Sorry I've been gone so long. I think I burned out on the whole blogging thing and needed some time away. I am seeking to bring more balance in to many areas of my life. We'll see how it goes.
Here's an interesting quote from an article at Christianity Today called No Church? No Problem.
Unlike the Great Awakenings, which brought people into the church, this new movement "entails drawing people away from reliance upon a local church into a deeper connection with and reliance upon God." Already "millions of believers have stopped going to church," so Barna expects that in 20 years "only about one-third of the population will rely upon a local congregation as the primary or exclusive means for experiencing and expressing their faith." Down will go the number of churches, donations to churches, and the cultural influence of churches.
This doesn't sound too good for job security for pastors! But I hope it spells great things for the advancement of God's Kingdom. What are your thoughts about this trend?
Filed in: church, trends
5 comments:
I'm reading through Barna's book "revolution" where he seems to be almost advocating a move to "house churches" instead of the old-fashioned kind. While I see the possibilities there, I also see a ton of possible abuses. The desire to "make God in our own image" will be awfully strong if your own spiritual guides are ones who tickle your ears with what you want to hear.
From the sound of the article, it sound bad. It seems obvious to me that as Christians, we were meant to be in a strong spiritual community with each other. A local congregation is one of the best ways to accomplish this (though often, they do fail at that). Plus, it is exceedingly dangerous to not have mentors and others to whom you are accountable. Outside a local congregation, that's harder to find.
Plus, local congregations begin to form a structure for many christians working together. And it's relatively easy for local congregations to communicate and work in unity when they care to try. Christians on their own would be very hard to even find, making a unifying work much more difficult.
I'm inclined to be open to cultural movements but growing faith without church is like becoming a better musician without taking lessons or joining a band. You can only get so far without being challenged by others.
I think many people are assuming that the point of church is personal growth and faith deepening. While this is a function of the church, it's primary purpose is to reveal God to the community.
"Outside of the [visible] church there is no salvation" (originally written by Cyprian but the idea is reiterated by both Luther and Calvin). It is nonsensical to speak of Christianity outside of the local church in any culture.
The first thing that comes to my mind is from Hebrews 10:25-"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Also, what about worshipping together, accountability, using your gifts to build one another up, etc--we can't do this if we are not meeting together.
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