Trouble For The church
Letters in the mail
Yesterday I received a letter from a local church here in Meridian, ID. Naomi and I had visited them once a few months ago in their new building. The place was nice, comfortable, the people were friendly enough. But it wasn't the right fit for us as far as what we look for in a local church.
This church is currently experiencing a budget shortfall. The letter talked about how much money they needed to keep operating the way they have been.
The trouble I see is not their budget shortfall. The trouble is that if I received this letter, then surely they sent it out to all of the other visitors that have been there lately. If I can think of the fastest way to shoo away newcomers and potential members, it would be to openly ask for money specifically from them. Many churches have this same issue with money and have done the same thing or similar.
The real deficit in America's churches
When was the last time your church sent you a letter telling you of a deficit of incomparable magnitude? And when was the last time they told you the deficit was that of souls not just being lost, but specifically not being won by that local church?
The fact is, most local churches in America are more concerned with meeting their own needs than they are the needs of others. Focus is placed on infrastructure and building A church and not THE Church. They take their money and build a fancy place to please themselves and make their tithe payers comfortable.
If we were wise, we would find ways to do with less comfort and more to help the poor and broken-hearted. We would find ways to creatively tell the story and live the message we believe in. We would take a grassroots approach to reaching the lost.
That's my experience. What's yours?
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
Please Note: for all intents and purposes "church" with a lowercase "c" represents unique, local gatherings of Christians that typically make up what most American's consider to be "church". i.e. the local Christian, Presbyterian, Baptist church.
October 7th, 2009 - 20:59
I belong to a small Nazarene Church. Tithing is something we would expect from members of our Church, but not require. We have always welcomed visitors and make it perfectly clear that they do not have to give to our Church, unless they feel they want to give something. We make every effort to encourage visitors to come back if they like and worship with us. I feel the importance should be on helping others find the path to God.
October 5th, 2009 - 17:05
I just wrote a book telling of the need to reach the lost and suffering on the streets. (The Cross and the Psychiatrist) Tells it the way it is. Written by Terry Dorn Available at amazon.com – Google it and see!
October 5th, 2009 - 04:15
Josh, I don’t think Tim means to be making a theological argument for the basis of salvation. I think the point is that the root of institutional failure comes from a misunderstanding of the work of the church: The true measure of a Church’s wealth is measured by our commitment to go out into the world, not the “bottom line” business of managing a building.
October 5th, 2009 - 02:24
I agree, it’s a bummer when folks get hung up on “a church” vs. “the church.” And yes, the institutionalization of the church seems to have caused a lot of problems over the years. I wonder how things might be different if Constantine hadn’t gone the “if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” kind of route. That’s our history, though, for better or worse. How might we better avoid some of those difficulties inherent to institution?
However, I don’t so much agree with the binary perspective of “souls won vs lost.” I understand salvation to be a moment by moment thing, a calculus of how close or far one is from knowing Christ, in the II Peter 1:3-4/John 17:3 sense. Magic words (”sinner’s prayer”) not required.