Auto-Immune Disease Within the Church

Every week 75-80 churches are closing their doors for good.  Almost all churches that are autopsied are found to have had no vision or true purpose for existence.  Most are found dead, stuck in a maintenance mode, which worked to keep members comfortable and happy.  The Gospel was no longer driving the church to change the necessary things in order to reach its community for Christ.  Indeed, God's Word is unchanging, but the world around us is changing rapidly and the church at large is out of touch with how to reach its neighbors who live in another world (a world of darkness).  Sadly, our neighbors are left to themselves because we fail to love and reach them as Christ would desire.  They are often treated as diseased and unclean.  This is why we must have a church that is "OUTWARD" focused that is driven by the "GOSPEL" for the glory of God.  It is not a matter whether or not we remain Biblically rooted (that is not negotiable); however, complete discipleship means that the church (each member) is stepping up and reaching out to their neighbors with the Gospel and because of the Gospel.

Please read these 9 urgent changes that churches today must consider making or face a potential death.  Please know that I understand that change is not easy.  However, the Gospel and the souls of men and women are at stake.  These items were recently posted by Thom Rainer and I do support his thoughts.

1. We must stop bemoaning the death of cultural Christianity. Such whining does us no good. Easy growth is simply not a reality for many churches. People no longer come to a church because they believe they must do so to be culturally accepted. The next time a church member says, “They know where we are; they can come here if they want to,” rebuke him. Great Commission Christianity is about going; it’s not “y’all come.”
2. We must cease seeing the church as a place of comfort and stability in the midst of rapid change.  Certainly, God’s truth is unchanging. So we do find comfort and stability in that reality. But don’t look to your church not to change methods, approaches, and human-made traditions. Indeed, we must learn to be uncomfortable in the world if we are to make a difference. “We’ve never done it that way before,” is a death declaration.
3. We must abandon the entitlement mentality. Your church is not a country club where you pay dues to get your perks and privileges. It is a gospel outpost where you are to put yourself last. Don’t seek to get your way with the music, temperature, and length of sermons. Here is a simple guideline: Be willing to die for the sake of the gospel. That’s the opposite of the entitlement mentality.
4. We must start doing.  Most of us like the idea of evangelism more than we like doing evangelism. Try a simple prayer and ask God to give you gospel opportunities. You may be surprised how He will use you.
5. We must stop using biblical words in unbiblical ways. “Discipleship” does not mean caretaking. “Fellowship” does not mean entertainment.
6. We must stop focusing on minors.  Satan must delight when a church spends six months wrangling over a bylaw change. That’s six months of gospel negligence.
7. We must stop shooting our own.  This tragedy is related to the entitlement mentality. If we don’t get our way, we will go after the pastor, the staff member, or the church member who has a different perspective than our own. We will even go after their families. Don’t let bullies and perpetual critics control the church. Don’t shoot our own. It’s not friendly fire.
8. We must stop wasting time in unproductive meetings, committees, and business sessions. Wouldn’t it be nice if every church member could only ask one question or make one comment in a meeting for every time he or she has shared his or her faith the past week?
9. We must become houses of prayer. Stated simply, we are doing too much in our own power.  We are really busy, but we are not doing the business of God.

 At Maywood, we will remain Biblically Rooted~~~Driven By the Gospel~~~For the Glory of God!