People Wise
On a flight to Tulsa, Oklahoma in September, 2008 I met a distinguished looking man that had an interesting perspective of what the church should be. He was dressed up in a suit, 79 years old and looked to be highly educated…he was. He had spent over 40 years of his life in a Christian University first as a teacher then as an administrator. As we began to talk I found out what church he was a part of. He insisted that they were not a denomination, had no headquarters, and that each church, over 8000 of them nationwide, were totally independent of any organization. This interested me.
I shared that I was also in the “church” business and that our group, I avoided using the “O” (organization) word, planted churches around the USA. I also mentioned that one of our churches was listed as the fastest growing church in the USA. Immediately he said, “We are not charismatic!” He went on to explain that charismatic style churches were very fast growing with their style but that they, his group of churches, were fine with the smaller congregations that made up the many independent churches that he associated with.
Then he made a statement to me that sums up the kind of church that most people today have quit going to. He said, “We are not charismatic, we do not entertain people, and we don’t do community service. We just teach the Bible and that’s all we do.”
Let me interpret that for you. From further discussion I understood these four distinctions about his church.
1. They did not believe that spiritual gifts were for today.
2. They did not have a live band that provided music.
3. They did not try to grow their churches by reaching out to the needs of the people in the community.
4. They only preached the Bible…that’s it.
This would be the antithesis of people-wise. This is not understanding a modern culture that thrives on entertainment, desires that someone understand their felt needs and wants an encounter with a real God and His spirit. This culture wants a church that “lives” the Bible.
Relevant?
We often use the words “relevant” and “authentic” to describe our approach to ministry. They are good words…howbeit a little overused. What I think we are trying to say is, we are “people-wise.” People-wise in the sense that we understand that people have had a problem relating to the old school church. The church of pews and hymnals, religion and tradition and same ole same ole just isn’t drawing new people or holding members anymore. Church just doesn’t seem to fit into the cultural needs of modern people so they just stop coming. They stop coming by the millions.
On Sunday mornings over 13 million Christians who use to attend services are now absent. They are saying “yes” to Jesus but “no” to church.
How does this fare with Great Commission? The local church, with its Sunday services, has been the great evangelistic arm of the church for centuries. Small groups are also a great part of that effort. But most successful small group ministries are a result of the harvest on Sunday mornings. If Christians quit church, who will bring the lost to hear the Gospel? A bigger question is, “How can we make the church more people-wise so that Christians will come back?”
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Comments
Chere Brown
It is a haunting question you raise, If Christians quit church, who will bring the lost to hear the Gospel? It is certainly my hope, that even if Christians quit church as we know it, that they are not quitting Christ. Our greatest hope is that these scattered Christians are still spreading seeds and still watering. Perhaps these missing Christians are on a mission from God, to “go into the highways and byways and compel them to come in”. And if so, we will once again sit together at the Kings Table and feast together.
David
Your blog is the beginning of a needed discussion. I think the man you discussed in your blog, raised some good points that deserve attention. If he teaches the word, his group should grow, will it grow into a model that we are familiar with called the “church?” Or will he make disciples that care more about souls than numbers? Every living cell (group or church) that belongs to God has to define itself by asking, What does God want from us?
Your points are valid and need our focus. I think we have to be careful about becoming an entity onto ourselves in the name of God such as a small group that doesn’t want to grow. I love worship, music and drama but these things are only tools. How much of these tools are ordained of God? I like the fact that your brought up that there are millions of people who no longer attend a church service on the day of worship, You are using the tool of a blog to reach them.
Pastor Kurt Hannah
I would submit that you cannot “love Jesus and not the church.” The church is the very body of Christ (I Cor. 12:12-19). The Apostle John makes the point stronger when he says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (I John 4:20). Saying, “I like Jesus, but no the church” is akin to saying, “I like Jesus, just not anything about him.”
Billy
Pastor Kurt, that is exactly my take on the scripture. People run away from the church…or we repel them…we need to find out which one is occurring and fix it.
David, I think the local church can offer life to all those that have left and those who have yet to come. When we offer them the Life of God it is pretty irresistible. If they find life, the will come back..and hopefully stick around.
Chere, I hope that those that leave the local church will go around spreading seeds of hope as well, only my experience is that they lose heart and encouragement when they separate themselves from the Body of Christ.
Lamar Slay
His group, like other dying groups, are known for by what they “do not” do and what they are against. The one thing they say they do, is not reality. To teach part of the Bible and omit the passages about serving and reaching is partial obedience and partial obedience is disobedience.
Billy
God is moving in many of those churches in a mighty way. I was surprised when he told me what he did. Otherwise, he seemed to be a sweet and sincere brother. I prayed for him.
Luke
SON you preached it on this one… stirred some things up. Still got some Creek in ya…
Proud of ya Bro Billy. I am in Tokyo headed home after another great catch in Sri Lanka.
u da man…
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