Something to Fight For
Recent statistics show that between 75 and 150 churches in the US close their doors forever EVERY WEEK. That is as many as 7,800 churches each year.
New City, Macon recently announced that we will soon sell our building. We are on track to outgrow it within a year or two. It is a great problem to have as a church.
A big question came up in our discussion - What if we sell the building and have not found a new home? Where will we go?
Our search for possibilities have taken us to a number of event spaces and the tour of a nearby private school. In my web searching, I came across a great idea - find a local church who only holds one service and see if you can rent space from them. After all, you share the same mission and you are brothers and sisters in Christ! We reached out to our local Mid-State Baptist Association and to the Georgia Baptist Convention for information on possible churches in our area to partner with. The state sent us a list of local Baptist churches with their membership numbers and attendance numbers so that we might be able to tell what churches have facilities that would meet our needs.
What I saw broke my heart.
For the last 12 years I have been so focused on the work of God at and with New City that I haven’t really looked around much. I had little idea of the state of some of our local churches. Some of these churches I once attended. Others family and friends were a part of and some I had worked with in the past. Attendance in many of these churches is down as much as 90%.
What Happened?
I remember thriving ministries. I remember sanctuaries full. I remember baptisms, large youth groups, exploding kids ministry, and lives being changed. I remember youth trips and conferences. I remember men’s groups and women’s groups. I remember churches serving the city. Now some of these churches are barely hanging on. What happened? I don’t know what happened and each church has its own story. The list of contributing factors is long, some unavoidable, some not, some major failures, others a long slow process. Whatever happened, I don’t believe that dying churches are God’s desire.
When My kids make a mistake or do something wrong we address it. Sometimes there is great, great remorse, so great that there is a danger of being overcome by failure. I always try to remind them that there is good news - what happened is in the past, what matters now is what we do moving forward. I remind them that this is the way the gospel works!
So what do we do?
If there is sin to repent of, we start there. That’s a good place to start with as a church as well.
Start with the obvious, if there is something obvious, then move to the more difficult unknown sins.
Have we lost our love for Jesus?
Have we lost our love and compassion for the people outside of the church?
Have we sinned internally against a pastor? against leadership? against our church family?
You get the idea.
Then, with my children we talk about moving forward - doing the right thing. Forgiven and free by God’s grace in Christ we can leave our sin behind and move forward. That’s what God wants. And he wants my kids to have full, productive lives.
The same is true with the church!
God wants the local church to not only survive, but thrive. He wants the local body of believers to be productive, to be engaged in His mission, not just overseas but across the street! He wants to grow His Kingdom through the local church. As God does this, He is greatly glorified. Beautifully, He is glorified not only through “great” churches that have always been “great,” but through redeeming and restoring those who have a history far from perfect. The redemption and restoration of a church to a life of vibrancy and fullness is a beautiful picture of our own individual redemption and restoration in Jesus!
Not only that, but it is a picture of the hope that all can have through Him!
I believe that God wants very much to see His churches healthy and thriving!
I believe His plan for the church today is the same as it was when the church got its start - He plans to use local bodies of believers to proclaim His excellencies, to show the transforming power of the gospel in the changed lives of forgiven sinners and to grow for Himself a beautiful Kingdom that will one day fill the earth. Statistics tell us that 60% or more of our neighbors attend church fewer than twice a year. These are the people God wants us to reach with the good news of the gospel. These are the people He desires to see fill our churches. These are the people whose redeemed lives will be a demonstration of His power and glory. They will be a testimony of what He can do.
Now that is something to live for! That is something to fight for.
If you are a church struggling, keep fighting! There are a lot of people who want to see you thrive and I believe God wants that as well! You don’t have to be in this struggle alone. There are a lot of people willing to fight with you and for you. The North American Mission Board has several good resources on church replanting or revitalizing. If you aren’t sure of the difference, here is a good article that may help. It is often helpful as well, to bring in an objective third party who might offer a different perspective. Garry Goodin with the Mid-state Baptist Association may be a great resource for that
New City would love to serve you in this area as well. We don’t pretend to have all the right answers, but we love local churches and are willing to fight with you! There is much at stake. Let’s fight together to advance the gospel! Let’s fight together for healthy, thriving churches.
