Three Streams

The Western church is undergoing a huge crisis, most people know this, perhaps with the exception of those in the church-growth/mega church camp who think that their growing churches (which are mostly due to transfers) are a sign of revival, health and growth. In reality the mega-church for the most part is anything but healthy in most cases it is nothing other than a reinforcement of ungodly secular and capitalist values dressed up as church.

Diversion aside, books, conferences journals, sermons etc all have something to say about a) the nature of the churches problems b) the solution to the churches problems. This blog is no different on that front.

So whats the problem in the church? Well it depends on who you ask. The most obvious issue is that church attendence has been and continues to be on the decrease. On this front many ministers and leaders are panicing, therefore the solution is to be found in finding ways to attract more people into church. This raises problems because the churches ‘mission’ to reach the community is now combined with the need to survive. This influences the agenda both subtly and drasticly.

At the risk of jumping ahead of myself let me explain. The church is called to a)preach the gospel b)make disciples. This involves a faithful representation of the message preached by John the Baptist, Jesus and the apostles, incidently they all got killed for what they preached (save John the apostle.) Their message was not poular then and it is not popular today. Part of the reason that our churches historicly where so full is that the church and the state were one and it was the law to go to church! Law became tradition. When the law changed it just took a while for the tradition to catch up. So for the church it looks drastic. However the reality is that the church/God’s people have always been small in comparison to the surrounding context. I am not suggesting a ’small mindset’ I am just stating a fact.

The mission of God’s people has never been to ‘be as big as possible’ it has always been to ‘be as faithful to God as possible’. In fact faithfulness is always against a huge tide of ungodliness. I think the devil has sowed some deceptive seeds into the church. The deception is that we need to be big, inorder to be big we need to be relevant and popular. Inorder to do that we need to ‘rethink’ theology and practice. The end result is that the church hasnt really got that much bigger but it has certainly lost its identity. God’s flock are scatered and wandering the wilderness vulnerable to wolves and badly needing nourished.

The unfaithfulness begins by a rejection of God’s authority. God’s authority is His Soveriegnty. His Sovereign will is revealed in His word. Evangelical arminians, in the name of ‘godly sencerity’ abandoned the sovereignty of God in a fire of evangelical zeal. The appeared succsessful for a season however the preceding generations have shown the fruit for what it really was. The abandoning of a ‘Sovereign God’ has led to the abandoning of His Word. This is where we are today. the scripture says ‘the fear of the Lord is the begining of wisdom’. The real fear of God is in recognising His Sovereignty, for who in reality fears a god whose purposes can be thwarted by the will of man? No, God is sovereign over the destiny of all, Jesus says ‘fear him who has the power to destroy the soul and body and hell’. The church has created a god that doesnt ’send people to hell’, those who are too scared to abandon the idea of hell instead say ‘man sends himself there by his own choice’. Nonsense. God is Sovereign and has mercy on whomever he chooses and hardens whoever he chooses. This is a God to be feared.

Moreover evangelical arminains taught the church that the salvation of the lost depends on them. They must reach out or the world will be lost. So now in a rapidly declining church, the church is desperate to keep itself alive. It is desperate to be ‘reaching out’. Yet the reality is ’survival’ and pressure to appear ’succsessful’ (big numbers) and ‘relevant’ has had such an impact on its identity and purpose that it no longer remembers who it is serving and why it is reaching out in the first place. The church in the west, is largely corrupt. I do not say that lightly or arrogantly, but it is true.

Disobedience is always followed by a wilderness period in the people of God. Restoration is always followed by repentance and reformation. This involves getting the idols out and stopping wrong behavior. It includes returning to the Biblical understanding of God and starting right behaviour. Theology first and action second and never one without the other. Rebellion and idolatry is the dethronement of God. Let me suggest that a return to God is return to feet of a Sovereign God. The other issues i.e outreach, worldliness in the church etc will only be solved after we return to true worship of God as He is .

If we understood God’s sovereignty we would understand that the salvation of the lost does not depend on us. We would not be ‘tampering’ with the revelation of God to make it more popular for the sinful masses. Our call is to be faithful. This first of all demmands that we repent of our idolatrous views of God (ideas that are not based on scripture but are of human origin). This is then followed through by learning what God desires us to do (obedience to His word).

Lord grant us mercy in these days. Forgive your church oh Lord, for we have wandered far from your glorious truth. We have worshiped a ‘god made in our image’ rather than the ‘God who made us in His Image’. We have fallen into idolatry and rebellion. For Your Names sake oh Lord in wrath remember mercy and grace. Restore the church that bares your name. Raise up prophets and priests who will honor you, love you and obey you. Raise up men who will turn the hearts of the people back to you. Restore and cleanse your Bride that she may be found without ’spot and wrinkle’ at your return. In your mercy revive us that we may reach lost sinners who are perishing in their sins who will some day soon feel your wrath as they slip into the eternal fires of hell. Father restore us, reform us and revive us that we may be the church who bears your Name. Work out your glorious purposes through us Oh God we pray. We are but dust, we are sinners prone to sin but You have redeemed us. Enable us to see the glorious atoning work of Christ once again. Lord lead us to the cross of your Son and then to the empty tomb. Lead us on to Pentecost that we may fulfill your commision until Jesus returns and Your Kingdom comes in fulness. In Jesus Name we pray.