I don't think we have enough churches in America, much less in our region.
The region that I minister in has more churches per capita than anywhere in North Carolina. I know this, however, I still say that we don't have enough churches. Let me clarify...
I don't believe we have enough different, evangelistic churches in our region. I don't think that we have enough churches that are willing to say "I don't care what we've always done, we're no longer reaching people who aren't 'church people', we MUST do something!". We don't have enough churches who have made it their mission to reach people that normal churches probably won't reach - churches who have decided to structure to reach the lost rather than placate the found.
Here's a thought/prayer/vision that I have been dealing with for a long while that deals with one way that the mission could boldly move forward...
There are many churches in our region who have very few people attending. They are old in age and unless something drastic happens they are less than a generation away from closing the doors because they won't have enough attenders to continue. These churches have property that is basically unused (except for a weekly service). The building was built for the Glory of God - a place to worship Jesus and to reach those who don't know Him with His message of salvation. However, the sad fact is that "they" don't visit anymore. And when "they" occasionally do with a parent or friend "they" don't return the next week. "They" make comments like, "it was just the way I remembered it"; problem is, while "they" were gone society changed, the demographic around the church changed, technology changed and the way we receive information has changed while that church remained exactly the same. Exactly.
Most church attenders don't care that their church is basically the same that it was 10 years ago - they may even use the lazy excuse, "the church should be the one place that doesn't change because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever". The sad part about attitudes like this is that they aren't even honest: they don't acknowledge the fact that they used to not have electricity (they do now); They used to not have indoor restrooms (they do now); They used to not have electric organs (they do now); They used to not have air conditoning and would raise the windows for air (they do now); Even the hymnals they sing from have been changed to a newer edition. Many have made the building handicap accessible for their aging congregation. There have been changes made to their buildings - it just happens that those changes are changes that they liked, changes they were interested in making.
Many of our older churches have money in the bank that has been sitting there earning interest for many years for such a time as this. Many are afraid to spend the money because they're saving it for a rainy day; The problem with that is God didn't give them that money to save, He gave them that money to do ministry with, to make a difference with, to win souls with! What if Jesus were to return tonite? What would happen to that money? It would cease to be effective for the purpose that God has entrusted them with.
Meanwhile, their communities are changing around them.
My prayer: That some older churches in our region would choose to give it away for the glory of God - give it TOTALLY away. I pray that some churches would remember the reason that God placed them in that area and that they would recognize they could make a difference by doing what most would never do - allow someone else to reach the people in their community in a different way than they are used to. I pray that they would say:
"We want to make a difference in our community - we want to see Jesus changing lives in our community and we believe that God can use YOU here. Here is our building - we have returned it to Jesus and we're asking you to come in and use this building as a tool to reach our community. We've got money in the bank that God gave us for the purpose of winning souls and doing ministry in our community - we want you to have it and use it for the glory of God! We believe in you and fully trust God to do through you what He has called you to do! We will pray for you, support you and get behind the work that God will do through you".
I'm not crazy - I know that this will probably not happen. It would take the most extreme condition of humility and sacrifice, more than I've ever witnessed, for a church to do this, but isn't the mission of Jesus all about humility and sacrifice? This seems like an impossible dream - but I am reminded that with God nothing is impossible.
Could you imagine how our region would be affected if 5 churches in different portions of our county were willing to take this step?
I can.
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