June 20, 2018
My How the Church Has Declined
(Continued from 061318) …
Someone may say, I can see how small gains may result from this new approach. But, modest increases are all you will ever see. I consider a little gain —any gain — better than the significant losses the church experiences year-after-year.
Today, people look for relationships and purpose. The church building must facilitate, encourage, and provide the operational base to meet these needs. The church members must utilize the church buildings as home bases to learn, grow, nurture and prepare themselves spiritually as they work among the community of unbelievers—the lost people within and without.
I suggest a workable plan for accomplishing the goal of saving more people and spiritually educating our members would include these six actions steps.
- Start with prayer and commitment
- Encourage members to reexamine their relationship with God.
- Reach out to professing Christians who no longer attend worship services or Life Groups and let them know we want them back.
- Emphasize that there are steps beyond salvation that lead to a walk with God.
- Stress the value of Bible study and its application to everyday life
- Set a goal of increasing Life Group (Sunday school) average attendance by 20 percent in the next six months.
The shift from building new and bigger spiritual sandboxes and saying to the world, “Come to play in my sandbox,” to “Would you allow me to play in your sandbox?” may open new doors for innovative believers and churches. The Bible says on one occasion, Jesus stooped down and wrote in the sand. Could He be writing today in a new sandbox?
I am an idealist. I don’t know what percentage of the unsaved church members will respond and become friends of Jesus, but I see the church itself is a significant missionary opportunity.