There Is A Better Way

It’s no secret, many churches in the United States are declining or dying. I could spit out some statistics but as soon as I type them it feels like they are invalid. The landscape is changing so rapidly and many don’t know what to do or how to do it.

The social dynamics of our culture have shifted so far and so fast that many don’t even see the church anymore. Someone can drive past a dozen churches in their day and they’ve become largely invisible. And that my friends is not a good thing but it’s our own fault (for the most part).

Now I’m going to say a few things that some are going to want to take out of context. And yes I know the thought here is a tad edgy for some, but stick with me and I really think you might be able to understand where my heart really is.

The world around the church has shift to a different course. It’s like a ship going through the open waters. You turn that wheel just ever so slightly and in a hundred nautical miles, you’re on a totally different course. It doesn’t take much at all to get a large ocean liner off course and totally miss its destination.

The world has shifted its views on marriage, sexuality, medical care, the concept of benevolence, race, gender, and family just to name a handful. What once was unheard of now is the norm in our society.

In the midst of all of this shifting and moving and realignment, where is the church? Largely it’s in the same place it was 60, 70, even 100 years ago. And if I’m being honest that’s terrific and terrible at the same time!

We most certainly need to hold to some never changing truths. We call those the Bible by the way. That we can’t change. That is constant and forever and frankly the only thing we really can count on being consistent. But the way we do church and approach the world and talk to people and interact in our communities…those are all up for grabs.

Now I know some might disagree. Some are likely to think the way we do it needs to look different than how the world goes about living. But I would disagree. I’ve done the church planting gig once upon a time. We gathered in a local watering hole and watched football just like the rest of the guys. I had my seat at the bar where everyone knew my name. I had my regular waiting for me when I sat down on Monday nights. They just knew. I was one of them but at the same time I wasn’t.

It took me a while to earn my seat at that table, or in this case bar. But once I did I was in. And it wasn’t some weird bait and switch tactic either. I genuinely wanted to know the people around me. I cared about their kids and marriages and jobs. And this is where I think we’ve fallen off the rails as the church. We’ve done two things that have gotten us here.

We’ve started caring more about ourselves than those around us. Yep I said it. The church has become in many ways one of the most selfish institutions around. We see people hurting and try to make them believe what we believe before we care for them at all. It’s something Jesus even warned against in the parable of the Good Samaritan. We’ve forgotten what it means to be someone’s neighbor.

Jesus said to love your neighbors. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, aka do you wrong. I don’t hear a lot of that from the church today. I hear a lot of complaining and grumbling and wanting the world to conform to its way of thinking, but loving the world in tangible ways isn’t really a prevalent theme.

We’ve become known more for what we’re against than what we’re for. We have a litany of things that are not acceptable behaviors for those who are in Christ and we believe the world should mirror those good behaviors. And we’re right. But we’re also wrong.

We have elevated some of our pet sins to get greater screen time than others. You can likely find the ones I’m talking about without thinking too hard. I don’t want to spend a ton of time on this but could you imagine what would happen if we spent time helping people find where their real identity is found instead of condemning them?

If we look at the life of Jesus we see that he was compassionate toward the woman caught in adultery before he told her to change her life. He does this over and over again. Loves the person. Then he shows them a better way. If the church would live the better way, love the outcast, confused, challenged, broken people it really wouldn’t matter how far to one direction or another the world went. We’d be able to love them and stay relevant in their lives.

Look I know this sounds like I’m saying the church has it all wrong so let me end with this. We have the greatest message the world can use right now. We’ve just communicated it in a way that is less than helpful. Why not instead of waiting for the world to come to us, we go to them? Why not instead of making people believe what we believe before we make them feel welcome, we help them gain a sense of belonging then help them understand more fully what we believe?

If you’re a pastor or a church leader or church member, I’d love to chat about specific ways your church can reconnect with its community. There are some practical steps that can be made that won’t compromise your beliefs or confession at all. Would love to connect!