Mediocre Churches

A majority of churchgoers attend churches that could be described as mediocre. The church leaders believe and teach the authority of scripture and present a clear gospel message, but there are also many frustrating things. We read the Bible and see who we ought to be as a body and how we should relate to one another, and then we look at our local church and find that we fall woefully short. Perhaps we hear of another church that appears united and growing, while we are divided and stagnant. What should we do if we are members of a mediocre church?

 
1. Church members need to be grounded and confident in eternal truths. This means we must never forget that regardless of the good or bad decisions that church leaders make, our greatest blessings come not from being a member of a local church, but from being a member of the universal Church. We have been forgiven of our sins. We have been born again. We have been given a new hope. We have been given the Holy Spirit. We have the confidence that one day, we will be with our savior. In that place, we know there will be no pain, crying, sin, or frustration—for the old will have passed away. Keeping these truths in focus will keep us from becoming overly frustrated at the mediocrity in our church.

 

2. Church members need to be repentant. This means that when we go through times in our church life that are frustrating, or when we see imperfections in our church and our leaders, we also should seek to examine ourselves for attitudes and actions that do not contribute to the glory of God. We need to be repentant of our complacency, our cynicism, and our complaining. While not all of our frustrations come from our own sins, some do, and we need to ask God to open our eyes to them (Ps. 139:23).

 

3. Church members need to remember that mediocrity is normal. As we read through the New Testament, we find that nearly all the early local churches were mediocre. If we were in one of those churches, we would sometimes feel frustrated. Paul himself spoke of being often perplexed but not in despair (2 Cor. 4:8). He spoke of his work of proclaiming and warning and teaching to present everyone mature in Christ, which implies there was plenty of immaturities (Col. 1:28). The same is true today. While living with a lot of immature people can be frustrating, we must realize that imperfection and immaturity are normal. The Church will only be made fully mature at the second coming of Christ.

 

4. Church members need to be aware of what the leadership team can do and what only Jesus can do. We must remember that church leaders are imperfect and have limited wisdom with which they oversee the church. On the other hand, Jesus is perfect and has unlimited wisdom and power to change people’s lives. We await His return when He will set up His perfect and eternal kingdom. This is something church leaders can never do.

 

5. Church members need to look towards their heavenly reward. The fact that we are members of a mediocre church does not in any way inhibit our ability to live for the glory of God, to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and to store up treasures in heaven. We need to keep in mind that our greatest treasure is not building a kingdom or church on Earth that appears impressive in the eyes of men. Rather, we are waiting for a city that cannot be shaken, whose author and builder is God (Heb. 11:10; 12:28).

So, let us throw aside cynicism and complacency as we live in mediocre churches. As frustrations come because of leadership decisions, when petty squabbles arise in the church, or when attendance is low and apathy is high, let us move forward with a choice to be thankful and content. Let us be obedient to the commands Christ has given us, let us pray for our leaders, and let us be hopeful and confident of all that is ours in Christ.