Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
8/5/2021
personal Transformation don’t often happen in Churchs today
In 2012 the Barna group found that 46% of churchgoers said: "their life has not changed at all as a result of church-going." On top of that, three out of five church attendees, 61%, said they could not remember significant new insights gained by attending church services. What is even more bothersome is that 1/3 of those who have attended a church in the past have never felt God‘s presence while in a congregational setting.
It is obvious the overwhelming majority of national ministries are not producing much fruit. 2. People are not experiencing God in our churches. This would’ve been unthinkable in the early days of the Christian church as described in the New Testament. This is a critical warning that something is terribly wrong.
We can’t just point at other churches because we are blessed to be in a vibrant thriving religious community. We have to take a close look at ourselves and where we stand personally in being a Christ-follower. (That includes the relationship positions of our children to Christ) What can you share about your Holy Spirit encounters and experiences? Or should I ask what have you shared with others to encourage them? If not, then why not?
Biblical literacy is declining. That’s warning number 3. Not only are the majority not getting spiritual insight from their church experience but a growing number aren’t getting it from the Bible either. According to the American Bible Society’s “State of the Bible 2013 report", the number of Americans who are antagonistic toward the Bible has increased from 10 to 17% from 2011 to 2013. It is now 2021 what do you imagine that number is today?
To counter that statistic it says two out of three Americans believe the Bible contains everything a person needs to live a meaningful life. But only one out of five, 21%, actively read the Bible at least four times a week. Even churchgoers who believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, only 20% say they think about it during the day. Fewer people inside the church believe in the truth and power found in scripture through his Word, and even fewer are taking the time to listen.
If you have visited other churches over the years you have heard the watered-down gospel and seen that the church is losing its power. There is a little joy in their worship or power in their prayers. Teens and young adults profess to be believers, but half of those born in the church leave it, and those who remain don’t generally seem too excited about Jesus of Nazareth.
Some Christian leaders sadly say the decline is so severe unless something turns around unless God visits them in a fresh way, their denomination will probably barely exist in a decade or two.
Let us not be blind to the warning signs or dismiss them with a trite, that can’t happen to the Christian church in America. Yes, God certainly is on the throne, but this decline truly saddens his heart. We can’t just use faith talk or mental positivism to avoid the reality facing us and our children.
Storms happened to the New Testament church too. Nero burned the city. They used Christians as meat for the wild animals in the Games. But that wasn’t the focus of those early Christians. They went about doing what the Holy Spirit said to do. Continually seeking the Lord for his wisdom and direction. Drawing together in a Christian community to give support to their families and the children. Their eyes were on Jesus and him alone!
Most of us know down deep that this country and culture will not change unless the Christians stand up, repent, get right with God and start changing it from home and in their church families. There is an answer to the ominous gradual moral decline in the Church of Christ. I pray some of the facts I have listed will light a path back to our roots. The New Testament church who were filled “with joy and the Holy Spirit:" Acts 13;52. God is not glorified in these trends nor is it his purpose any more than the lukewarmness of the church at Laodicea, which, in love, he openly rebuked. Rev 3:14-22. For them and for us he is standing at the door knocking and waiting for us to respond.
If we humble ourselves and admit to failing him, will he not compassionately draw near to us with mercy and grace? Unlike that Sunami that wiped out the light of 200k people, we must not disappear into the darkness of the storm. I pray you do not get bogged down with these negative facts, or that this doesn’t pertain to me and my family. The question is will you honestly assess your position in the storm that is already here and look to God to guide you and your family through it with real purpose and intentionality.
Will you pray with us and with your family for one hour this week and really search your heart about where you are with God?
Excerpts are taken from Jim Cymbala’s Book. Strong through the Storm
