It’s easy to look at the American church and recognize that there is something wrong, something missing, something horribly different than the example set in Scripture and the early church.
What is the problem? Why do we hear about the amazing things God is doing in churches all over the world, and yet it seems like most people locally are struggling to even stay awake?
I’ve read story after story of church services in other countries going for hours and hours on end because the CONGREGATION didn’t want to stop. They were so hungry for the Word, so enveloped in what they were doing that they worshipped with everything they had without putting a time limit on it. Meanwhile, we struggle to get through an hour-long service without thinking of where we are going to eat after church because we are hungry for something else. We become enveloped in what is going on in our lives such as our problems, our pride, who is playing who after church and whether or not I will have time to make it to kickoff if the Pastor continues at the rate he is going.
I’ve been to worship in other countries where those worshipping are doing so with total abandon to anything going on around them. And yet, locally I see many church goers making it seem like they are being inconvenienced by being asked to just stand up and sing, let alone stop thinking about themselves for five minutes.
I’d say the cause is pretty simple, but I think it is made up of two parts:
1. We have downplayed the role of the Holy Spirit. It is so easy nowadays to show up to church, say Jesus is Lord, pray a quick prayer to the Father, and go home. In our culture, by doing that you are considered a pretty good person. I want you to read Acts and then see if that looks right. I can guarantee you it doesn’t. The early church depended on God for everything, and that INCLUDED THE HOLY SPIRIT. They saturated themselves with Him. He empowered everything they did, gave them boldness and equipped them to do incredible things, but it started with their expectation for Him to do so, a total surrender of themselves, and an awareness that anything He does is not of them but of God. We don’t expect Him to move today because we are afraid of how He might do so. He might ask us to get uncomfortable, to give up everything, to leave. You know what? He will, and He does. But He promises what will come of it is so much better than anything we give up. Our fear of the unknown has led us to cling to the known, even if it is broken.
2. Apathy is a disease that has infected our men. I’ve heard people say the American church is catered to women. In fact, I’ve said that exact thing myself before. There is reason for it too. It is because men have become so enraptured with maintaining a manly outer appearance and having it all together, that it has become taboo to admit any sort of brokenness, need, or dependence on anything other than self. As a result, going to church has become something we do to maintain an appearance, not refill our spiritual cups. When that happens, a culture develops where men coming to faith see the example we set in the church and believe that is the way it is supposed to be. Why do you think so many youth leave the church after college? All they see is a bunch of men and women showing up for an hour a week (maybe twice a week if your super spiritual) more out of a sense of duty, than need and dependence. All that does is create a stronger generation of the same.
How do we change this then?
It’s going to take men and women who are ok with being different.
It is going to take men and women who depend 100 percent on the Lord and who desire to see Him work, no matter the discomfort they may experience in the meantime.
It’s going to take men who go against the cultural norm and decide to be intentional with those around them and the future generation.
It’s going to take men and women who own up to their brokenness and surrender it totally to God, because it is then that He will use it to change the world.
It is time for believers to stop talking about the decline of the American church and actually do something about it. It is time for men and women to Step Up.
