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““THAT USED TO BE A CHURCH””
“THAT USED TO BE A CHURCH”
Mike Tincher
My wife and I often like to go on long drives through the countryside exploring and reminiscing about how things used to be when we were much younger. After a recent excursion it occurred to me that often we would see a building that had either been converted into a home or had been abandoned entirely that was at one time a faithful congregation of the Lord’s church.
This made me sad because a lot of these buildings were places where she and I had worshiped as youngsters. I could see the faces etched in my memory of the brethren that made up these local congregations. Some, we had attended regularly with our families. Others, we had attended while visiting one of the Gospel meetings that were held by most of the congregations at that time. While I’m aware that some of this is due to population changes, I can assure you that the percentage of population decrease doesn’t come close to the percentage of membership decline in the church.
Not only does it make me sad, but also causes me to ask the question we all need to ask. What has happened in the Lord’s church that has led to such a state? We now find a great number of congregations either dead, dying, or completely going off into left field with some form of new doctrine or approach that is not even close to the pattern we find in the New Testament as if it will be the “Silver Bullet” needed to add more members.
A young boy came home from school one day and said, “Dad, I think I flunked my math test.” To which his dad replied, “Son, don’t be negative, be positive.” The son said, “Well dad, I’m positive I flunked that math test.”
Like the young boy, I’m not trying to be negative, I’m being positive. I’m positive that if we don’t heed the Scriptures and make the necessary changes needed, many souls are going to be lost. Many of these souls are currently members of the Lord’s church who either feel all is fine with the current state of things, or who are in denial and have convinced themselves all is fine, or who feel there’s nothing we can do. They’ve given up.
While not even attempting to cover all the possibilities as to why we were once the fastest growing religious group in America, to the realization that we have been in a serious decline for a while, I would like to cover just a few of the major reasons that are actually taking place in the church today that are causing such a rapid decline. Of course, these aren’t all of the reasons but are some the main ones I have observed. They are actually the root to all of the other problems I can think of.
1. A lack of truly qualified leadership by our elders. We need to seek to find men who qualify TOTALLY regarding the qualifications that are taught in Titus 1:6-11 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7. Not perfect men, but qualified men. Not appointing them just because they are good business or community leaders, or men who feel their job consists mainly of logistical things such as building maintenance. Why would we need the qualifications set forth in Timothy and Titus to decide what color the stripes should be on a parking lot?
What we must have are men with true backbone to make the often hard decisions that must be made in standing for the Word of God. Such as: 1) oversight of the spiritual growth of a congregation, 2) being watchmen against sin in the local body, 3) guarding against false teaching, 4) overseeing church discipline, 5) educational programs, 6) proper use of God’s money (not the hoarding of it), 7) not worrying about whether their decision is going to be popular, politically correct, or ruffling a few feathers because of a firm biblical stance. We don’t need men who stick their head in the sand when sin presents itself in the congregation because they feel it’s none of their business. It is their business! This awesome responsibility is why 1 Timothy 5:17 shows that not only are they deserving of respect as overseers, but financial support as well. It is, as it should be, a job (work). I’ve heard it said that at most congregations, the preacher does the most of elders’ work and the elders do the most of deacon’s work. Think about it. Even in the church today, most members feel that the preacher is the main man. This is not to be so. They are not the overseers.
2. A lack of strong preaching like Paul instructed Timothy to do in 2 Timothy 4:2-5. This kind of preaching is considered to be negative by many —a “turn off” they say. Christ taught a tremendous amount more about Hell than He did Heaven. Why? Unless reminded often of what we need to avoid, we become complacent. We become like the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:14-22 —lukewarm.
Too many sound preachers are nearly starved out and too many weak preachers compromise to earn a paycheck. This causes two serious problems. Many good men, especially younger, energetic men, won’t enter the ministry because, while not preaching to become rich, they don’t want to qualify for public assistance in order to do so, either. Located preaching is hard enough without nearly starving to death, too. The other problem is that, oftentimes, once a sound minister finally gets a decent paying job after nearly starving, he then feels compelled to give the people what they want, to make them happy, not caring what God wants.
3. A weak membership. We need members who are “all in” on their Christianity. What I mean is, Christians that show in word and deed that being a child of God is the number one focus of their lives, not just a part of their lives. We need members who know God’s Word, practice God’s Word and live God’s Word 24/7. We need Christians who realize and understand that being a “faithful” Christian is not JUST someone whose attendance is good. While no one can do everything, all can do something. I have a pet saying. “If you want more committed, commit yourself.” Christianity is NOT a spectator sport. Our focus is to serve, not be served. Look at the pattern of the first century church. It was proactive and outgoing, not “spiritual hospitals” like we see so commonly today. I have said many times that if Paul could in some way be transformed into the twenty first century, what would he think of the state of the church today? The reason I don’t use Christ in this example is that He already knows. Overall, do you feel that He is pleased with what is happening in so many congregations today?
In our heart of hearts, we know where we are lacking if we are honest with ourselves. While much lip service has been given to this situation over the years, what are we doing about it? The time to begin is now. Let’s not be paralyzed with dread or fear. Let’s not be overcome with lethargy. While I fully understand that even though we are to strive to be Christ-like in everything we say and do, we will never fully attain it, but that never gives us an excuse to not give our best.
There are many basic themes of the Bible, but remember that one of the main themes is that God accepts nothing short of our best, never has, never will. If we don’t do our true best according to God’s Word, perhaps someone in the future will drive by the building where we currently meet and say, “I remember when that used to be where the church met.”
