The Christian church is a beautiful thing. It is a community based on the Covenant promise and a representation of God's faithfulness displayed in the living activity of the saints. It is an expression found in the book of The Acts of the Apostles after Peter delivering his sermon at Pentecost,
And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were dividing them up with all, as anyone might have need. And daily devoting themselves with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and [am]sincerity of heart, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved. [Acts 2:44-47 LSB]
Looking at these verses, immediately, there is evidence of unity. There was an understanding of equal status as believers. Breaking bread, attending the temple and having a sincere heart show priorities and belonging. Lastly, the Lord was adding to their number daily. When I read this account, I am brought to a reflection point on what is happening with the local church today. More so, the Lord adding numbers, as it seems this is slow. Further, membership retention is difficult. Many church shop, refuse to become members or treat membership lightly, hampering the unity of the body.
Unity exists within the Protestant church to some extent, but not how it once was. Understanding there needs to be doctrinal purity and there needs to be an unshakable allegiance to the fundamentals of the faith, the amount of inward fighting cannot be ignored. Scrolling Twitter these days is like throwing a raw pork chop into a den of hungry dogs. Say the wrong thing, and you will see the savage evidence of what that would look like through the typed words.
But another thing is also going on: Protestants are still protesting. I would go as far as to say it seems the one thing the Protestant church does well is fight. If there is a disagreement over eschatology, many in the camp will battle this out as if it is a first-order doctrine. Variance in translations of Scripture, look out! Again, there is a time and place for battle, but the past three years have shown the pork chop analogy to be accurate. We are so consumed with battling one another over the minors that a question needs to be asked: Have we forgotten?
Leaving the concern of inward fighting, another evident thing is the death of [physical] local churches. There was a time when every city had a Protestant church on the corner. The congregations were not significant and represented the demographic of the community. With the advancement of transportation, many are satisfied with travelling well over an hour to attend a service. Granted, if there is no church in an area that is faithful in the Gospel, one needs to travel, but something else seems to be happening. Though the emergent church days seem to be behind us, the mega, seeker-sensitive church DNA is still part of many individuals' [church leaders] understanding of what a church is or is not. Church attendance is based on kids' programs, VBS, building size, gymnasium, and more. People see the smaller church as a place with little to offer, or something must be wrong because it is small opinion. If the bells and whistles are not there, people will not attend. The evidence of this is the rapid decline of local churches and the rise of more extensive facilities with multiple staff. Many are consumers, but not many are participants. Again, have we forgotten?
So there is the inward fighting, the decline of local churches, there is one more thing of concern. The church planting initiatives that are taking place. Now, I am all for church planting. After all, it is a mandate of our Lord to do so.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." [Matt 28:18-20 LSB]
Here, Jesus is very clear as the church's primary purpose is discipleship. Converts are not just the goal; the aim is to teach people Christ's instructions, which is done in the local church. To observe the sacraments and partake in community. So it is a no-brainer churches raise men who are church planters, send them out and plant. However, the established local church, which is declining, is often neglected when plants occur. It is possible there is a feeling of "we can do it better" or "God is doing a new thing." It is equally possible many feel others are doing it wrong ( First point tie-in). Example. There is a Baptist Church on the corner of 1st and Main. It was planted in 1934. At one point, the congregation was healthy at 80 people. There has been some decline over the years, and by 2023, the church is struggling. The average attendance is 20, but the property is paid for and has a healthy reserve. At the same time, John Smith had just received his M.Div and worked with the denomination to plant a church. In doing so, John plants a start-up church six blocks south of 1st and Main and uses all the modern gimmicks of church planting. However, John has no building. He struggles to find facility rentals, set up teams, and after a year, becomes tired. So, two churches are operating in a community. Both claim unity and are about Christ but work against one another. We ask the question again: Have we forgotten?
It is possible many [not all] in the Christian church act as if they are not part of the Covenant community. Perhaps this is why many spend more time arguing over the nonessentials of doctrine, destroying one another on social media and working as if the church down the road is competition. It is possible, and I say it is, that we have indeed forgotten. We have forgotten that the Christian church exists not to build our kingdoms but to mature the saints and spread the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide [HIS kingdom]. In doing so, we are planting churches on the corners of the communities in which we are called. We invest in older churches; we ensure they stay open, functioning and growing. We would be busy and not wasting away our time with other matters. A correction needs to take place soon.
Now a new question, how to correct this? The first thing is to remember who we are. Believers are Covenant people. We are then to live under the instructions of our Lord towards other believers (even if we disagree on 2nd or 3rd-order issues). Let me say this again, We walk in love towards other believers even if they are of a different denomination (John 13:34-35; 1 John 4:11,1 John 4:20). Baptists getting along with Presbyterians, Presbyterians getting along with Indendept Bible Chapels and so forth. The church is not the name above the door of a building; it is the people who belong to Christ and gather. We must remember "one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." (Eph 4:5-6). The second thing is a wake-up call. For those involved or interested in church planting, it is apparent that towns and municipalities are not giving over much land these days. Even if they were, we have established Christian local assemblies around Canada that sometimes need revitalization and replanting. So, instead of working alone, partner. Perhaps pastoring a dying church as a planter is a start. There are partnering avenues if the church is not in the same denomination. Instead of fighting over small differences, the denomination selling off the property of a hurting local assembly goes back to where the Gospel is primary. Return to a time when a church property would be sold for a dollar so a church planter could have a home location. If they have heretical or apostate issues, everything mentioned stops, but not everything is heresy or apostasy, either. Perhaps if we stopped all the fighting, we would see this: Sola Scriptura, not opinion.
Lastly, the church must purge itself of all the contamination the emergent church days brought. Being a pastor of a local church is not about programs, nor is it about numbers. It is about the Covenant community. Families attend a local congregation, and the minister pours his heart into disciplining those believers to live in a fallen world. To build up other men who will either become planters or remain as established elders so that the church will remain a central part of the community it was planted many years ago.
Have we forgotten? Yes, we certainly have. Every time we see the brutality of words towards another believer, a church planter barely keeping his head above water or driving by a church building that closed down and became a condo, it shows the reality of such failure. Sadly, there is evidence of this occurring across the country almost daily. When we see men chasing a book deal instead of sheep, we have forgotten. Thankfully, the Lord is gracious, and He is kind. He awakens us from our slumber and corrects us. With that, I suggest we pray that the church awaken from the slumber of being content with operating by business and growth models and get back to Holy Spirit-driven ministry, unity and proclamation. May we be slower to type, speak and destroy others and see how we can support them so that we leave a local church for our children on every corner of every town instead of victory over an argument or a condo where a community once gathered for corporate worship of our King.
In His Grace,
P/Steve
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