The church will NEVER die…..but congregations can and sometimes do. The good news is that God continues to be faithful in adding to the church daily those who are being saved. Did you know that Christianity continues to grow worldwide? Did you know that Christianity is by far the largest religion in the world (with acknowledgement that not all are genuine in their faith)? Did you know that there are more Christians alive and breathing today than ever in the history of the world?
However, there are pockets in the world where Christianity, and therefore church attendance, is in decline. Sadly, North America is one of those places. But God is at work and His Kingdom is advancing. I am blessed to serve an association of 142 very diverse Southern Baptist Churches known as the Gwinnett Metro Baptist Network. Our vision is that every church would be thriving and missionally engaged. And many are thriving. I have personally visited the worship services of over 100 of these churches in the past three years. In addition, I do not exaggerate when I tell you, based on my ministry history, that I have been in well over 1,000 congregations for worship in the past 25 years. They generally fit one of these give categories.
- Those that are thriving and reaching people with the gospel.
- Those that are pressing forward, though often it is two steps forward and then one back.
- Those that are stagnant and not doing much about it.
- Those that are in decline.
- Those that are dying and often don’t even know it.
Where would your congregation fit in this spectrum? Notice that I said “congregation,” not church. We often use the word church when we are actually speaking of a local congregation. It is interesting, that all though Christianity is eroding in North America that you find many churches that continue to thrive. Likewise, you will find a congregation thriving in a community, while one mile down the road, with similar resources and the same demographics, a congregation that is dying. With bare minimum of commentary, but simply to prompt your thinking and your praying, let me share eight warning signs that I see in dying churches, that sadly, are often ignored. Without attention, the congregation will eventually close their doors. Here they are…
- They focus on maintaining what they have.
- They seek to “go deeper” above “reaching out.” (They spiritualize discipleship to the exclusion of evangelism.)
- They neglect the next generation.
- Their prayer efforts are ritualistic rather than passionate and desperate.
- There is (often) division in the body.
- They ignore the warning signs of decline.
- They resist change until it’s too late to take action.
- They organize and plan based on who attends rather than organizing and planning based on who they need and desire to reach.
The church will never die. Your congregation? May you prayerfully have the attitude, the prayer focus, and take actions that declare: “Not on my watch!”