The Pandemic of Unstable Church attendance!

     

The casualty of Church attendance this pandemic season is constant topic of discussion we hear off late from Pastors and leadership of Churches. It has raised a serious concern on the commitment of the Church members with decreasing tithes and offerings. In some cases, Pastors have been forced to find alternative source of income to function and manage their families. There are the few fortunate who, enjoying a considerably big congregation, managed to survive these adverse times.

'What has caused the apathy of the congregation?' is a pertinent question all Church pastors and leaders need to ask. I would like to illustrate this with a child development analogy.  Parents complain of their child's tantrums in public and the embarrassment they face. They are determined to reprimand the child at all costs and even consider professional counseling sessions for their child. But the fact of the matter is, the public tantrums of the child is an acquired habit at home, which by and large went unaddressed by the parents. They should have disciplined and trained the child in private of their homes to save their face in public. The unaddressed habit has cost the parents their dignity. Don't we find a similar pattern with our congregation members?

Churches placed a great importance on Church attendance for their success. They instilled in the members’ the conviction that their physical presence in Church and financial commitments are what matters to God and Church, the most. We sadly failed to emphasize on the “engagement” part with strategic approach. The reason being, most of the Churches have superficial or no goals and no definite measurable outcomes. The hype was all about having a Sunday performance and namesake Church activities for their members, which have no connection to a specific goal. Eventually, instead of Church services creating revolution in the community, it pathetically ends up as a grand show.

What is engagement? Early Christians didn’t attend Church. They were the Church. Each individual had the enthusiasm to attract a new believer to his/her fellowship. They were completely engaged. However, even with Jesus, many left Him after their needs were met, which led Him to question His team, “Are you also going to leave?”.

Many Churches (even growing Churches) are still counting on getting people to attend, hoping it drives engagement. Cary Nieuwhof on Church growth comments, “The shelf life on attendance strategy is limited because the number of people who want to attend Church drops every year. Consequently, in the future Church attendance won’t drive engagement; engagement will drive attendance.” It's important the Church defines their mission and educate the congregation of its connection to Christ's mission. A live Church is one with active Holistic Mission. It reflects the early Church model - active Church movement, vibrant evangelism work and structured social intervention for their community. It has direct connection to discipleship.

More than 90% of Church congregations are not active disciples. The job of a disciple is to make disciples. Is this true of your congregation? Have your members shared Gospel and have led someone to Christ in the past one or two years? Sadly, in a Christian’s lifetime, majority of them are not able to share the gospel even to one non-Christian friend. This is reality. The truth is people were never engaged with Christ's mission in the first place. Churches today survive either with no definite mission and goals or with ambiguous goals to ensure the security of the Church and its leaders. The member’s engagement is confined to their spiritual belief of attending Sunday Church or attracted to the worship in the Church or to a person, but hardly to the mission. Isn't this a glaring gap? Are we convinced of the problem of engagement over attendance? 

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Doubting John!

John the Baptist was chosen and appointed to make way for Jesus, the Messiah. In fact, it was his calling (Matthew 3:3). We are all aware that John was straightforward, bold in confronting sin and introduced the gospel of repentance (Matthew 3:2), which was soon echoed by Jesus when He started His ministry (Matthew 4:17).

John had clarity in the moral framework after he started preaching the message of repentance and about the kingdom of God. He soon found himself alone in a prison cell, staring at imminent execution for confronting Herod's sin of treachery based on the moral framework established by Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He was the voice in the wilderness, at the peak of his ministry, to the point of being mistaken as the Messiah. He imbibed moral values in people from different walks of life. In fact, John baptized Jesus Himself and thought all the prophecies concerning the Messiah is fulfilled right in front of His eyes. Yet, while in prison it shook his faith system, knowing Jesus was out free, doing His ministry.

John was battling with the fact that no help was coming his way while in prison. In his disciples’ regular visits to meet him, John raises this question and wanted an answer from Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Matthew 11:3

If we have to analyse this, we would soon realize that we also go through situations which raises questions and doubts on the lordship of Christ because we believe for sure everything will turn out to be good for those who believe and follow Him. We Christians are so familiar with Psalms 23, 91 121, 128 and many more such powerful promising words, but when things happen on the contrary, it shakes our very foundation of faith like John's. Today, we are bombarded with messages saying everything will be fine in the end, for Christians. Well, where does this conclusion come from? Are we brainwashed into thinking so? Did it end well for John? No! He was executed. Did it go well with Jesus? No! He was crucified by the cruel Romans. Did it end well for many faith heroes as described in Hebrews 11:34-40. Not at all?

We need to consider the fact that it does not have to end well here on earth, but surely it does end well in terms of our eternity. Jesus did respond to the surging doubt of John by aligning his faith and calling and with the work and ministry of Jesus himself. He said, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receives the sight, the lame walk, these with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.” Two things Jesus said, to report what they heard and to report what they saw. What they heard was the gospel, the good news and the hope of eternity and what they witnessed was the gospel accompanied by signs and wonders. Jesus was the Messiah who came to save and seek the lost.

We may have to face constant challenges, loneliness, crisis and hopelessness. But hold on to your faith in Christ Jesus. Don’t estimate life only to exist on this earth. Life is eternal, inclusive of life after death. Death is just a temporary barrier here on earth but a gateway to meet Jesus face to face. Peter encourages us with these words, "but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 1 Peter 4:13 KJV. Suffering and crisis are part of our life, more so, for Christians to shape us and draw us closer to Him. All that Jesus expects is our unwavering faith on Christ and His finished work.

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‘Follow Me’ / ‘Imitate me’ - The Misunderstood "Me"

 

When man tries to usurp God, that's when challenges shift from personal to a corporate level. The problem today is people are elevated and worshipped but God is used.  In some cases, people are deceived to an extent of elevating ordinary people as God. We find an incident in the book of Acts when Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra. Paul heals the man who was lame from birth and then people shouted saying, “The gods have come down to us in human from” Acts 14:10. In verse 13, it is recorded that the priest of Zeus brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds to offer sacrifice (Acts 14:13). Paul and Barnabas did not just overlook the misunderstanding. They tore their robes and rushed to the crowd shouting and clarifying that they are not gods, but servants of the living God proclaiming good news (Acts 14:15).

However, in present times, specially gifted people elevate themselves to the point of importance and mislead people. Spiritual leaders and Pastors continue begging people to follow the speaker in social media. Building fan base has become the ultimate priority and ulterior goal, which in turn means more money. The success of ministry and churches is sadly gauged by the "ABC model" - Attendance, Building and Cash.

Jesus' phrase ‘Follow me’ was used to build a team of twelve ordinary men to be revolutionaries. The phrase ‘Imitate me’ (1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1) was used by Apostle Paul to create a model. We confuse these phrases in our ministry. Allow me to explain my point. When Jesus used the phrase ‘Follow me’, it had a definite outcome. If you check in Mark 1:17 it says, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.”. Only Jesus could use this phrase, ‘follow me’, in its true sense, because He was God Himself. Therefore, the agenda and goal of every Christian, Pastor and leader should be to get people to follow Christ. I reiterate, it's not the person or their ministry. It is not merely following the leader and being stunted in their vision to understand the Great Commission but being part of the ministry to engage and fulfill Christ's mission. There is a major difference.

Now coming to Paul,  we find in his epistles the phrase ‘imitate me’. In 1 Corinthians 4:16 says, ‘Therefore I urge you to imitate me’. And then in 1 Corinthians 11:1 further clarifies by stating this, “imitate me as I also imitate Christ”. It is perfectly ok to create a model or an example for people to see Christ in us. But not to create a fan base to meet our ends. Christ ensured that the followers become fishers of men, meaning ‘Disciples’ are supposed to make disciples. It is not just to settle and live a good Christian life without fulfilling God’s purpose to reach the non-Christians. Let us stop striving to build our base. The question that begs for an answer is are our followers equipped enough to share the gospel and create a model so that the crowd can find Christ?

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Smart drifting to fall aside!

 

"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. "Galatians 3:3-4 KJV

It isn't always a grave deviation that demands us to deflect from our convictions. It only takes tiny adjustments and subtle compromises that entices us to wander away from the truth. Apostle Paul's question to all of us stirs up our conscience and challenges us to remember our initial commitments and sufferings endured for Christ. Our life has taken a devious turn of living in blatant carnality and embracing a form of godliness. It is this constant seepage of unfaithfulness that has inundated our hearts to totally submerge our faithfulness and loyalty to God altogether.

It's ever too familiar with many children of God who started their voyage with Christ passionately, but anchored themselves mid journey in complacency, resulting in diminished enthusiasm and commitment. Somehow, this comfortable life seems enticing and it convinces a believer to assume that he/she needs comfort and needs met by God all his/her life, with no room for any suffering. This flawed theology gives way to accommodate prosperity theology, which is guaranteed to wreck our faith sooner or later.

It would be wise on our part to consciously analyze where we stand in our faith journey. It is possible to be deceived and blindsided by many factors including our ministerial responsibilities. Apostle Paul's all time advice is worth being made a rule of the thumb, "but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 CSB. Testing all things should include the good and the fake. And most important advice given to us is to stay away from every kind of evil. For Christians the bigger outright crimes are not the BIG NO's, but the very small compromises that looked religious to us, at some point.

It is a disheartening fact to start with the spirit and drift to perfect in flesh. The bad swallows up the good and soon takes the one who has drifted to become the worst kind of evil person. Apostle Paul warned us in 2 Timothy 3:13, saying, "Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived.". Today there are other religious faiths who have exclusively started a website and Twitter account to expose the debauchery and embezzlement of Christians done in the name of Christ. We look no different from other faiths when it comes to these types of crimes committed. The commonalities are alarming.

"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Galatians 5:9 NKJV. It doesn't take obvious temptations to subvert one from the journey of faith. Small compromises can cause similar damage. It's time for us to retrospect and maybe start asking the following questions, as individuals, to help check our spiritual health:

What is my area of vulnerability?

Which area of my life am I forced to compromise?

Who are my friends who have strong influences on me?

Where do I fail miserably?

What are my weaknesses?

Have I disobeyed God lately in any matter?

How involved am I in His mission?

How do I utilize most of my time?

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Beyond Remedy!

 

Global news is flooded with catastrophes, natural disasters, riots and man-made threats rendering human devastation beyond remedy. The world seems to run into perpetual chaos shaking everything at its foundation. There is a sense of hopelessness looming despite of relief and rehabilitation work done through Government and religious institutions. Death of family members and loss of job are adding to the woes. We all need God's intervention in this turmoil. Churches are praying for the healing and restoration of the land and God has to show mercy on the entire human race.

Are we able to infer anything from all of this chaos? God is drawing the attention of the entire world towards Him is an undeniable fact. Especially, reminding the Churches to be even more inclined towards His mission. Activities and strategies on reaching the nations are thriving but the actual reaching of the non-Christian world is still comparatively low. With Christendom held up in its own crisis during this time, its focus has stunted to safety zone and the four walls of the Church.

Let us not forget things are moving rapidly to the final culmination. Allow me to reiterate that He is a God of justice and fairness, as His judgement perfectly fits parallel to His divine nature of love. God has not become less gracious or powerless. Things need to culminate. Few Biblical verses which paints the current dreadful scenario are as follows:

“The one who is far off will die by plague; the one who is near will fall by the sword; and the one who remains and is spared will die of famine. In this way I will exhaust my wrath on them." Ezekiel 6:12

“Whoever flees at the sound of panic will fall into a pit, and whoever escapes from the pit will be caught in a trap. For the floodgates on high are opened, and the foundation of the earth are shaken.”. Isaiah 24:18

“It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him. Won’t the day of the Lord be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?” Amos 5:19-20

“What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.” Joel 1:4

We are so used to speaking blessings that sometimes we fail to take heed to the warning messages. All is not well! Each day we are moving closer to the coming of the Lord. Incessant disasters are an alarm of the eleventh hour. I think it is important to accelerate our urgency in the gospel work and sensitize human race.  There are few questions we need to retrospect personally. They are:

>How do we understand a time like this?

>How are we carrying the Mission of God to the Non-Christian world?

>Is our Church really burdened to connect with the Non Christian community? What is the Evangelism growth rate?

>What is satisfying us in a time like this?

>What is hindering us? 

>How are we willing to align our obedience to the Great Commission?

May the Lord prepare us to be effective and faithful workers in His vineyard.!

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Imbalance overlooked seriously!

 

“Why should some hear the Gospel many times over when others have not heard it even once?” Does this question disturb us? This has haunted me often and its glaring truth breaks my heart. Randy Alcorn Founder & Director of Eternal Perspective Ministries in his finding states, "the Church budgets irrespective of where it is located, often designate less than 10 percent of their income to missions. And what’s called “missions” often includes our own country or community.”.  If we all believe the Church is the only hope for the dying world, why then is our energy spent in preserving the members inside the four walls of the Churches than broadening the horizon? It can be observed, today’s Church has become salt and light to itself and not to the world as it was called to be, which left to itself becomes artificial light and self-preservation? The concern highlighted in the book of Hosea is about Israel profiting itself, “Israel is a lush vine; it yields fruit to itself…”. It is a warning that we should refrain from being "self-useful".

Do you know what is the central message in most of the Churches today? Week after week sermons from the pulpit emphasizes on taking care of the family, raising children, enhance family bonding, love their spouses, love their pastors and attend Churches regularly. Where is the message that talks about going out, obedience and engagement to the Great commission? Matthew 19:27, Peter on behalf of the other disciples says, “See we have left everything and followed you…”. The point to note here is that it was a response to the call of Jesus. It was not just a call, “Follow me”, but little more than that.  If you notice in Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus said, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”. And it comes with a warning in verse 25 “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.”. Following which, Jesus confirms the reward for leaving everything and following Jesus in verse 29, “And everyone who has left houses or brother or sisters or father or mother or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred-time ore and will inherit eternal life.”. Though all the disciples are believed to have taken care of their families well, but we don’t get to read what they did with their families and their loved ones but we are definitely apprised about their commitment to leave everything and take the Gospel throughout the world. Thank God! Thomas came to India in 52 AD and spent twenty years spreading the good news before he died in 72 AD.

We are bombarded time and again that when we come to Christ, He will bless us manifold, everything will be fine and we will start climbing the ladder of success. Sorry to break your bubble! this is not what Jesus said at all.

Some of Christ’s disciples must leave behind their money and possessions to go reach the thousands of unreached people groups of the world. Some of His disciples must stay where they are, reaching out to those around them and living lifestyles that allow them not only to pray for others but also to give generously, to send and support them, and more importantly to share the Gospel in their work spaces and in their community.

We are called to obey His mission. What does it mean? Paul explains Christ mandate beautifully in 1 Corinthians 15:3 “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that was buried that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.”. That means we have no right to keep what we have received. This is the format of the Gospel work. But unfortunately, we are never burdened for the sins of not giving out what we have received. We only want to repeat hearing and repeat teaching about the love of Christ. Let us not forget the central verse of the Bible in John 3:16 “For God so loved that he gave his only begotten son…”. Love resulted to give His son. Let me close with the question again, “Why should some hear the Gospel many times over when others have not heard it even once?”

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Lifestyle Evangelism!

 

Times are such that I cannot but emphasize on Evangelism and our response to the edicts of Christ, i.e., our obedience to Great Commission and Great commandment. It's  imperative that we show our fervor and aggressiveness in taking the Gospel to the world like never before. The world is in such turmoil with the pandemic and it's new variants threatening globally. Though the world leaders are trying out best solutions, the challenges outnumber. Extreme and erratic weather conditions, political unrests, Bio wars are some challenges. In all of these should the priority of the Churches alter? Absolutely not. The focus of the Churches and every Christian should remain the same, i.e., reaching out to the people dying without Christ, more precisely 49 people per minute.

It's an encouraging fact that Churches and Christian Organizations are demonstrating the Love of Christ in action by meeting the physical needs of the poor; thereby, fulfilling the demands of Great Commandment which says, “Love your neighbors as yourselves.” Mark 12:29. But the question remains as to what extent the Gospel is shared with the same enthusiasm? I fully believe social intervention does open doors to present Christ to people, but are the Christians prepared to present it effectively? Krish Dhanam underscores on obeying to His mandate, “If you practice Great Commission and share about Christ you are an irritant, and if you practice Great Commandment and talk about the love of Christ you are interesting, but if you do both Great Commission and Great Commandment together you are irresistible.”.

A lifestyle of Evangelism is when you are not just seen as a believer or a Pastor but one who is able to share His faith in a convincing way that wins a soul for Christ. Many are just a little better than a good Christian but failing to present the Savior to the world. It is observed, many Christians who claim to be His disciples are blissfully ignorant. They try to proclaim a heaven they can’t prove while here on earth. Lee Strobel states, “I’m all for lifestyle evangelism, but I’m also in favor of intentionality, where we seek out opportunities for spiritual conversations and are equipped to explain the gospel and why we believe it”.

Each one of us are under the obligation to present the Gospel. It makes heaven rejoice. The alarming fact is that mathematical calculations of big number does not bring glory to God but on a contrary invites His indignation on us. Luke 15:7 says, “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.”. Intentional sharing of the Gospel takes time and energy in relationship building to induce honest commitment. It is doubtlessly the work of the Holy Spirit, but there are umpteen components that comprises Gospel sharing. This has been addressed in one of my previous blogs, which you can check HERE. It's appalling to observe that big organizations and Churches fall into the temptation of brandishing huge numbers of Gospel shared and people making commitment to Christ assuming heaven will be impressed, disappointingly cheating themselves.

 It is good to note how the Gospel numbers were calculated in the Bible. It was done with stunning accuracy. For example, in the case of people who were fed with seven loaves and few small fish, Matthew records four thousand men ate, besides women and children (Matthew 15:34-37). If it were to be us, we would have calculated big numbers hoping to bring glory to God. Numbers keep exchanged, duplicated, over calculated but heaven is still waiting to rejoice over one sinner making an honest confession and committing to follow Jesus. While Churches and organizations are looking for number of decisions made, Jesus is looking for disciples. We need revival. Let me close with the words of Leonard Ravenhill, "There’s no blueprint to revival. But there’s one thing that’s always there and it’s what the Apostle Paul said: “My little children, for whom I travail in birth.” For what? That you become Evangelists? That you become Missionaries? No! He says: “that CHRIST may be formed in you”!" And after Christ is formed in a person he /she cannot contain himself/herself.

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