Why Is The Church on Life Support

Why Is The Church on Life Support ?

If we look at the church today what do we see?

If we look at the only model of the church, which is the book of Acts, is there a resemblance?

Are we too afraid to admit that man made traditions have infiltrated our congregations?

If we were to take a pulse in the congregations of today would there be life?

Would those that spilled their life's blood for the faith in the first church be happy with the way our assemblies operate?

Would they feel comfortable in a service in any of the churches today?

What would they say?

These are just some of the many questions that have consumed my mind for the past seven years. I will not attempt to give what I propose to be the answer of those of the first church. I will only give what I believe and feel in my heart. I believe with all my heart that the church has, and continues to miss the mark of it's calling. I would also like to state that I know and realize that the things written in this paper do not apply to all congregations. I believe that there may be parts, if any, that apply to some and more to others. I ask you to please not take this as a personal attack on any particular congregation or denomination. My only purpose and goal is to cause us as Spiritual leaders of today to examine the functions of the Body of Christ today and see if we can, or need to improve in any area. I would like to break this up into several areas that I believe are detrimental in reviving the body back to life.

Why do we Meet Together?

I believe that if the question was presented and if the answers were honest that there would be a large variety of reasons. I do not believe there was ever a doubt in the first century as to the reason to come together. Acts 1:14, 2:1,42, 3:1, 4:23-31, and many others give the unmistakable evidence that the main focus was on prayer and then on evangelism. What has happened today? Jesus even stressed the same sentiments when running the Traditional church members out of the Temple. Jesus said, "My house shall be called a house of 'Entertainment'", No, "a house of 'Traditions'", No, "a house of Prayer." Many churches are no more than social clubs and rarely is evangelism a focal point or even emphasized. If you read the book of Acts you will soon see that they met to pray, and usually for more boldness to go out and proclaim the Gospel. Their ministry was out in the places where the people were; wow, how ingenious, take the message to the people. Quite a contrast to the organized church of today whose motto is; "if you are not here every time the doors are open you are not committed or presenting a good witness". I would even go as far as to say that some would even say that it may even be a "sin". I would like to pose a question at this point to all those caught up in this tradition instilled thinking; where is this philosophy of Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night service in the Scriptures? I will save you some time, it is not in the Scriptures, it is a man made tradition and has become the rule by which we judge our fellow Christian's spirituality.

Are the Traditional Meetings Accomplishing Anything?

Let's look at some facts:

Jehovah's Witnesses are growing at a pace of better than 100,000 a year.

Mormons are growing at around 40,000 a year.

New Age associated groups are growing at about 50,000 a year.

The occult is growing at an estimated 40 to 60,000 a year.

The Protestant Church is growing at a whopping 10,000 a year.

The Catholic Church is basically at reproductive growth.

To clarify the above, the growth referred to is NEW growth.

The Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons are best known for their door to door ministries. Isn't is sad that these cults are showing the Christian world where they have dropped the ball, and all we do is sit back and watch them continue to grow. Traditional churches sit back and have their traditional Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday services and never knock on one door. Even in the Traditional churches the visitation programs have fallen by the wayside. I want to list some more facts that should shed some light on the problem facing the church today.

90% of the Jehovah's Witnesses growth is from those that were at one time affiliated with a mainline Traditional church. For whatever reason they left the Traditional church and this cult had the answer for them. They were actually out reaching people, not sitting in their fancy buildings waiting for the lost to come to them.

Mormons are in the same position, the majority of their growth comes from ex-church people.

New Age and Occults are sucking people out of the mainline church everyday.

How Do We Turn The Vacuum Off?

Since the great Reformation the enemy has sought ways to stagnate the church's growth and has apparently found the most effective way. People in the conservative mainline churches are tired of the same old routine and traditions and have looked elsewhere. The churches are not growing by means of lost off of the streets, but rather from those that are going from church to church looking for something to fill the void. Christians are missing something and are realizing it. This is why the great increase in the Pentecostal realms, not from the streets, but from those leaving other churches looking for more. They go to these Pentecostal churches and are fulfilled in the area of getting their emotions worked up and being able to do more than maybe occasional clapping of their hands. They soon realize though that these churches are not filling that need either and do not know where to turn for the answer. The answer is not in building emotions, building bigger buildings, or staying in the same old Traditional rut.

The answer is when the church of today wakes up and realizes that it is not performing the central foundation and vital core of our belief. The answer comes when we wake up and realize that these cults are showing us the way and we are not willing to acknowledge it. The answer comes when we realize that we must move beyond the four walls of the fancy buildings and take the Gospel where it belongs, back out to the people. In the book of Acts the ministry was out in the public arena not in the Temple. In fact if you look at the accounts in the Temple with Jesus and the Apostles, it was there that they were trying to convey that the Old Traditions were null and void. Isn't it ironic that 2,000 years later we have reverted back to the Temple times.

A Change Is Needed And Necessary

The Salvation Army and Rescue Mission are shining examples of where the Traditional Church has dropped the ball.

True, some churches have soup kitchens set up, but in the remainder of their structure they fall into the same Traditional bondage.

Most churches have "token" missions that they support or sponsor so that they can say they are mission minded, yet never step outside their buildings to help their own.

The tradition is that you come in and hear a sermon every Sunday morning and Sunday night, and maybe a Bible study on Wednesday night. The Bible study is something someone has prepared and may not interest you in the least. But if you do not come, you are less spiritual. We listen to a message, very rarely inspired on Sunday mornings and night and are rarely taught the essentials of fighting the Spiritual Warfare. We are rarely if at all equipped to go out and witness, or knock on doors. Why should we, the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons have that covered. What would happen if a pastor of a church would come in on a Sunday morning and announce that he was going to spend the next hour or so explaining the proper techniques for witnessing? What would happen if that same pastor came in that night and said "OK, now we are going to split up into groups of two and three and go out and put this morning's teaching into practice?" I would like to suggest what I believe the first church would be doing today.

I believe that these nice buildings we have would be renovated and become training centers for the mission field in front of us. It is interesting that Jesus gave us the directive when He said, "it is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick". Yet today we have some of the nicest, fanciest, buildings that are no more than convalescent centers for mentally/spiritually handicapped Christians. These building should be shelters and lighthouses for those of the world battling the storms in their lives. The following is what I feel in my heart that God wants to see in the church today.

Have a constant training program where people are being instructed on the proper etiquette of witnessing and knocking on doors. Such as, not going to a door and the first thing out of your mouth is, "I am from such and such church and we want to invite you". GAG… that is exactly what will keep them away. The first interest should be with them personally, is there anything you can help them with, can you pray with them for something, do they know Christ. Do not even bring up your church unless asked.

Have someone set aside to instruct and train new converts, regardless of age. They need to be trained in how to study, what to study, and how to use it as a witnessing tool. Be able to use current events to enter into witnessing and how they agree with Scripture.

Have someone to instruct (not baby-sit) the children while the adults are out on the streets.

Train people to minister to each other so they can effectively go out and minister to the lost on the street.

Have the body meet for times of worship, praise, and prayer before going out. Why do we have the mindset that our congregations need to be preached at two to three times a week? Why do we subject them to Bible studies that do not benefit? Why do we restrict our activities to within the four walls of our beautiful monuments we have constructed and put the body in debt for? Why aren't our resources used to benefit the lost, instead of making it more comfortable to stay in our buildings?

Incorporate more prayer with, and for each other during the services so the people will become more comfortable with praying for others. Prayer has to become a comfortable and regular happening among the people. Teach them to not be afraid of prayer.

The things listed above are not to be replacements for services, but incorporated into them. It would be good to incorporate a door to door program on a regular basis maybe in place of the Wednesday service or alternate it between Wednesday's and Sunday nights.

The Last Message To The Church

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3 Jesus gives us a picture of what I believe to be the church as a whole. I know that there a many versions of what these two chapters really say, but I challenge you to look at them and prove me wrong. I believe that each one of the churches listed give and example of what can be expected to be found if you assembled the church as a whole. I believe that you would find someone that fit into each of the categories listed for each church. Regardless of the views and timelines that have been labeled with each church, it is ironic how much the last church mentioned, Laodicea, is a perfect mirror of the church today. The church is lukewarm and sees itself as needing nothing. The church today, has the fancy buildings, the programs, the protocol, but not the substance.

I hope and pray that this is read with an open mind and a willingness to see and act on a much needed change. Sincerely,

In Christ

Adam Bartlett

Church Growth

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