Christ Following, life, ministry, The Church
Something tells me it’s not just me. I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of the American church lately. I’ve heard more than once from different sources that America is the only country in the world where the church is shrinking instead of growing. In fact, I’ve heard predictions that evangelicalism as we know it is coming to an end. You can read the article that was published in the Christian Science Monitor here.
I was talking with a friend who pastors a church in Ireland and even he had something to say about the western church. His words echoed in my ears for a while. “In the next ten years the American church is going to look much like the church in Europe. A post-Christian environment will emerge where very few churches have full-time paid staff members. We’re ministering to more people here with less money than we ever have before.”
Here’s the thing that my fellow church and ministry staffers may not like me saying. I don’t necessarily believe that the things I mentioned above are bad things. We’ve spent so many years building our own kingdoms with bigger buildings, slicker marketing, and a $4 billion-a-year Christian entertainment industry. During a recent drive through Dallas, I saw mega-churches sprinkled all along the interstate. They looked like shopping malls with massive structures and expansive parking lots. How is it that we can have so much, but bear so little fruit? I spoke with a pastor recently who had no idea how to share his faith and has never led a soul to The Lord. He shared that, growing up, no one ever taught him how to witness. It’s no wonder the American church is weak when we’re better at putting on a show than we are at giving away the greatest hope there is!
So why do I believe that the things mentioned in the first two paragraphs aren’t necessarily bad things? First of all, the church has always had a way of flourishing during hard times. Excessive prosperity has a way of making us lazy and stupid (not to mention greedy for more). Hard times make us prioritize and focus on what’s important. “Hmmm… should I spend these resources on reaching the lost, hungry, and sick, or should I bring the latest rock star in for a concert?” Also, when things take a down-turn, we pray more. Jesus said that the House of God is a house of prayer. There are very few churches that I know of that have a line in the budget for prayer. In fact, there are very few churches that I know of that have regular prayer meetings! God has a way of bringing his bride back to the things that matter most. A good shaking once in a while is a positive thing!
The important thing to remember is what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “… and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” God’s church will stand and continue to march forward. Nothing can stop it! So if we find the church as we know it changing and things disapearing, then maybe those things weren’t The Church after all.
Praise and Worship, prayer
Working with a prayer center, the topic of prayer and worship comes up often in a variety of settings and circumstances. I am a massive believer in the power of young people seeking God and singing His praises. It’s my job to help increase the level of prayer across our community.
From time to time, I’ll meet someone in ministry who deliberately leaves out corporate prayer and worship because they believe their students “aren’t ready” to sing songs to The Savior or are afraid newcomers might be “turned off” by extended prayer. There’s an attitude that passionate prayer and worship are extremist expressions of our faith. One might get the impression that worship and prayer were embarrassing things that should be done in private to be followed by a good washing of the hands. It’s no wonder that 80 percent of young people walk away from the faith when they graduate high school. They are, as Manning puts it “young people who have been denied access to their own spiritual depths.”
Last weekend I had the particular honor of speaking at a retreat for Senior High students in our region. I teamed up with my Furnace Midwest worship team and we decided to hold nothing back. We sang praises with passion and prayed with tenacity. It was powerful! What was the response? The students loved it! They dove in and didn’t look back. After dismissing the group (twice) they kept praying for another 45 minutes! One of the youth pastors involved told me that it was the first time he ever saw his kids worship!
The point is this: young people are hungry for an encounter with the living God. They long to connect with God on a heart level that can’t be accomplished through a Bible study alone (and I love the Bible study!) We must provide the next generation with opportunities to worship and pray if more than 4 percent of them are going to make it as adults. As the old saying goes, “He who prays stays, and he who fasts lasts.“
Ireland, Missions
Sometimes people ask me why I have such a burden for the country of Ireland. I don’t have any Irish blood in me, that I know of. No relatives who came to America during the potato blight. The truth is, I owe much of my spiritual heritage to the Irish. It was the Irish who kept Christianity alive during the Dark Ages (not to mention literacy and art). It was the Irish who had a very large part in bringing Christianity to America. Most of what we call the “Bible Belt” today was originally settled by Irish immigrants.
Without launching into a history lesson, I’ll just say things have changed tremendously in the last 1,200 years or so. Western Europe is post Christian. The cathedrals are all but empty and very few evangelical churches can afford land. Most pastors there work a full-time job elsewhere because churches are woefully under-funded.
My heart is to support and lift up the arms of Irish pastors. That’s why I continue to go back. Ireland was once the primary missionary sending force in the world! I owe them. I want to see their effectiveness and influence restored.
I’m in the process of raising money to take a group of interns to Ireland to serve local Irish churches. You can be a part of that by clicking here.
From a ninth-century Irish hymn…
Blessing and brightness,
Wisdom, thanksgiving,
Great power and might
To the King who rules over all.
Glory and honor and goodwill,
Praise and the sublime song of minstrels,
Overflowing love from every heart
to the King of heaven and Earth.
To the chosen Trinity has been joined
Before all, after all, universal
Blessing and everlasting blessing,
Blessing everlasting and blessing.
life, Uncategorized
Thanks for checking out my new blog. A while ago, I felt The Lord nudging me to communicate about the power of the invisible church.
So often, in our Western church culture, we look to the platform ministers, the professionals, the staffers, and the rock stars and think, “If only I could do something great for Christ the way they do.” We mistakenly believe that greatness equals recognition, credential, or even fame (why the word “fame” is even used in ministry is beyond me!)
Don’t misunderstand me, I am NOT against platform ministry, Christian recording artists, or conference speakers (I’m a licensed minister, public speaker, and conference goer myself). It’s just that I’m convinced that, when we all arrive in eternity and our eyes are opened, we’ll find that the greatest works were done by people we never heard of. That the greatest impact was made by the Average Joes, the Nobodies, and the sea of nameless, faceless faithful ones who gave what they had because they were crazy enough to believe they could make a difference even if they never took up any space under the spotlight.
My hope is that this little blog might inspire Everyday Saints to write history with their prayers, their passion, and their partnering with God’s activity on the planet. Please don’t get upset with me if I go off topic, post pictures of my kids, or just rant about something really random. After all, I’m just a regular person like you.
Just don’t forget, we’re regular people who happen to reflect the Glory of The God of the Ages!
At the foot of the cross.
