Another Church Bites the Dust!
Last week, I heard the sad news that another church is embroiled in conflict, and the “righteous” are privately circulating their petition to have the pastor removed so that they can return to the way they always “did church” in the past. How admirable… how moving! Isn’t it wonderful when church is everything we want it to be, and we feel so comfortable sitting in our pews on Sunday morning? Heaven forbid that a pastor should come in and “change” things! After all, doesn’t the church exist for the members; certainly not for the unchurched who have no desire to come be like us!
What has happened to us? Recently, I was again reminded of the way God has poured out His wrath in the past and the way He promises to do it in the future. Check it out! He has the enemy destroying itself. He just speaks a word, and every man’s sword is against his neighbor. Then, I thought of how so many churches in America are being destroyed from the inside out. Could it be that God is passing the Great Commission mantle to another nation? Could it be that American Christians have missed their divine appointment to evangelize the nations because they have hijacking the Lord’s church and made it their church? Let’s face it, we are no longer just sending missionaries to the mission field… we live in one! All around us is a secular culture, fully embroiled in itself, taking no thought of tomorrow and certainly having no concern for eternity. They are the vast multitude of the unchurched that cloister themselves in private communities with “no solicitation” signs at the gates and on the doors. They are dying in ignorance with no one to warn them of the coming judgment or share with them the Good News that life can be “really living,” and that living, even if the bottom falls out, can be filled with a “living hope.”
But, what is the church doing? Well, for many, it is a time to rejoice in “the good ole’ days!” It is to sing our hymns, listen to the heavenly sounds of organ music, and sit on padded pews until the obligation of Sunday is ended and we can get back to whatever it is we do the rest of the week. And, Katie bar the door if the preacher should suggest that we reach into those communities with home Bible studies or try to speak the culture of those we are called to reach. It might be adding a guitar and drums to the service or taking steps to build relationships or making worship more visible and interactive. No! That would be to “bring the world into the church;” but, what we are really saying is, “I want the church to be like my world.”
In lands less hospitable to Christianity, however, things are different. Believers are meeting in homes, huts, and secret places, reaching out to their neighbors, making disciples, and holding one another accountable. There are no church buildings, and it all seems like such a meager effort, but the church is growing, iron curtains are falling, and the one made of bamboo may be next! It’s a beautiful sight; one that pleases the Lord.
But, we like things the old way… the 50s way! So, God just turns His head and moves to another people, speaking a word of judgment as He goes. And, in the American church, every man’s sword is against his neighbor as buildings are empty, gathering dust, and the sound of the pipe organ gradually fades away to the melody, “We’ve a story to tell to the nations!”
What has happened to us? Recently, I was again reminded of the way God has poured out His wrath in the past and the way He promises to do it in the future. Check it out! He has the enemy destroying itself. He just speaks a word, and every man’s sword is against his neighbor. Then, I thought of how so many churches in America are being destroyed from the inside out. Could it be that God is passing the Great Commission mantle to another nation? Could it be that American Christians have missed their divine appointment to evangelize the nations because they have hijacking the Lord’s church and made it their church? Let’s face it, we are no longer just sending missionaries to the mission field… we live in one! All around us is a secular culture, fully embroiled in itself, taking no thought of tomorrow and certainly having no concern for eternity. They are the vast multitude of the unchurched that cloister themselves in private communities with “no solicitation” signs at the gates and on the doors. They are dying in ignorance with no one to warn them of the coming judgment or share with them the Good News that life can be “really living,” and that living, even if the bottom falls out, can be filled with a “living hope.”
But, what is the church doing? Well, for many, it is a time to rejoice in “the good ole’ days!” It is to sing our hymns, listen to the heavenly sounds of organ music, and sit on padded pews until the obligation of Sunday is ended and we can get back to whatever it is we do the rest of the week. And, Katie bar the door if the preacher should suggest that we reach into those communities with home Bible studies or try to speak the culture of those we are called to reach. It might be adding a guitar and drums to the service or taking steps to build relationships or making worship more visible and interactive. No! That would be to “bring the world into the church;” but, what we are really saying is, “I want the church to be like my world.”
In lands less hospitable to Christianity, however, things are different. Believers are meeting in homes, huts, and secret places, reaching out to their neighbors, making disciples, and holding one another accountable. There are no church buildings, and it all seems like such a meager effort, but the church is growing, iron curtains are falling, and the one made of bamboo may be next! It’s a beautiful sight; one that pleases the Lord.
But, we like things the old way… the 50s way! So, God just turns His head and moves to another people, speaking a word of judgment as He goes. And, in the American church, every man’s sword is against his neighbor as buildings are empty, gathering dust, and the sound of the pipe organ gradually fades away to the melody, “We’ve a story to tell to the nations!”
3 Comments:
Dear Dr. Piland,
Biting, incisive, and full of the very frustration that eats at all of us. How is it that with the most meager of resources the church of the developing world grows exponentialy and with all the resources (comparatively) at our fingertips we struggle to reach a few? I like it.
Dr. Buchoolz
can't even spell my own name right, what a morning.
Dr. Buchholz
can't even spell my own name right, what a morning.
Dr. Buchholz
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