In churches across the nation, pastors and congregants are increasingly asking hard questions about the purpose and value of church life as we have come to know it. The statistics are sobering. Lifeway Research reported in a 2019 survey that two-thirds of Protestant young adults stopped attending church services for at least a year after graduating from high school. Some of them returned but many have not. I suspect this pre-pandemic listlessness has only been exacerbated in the last two years by political and social volatility in and outside of the church.
In April, the Barna Group reported that 29% of all pastors have seriously considered quitting. Church health consultant Tom Rainer reported that, in all of his years working with churches, he has never visited with so many pastors who want to leave the ministry. Apparently, the theological convictions about church life pastors carried have not been enough to overcome the difficulty of this present moment.
Confusion over faith and church life are also highlighted by the “deconstruction” phenomenon leading people out of the church and often away from Christian faith. Articles and analysis on deconstruction abound. In Anabaptist circles, the popularity of Conrad Kanagy’s podcast, “The Church Dismantled,” points to the swell of questions among Anabaptist believers about what might be next for a faithful church.
The signs of spiritual tumult are all around us. To be sure, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on the morale of many congregations, but questions regarding the value of church life are widespread and have grown steadily over the last several decades.
Big and broad questions about the very nature of the church can feel unsettling to believers. We crave stability, and we believe the God we serve is stable. While we don’t have the luxury of ignoring reality, it doesn’t mean our response has to suck more life from us.
Judgment begins with us, not our pagan neighbors.
So, what are God’s people to do in seasons of turmoil and confusion? The response of many during this long period of spiritual decline in the North American church has been to look around at the various forms of godlessness in our culture and demonize those who participate in and promote it. Some church leaders have promised victory and transformation if only we elect particular politicians and punish opposing people and businesses. Decades of pursuing this strategy have brought us to the challenges we are currently experiencing: a wealthy, politically savvy, biblically illiterate church, frequently lacking spiritual vitality and holiness.
Another response has been to assimilate our churches and personal lives as closely as possible into the culture around us. “Remove any barriers to the gospel,” has been a popular refrain. This has often led to avoidance of serious study of the Scriptures individually and in our churches.
Large sections of the Bible have been glossed over because they take time and energy to unpack, time we don’t have because we are now “on mission.” We don’t want to confuse listeners with difficult passages. Many congregations have lost the ability to handle a fuller picture of God. Concepts like wrath, hell, and how to understand Christ’s work on the cross, are left for smart people to figure out. Meanwhile, our young people have been rendered powerless to really understand the gospel, let alone answer the insightful questions of their increasingly atheistic friends.
Thankfully, the Scriptures point us to a different way. In 1 Peter 4, the Apostle Peter speaks to another church in turmoil, increasingly ostracized from the surrounding culture. In the confusion and pressure he exhorts the church with these words, “For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household” (v.17a CSB). God always honors the humble return of his people. Judgment begins with us, not our pagan neighbors. When God’s people return to him, carefully evaluating their lives according to his revealed Word, he meets them and restores them.
Imagine a people who lay down their distractions, give up their time, and begin to seek the Scriptures with hearts to respond in love and obedience to all that God has revealed. When this becomes the focus of our congregations, we can trust the changes that come. Faithfulness over time produces fruit. In times of confusion, our call is to simply pursue the living God as revealed in the Scriptures.
The Multiply Conference, August 6-8, as well as RBC’s leadership retreat, “God’s Mission and Church,” August 18-20, are both geared to this kind of rediscovery. I’m thrilled our conference is spending time examining God’s call to the church. May he speak clearly to us this summer.
One Response
Thank you for your insight and this article.
I too see the need for the church to repent of many things, chief among them is the obsession with being accepted by the world and a desire for success as the world defines it. From that comes a host of grave errors and sins.
We desperately need to repent of our unfaithfulness to scripture and our unbelief in God’s sovereign will and love, that He will indeed work out all things for the good of those who love Him.
Thanks again and God bless.