle to prioritize what is most important in their lives. As a result, their personal relationship with God and church attendance falls somewhere in between soccer practice and the new season of The Walking Dead.

When Jesus called the disciples, He didn’t ask them to see if they could make some time to fit Him into their busy lives. He called them to truly “follow” Him and make Him the prevailing priority in their lives.

Jesus stated it this way when addressing the crowds…

Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23 NIV)

Some take this to mean that their entire lives must become centered around religious activity, but I think Jesus is saying that our commitment to Him and God’s word should be the prevailing priority in our lives. From this one commitment, all other priorities will fall in line with God’s will and desires for our lives.

For example, a thirty something who is married with three children who has made following Jesus the prevailing priority in his life would understand that developing his relationship with Christ is his prevailing priority and that from that would follow being the best husband and father he could be. This would be followed by his career, his friends, his hobbies, and more. (This is the same for a wife and mother.)

However, the average thirty something makes his career and providing for his family his prevailing priority. In juggling this pursuit, he tries to make time for his wife and children, his friends and hobbies, and also church and spiritual matters. Invariably, church and spiritual growth get swallowed up by the tyranny of the urgent of work deadlines, soccer practice, etc. Church attendance with his family is sporadic at best as is any Bible study or prayer. When this family does come to church on any given Sunday, they are detached from the body life and have little to no excitement about being there. (Again, same for a wife and mother as well).

As this becomes more of the norm than the exception, it is easy to see how church attendance has suffered and how excitement is at an all-time low in some churches .The church always suffers with competing priorities.

Not Surprised-When God is God-Part 1

On Sunday morning December 7, 1941, Japanese planes approached Pearl Harbor in Hawaii for a daring attack on the American naval fleet that was anchored there. The Japanese purposely attacked when they did because they knew the naval base would be slow to wake up on a Sunday morning. The result was catastrophic…in less than 2 hours more than 2500 people were killed, 1000 more wounded, 18 ships were damaged or destroyed and nearly 300 planes were lost.

As word quickly spread across the country, the nation was in shock. How could this have happened? There was an immediate cry for a declaration of war and retaliation. While the general public was shocked and surprised, those within the military and government had been keeping a close eye on the Japanese movements for months, even years. They had feared an attack but couldn’t predict the time or place.

The truth is the Japanese were simply acting according to who they had become, a war-mongering nation of fanatical zealots who would obey the emperor’s wishes at any cost. In the decade preceding the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had untaken a plan to conquer and control the entire Pacific rim. The Japanese Army raped and pillaged their way through China, Korea, Burma, the Philippines, and much more. It was only a matter of time before they would have to engage hostilities with the United States. The Japanese were simply acting according to the nature, who they had become as a people. Pearl Harbor was a wake-up call for the United States who would no longer be surprised by an attack from the Japanese.

Big Surprise

In many churches today, I am afraid it has become much the same scenario. Sleepy congregations meet each Sunday morning going through the same motions they went through the week before. There is little to no expectation that anything exiting will happen in the service, much less have God show up in His power and turn the place upside down. Unfortunately, if something amazing did happen, many people would be irritated that the service ran long or that they were taken out of their normal routine.

Progressing alongside these attitudes has been the steady decline of the American church over the past few decades. Is it any wonder that church attendance is declining in general when so many supposed followers of Jesus view anything out of the ordinary as an inconvenience or annoyance?

For many churches across our country, new people rarely visit, few ever inquire about salvation, even fewer commit to Christ or are baptized. (In fact, current statistics say that around 6% of churches are growing...thank God for these churches and that Bethany Church is one of them!!) The few that do are simply the children of those who have attended in decades past. So when a new couple visits with their children or someone seeks counseling for salvation, many congregations are surprised. It is sad what the church has been reduced to in these days.

The church about which Jesus told Peter…

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matthew 16:18 NIV

has become something else. It is interesting that the gates of Hell cannot prevail against the church, but some homegrown apathy and half-hearted commitment can bring it to a near stand still.

What are the real reasons for this? We will look at this tomorrow...