Have you ever said to yourself or others, it’s time to go to Church; get ready on a Sunday morning. When you say that one way you are saying that the Church is some place or building you must go to at least once a week. And there is a set time to attend the Church and after that it is all my time. Is that so?
What is Church? Is Church a building? Is Church the pastor or the board and the committees? Is Church the music or the ministries we do? If all these are taken away can the church still exist? The answer is an emphatic “Yes” because the Church is you and I, so as long as one or more committed followers of Christ exists, Church exists. But your understanding of Church and what goes on in the church largely depends on your cultural, social, economical and geographical background. Let me explain; for example if you grew up in
When Jesus said to Peter “on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it.”(Matt 16:18), what did Jesus mean by it? How did he think this entity called Church will pan out in the future? Was he referring to a structural building? Or was he envisioning a living organism?
Jesus had very clear ideas as to how He wanted to do it, and what churches ought to be like in actual practice, and has given us the blue print through the work and teaching of His apostles. In order to deepen our understanding of Church let’s begin where it all started. Before Jesus ascended to heaven he commanded his disciples to wait in
He added, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in
After Peter’s first ever powerful sermon, a church of 120 disciples all of a sudden swelled to over 3000 people (Acts 2:41), A few days down the road it grew up to be about 5,000 men (Acts 4:3). I tend to believe it must have been over 10,000 given the fact that women and children were often excluded from the count. What a dramatic growth in the first Church in
A few days ago I went to serve food with a friend of mine in a feeding program run by the
My wrestling has lead me on a search to understand certain trends that are affecting the Church growth globally in the 21st century. James Emery white in his book “A Mind for God” observes three major trends that are affecting our minds. They can be observed everywhere in the world. Let me summarize. Firstly, Secularism. A 2004 survey of Pew forum notes, 7.5 percent of the American population categorized themselves as secularists. In secularism morality and religion becomes a matter of personal opinion or private judgment rather than something grounded in objective truth. We see secularism at the top of the American educational system, legal system and the media of mass communication.
Secondly, Moral Relativism, which says, “What is true for you is true for you and what is true for me is true for me. What is moral is dictated by a particular situation in light of a particular culture or social location.” Thirdly, Autonomous Individualism, which says, “each person is independent in terms of destiny and accountability. Ultimate moral authority is self-generated. In the end, we answer to no one but ourselves, for we are truly on our own.”
Whether you are aware of it or not like it or not, these trends influence all of our thinking more than we realize. These trends have largely contributed to the decline of the Church in general. How are we to counter these trends? The Apostle Paul gives us a clue in 2 Cor 10:3-5, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
How can we demolish strongholds? By knowing the Word of God and living by it. The battles against secularism, moral relativism, and autonomous individualism must be fought first of all in the closet of prayer on our knees. My search has also lead me to identify certain wrong mental models that hinder our understanding of what Church is and how we do the Church.
In the next few weeks I will be introducing us to a process from the book of Acts that will help foster Church growth. For today let’s look at what could be the some those wrong mental models of being a Church and how they affect us. How about this model, “This is the way we have always done it, this is the only way” Or this one, “I need to be in some form of control/I need to be recognized” or “If I am not happy here, I withdraw or go look elsewhere” or “He or she will always be like that, I don’t like him or her, I will not interact with him or her, He or she did this back then, I will not trust this person again” or “The church is here to meet my needs, desires and to serve me”. Boy don’t I see this attitude a lot in churches? I call this attitude, “ A Me Church attitude”
Let me illustrate this. A Me Church, how did we get to think that Church is all about me I wonder? James Emery White calls this trend Narcissistic Hedonism, It’s a preoccupation with self. It is the classic “I, me, mine” mentality that places personal pleasure and fulfillment at the forefront of concerns.”[1] In a Me Church the center of attraction becomes me, my family, children, my needs, my interests and my ministry. It is all about me I don’t care about any thing else as long as my needs are met. Church must cater to my needs otherwise I will find some other Church perhaps that can meet all my needs. If you are looking to join a “Me Church” you will not find it because no one church can meet all of your needs.
Church is not all about you or your family neither is it all about me and my family. Church is not meant to be run on the terms of popular culture or personal agendas. What is the Church supposed to go with? Who dictates terms for the Church? What model are we to follow? What did Jesus say? If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Mark 8:32
This is the great paradox, if we stop pursuing great things for ourselves and start seeking God and His will for our lives and for our Church we will truly experience God’s incredible blessings. Jesus is the Chief architect of the Church therefore He only can dictate terms, and knows what makes His Church to flourish and continue to be a powerful witness in this part of the world.
Are you ready to be challenged? Are you ready to be stretched and go beyond your comfort zone? Are you prepared for growth? Stay with the lesson, we will learn more next week about the process that enables growth. To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages now and forevermore! Amen!
