As a pastor, I can’t help but spend a good amount of my time thinking about the future of my congregation. How can we reach into our circle of influence a little better? What do we need to do to get more people involved in discipleship? How do we get the Christians sitting in my congregation on fire about sharing their faith with others? What is the missing ingredients we need to become a dynamic life changing church in our area? I want to know where my church is going. So, it seems I am constantly in thought about the future health of my congregation.
But, it is interesting to me how often I sit in the present,…dwelling on the future...while my mind drifts back to something in the past. I recall something that was said to me by a man in my first congregation, who became a trusted confidant and friend along the way. He said to me “Pastor, as long as you are honest, and open, and sincere, you will have my support.” That simple statement of support offered early in my ministry still speaks to me today. What my friend was not looking for in his pastor was a boatload of cutting-edge ideas…and not even finely polished sermons (which was good, because I have re-read some of those early messages…and they were FAR from polished!) All he wanted was the open and honest truth. He did not want me to use the church as a loudspeaker for my own means of personal success and glory. He didn’t want me to use the pulpit to promote my own political agenda. He simply wanted his pastor to be the loudspeaker for Jesus, and Jesus alone.
I can't help but wonder a little bit about what the church of tomorrow will look like in general. I wonder where it is going. I recently read a statistic that stated that more than 4 out of 5 teens say that they have attended church for a period of at least two months during their teen years. Yet only 39% of those teens are still in church in their twenties. The church appears to be losing young people to the influence of secular culture. And, while I am aware that there are a whole myriad of influences that contributes to this loss of young people, I am also wondering if at least a part of the problem is a lack of sincerity,… a lack of honesty with the gospel message,… and a lack of genuine care for people.
I have an old book that I think I might have picked up at a garage sale while I was building my massive library... that was written back in 1936, entitled "The Church of Tomorrow." It is mainly about the architecture of the church building, not so much about the actual church body. But, there is an interesting statement in it that I would like to share. The writer says, “Now seldom can we find a church yielding a warm, rich exquisite sense of life and comfort…Often an empty showiness is all we can find; seldom the quiet which is not loneliness; seldom the inspiring warmth and dignity of a great sheltering space which fills the individual with content and permits the lonely to be less alone. Quiet, unity, and expressiveness must be regained.”
I was drawn to that phrase hidden in there “Often an empty showiness is all we can find.” And, I began to think…we certainly could use a little less “empty showiness” and a little more “unity” within the church body today. Maybe, the church of tomorrow will be a little healthier than we are today. Maybe Christians will become a little more unified fighting our common enemy rather than competing with each other. Maybe we will find ways to reach the younger generation with depth of gospel truth. Maybe, like my friend pointed out to his inexperienced pastor, we will be genuine, and open, and honest, and sincere.
In looking forward, I have to say…I am an optimist. Since God is guiding us, there is no reason to be anything but optimistic. But, I am also a realist in recognizing that many churches are not as healthy as they should be. My congregation certainly has room for improvement. And, I myself have areas that my congregation thinks could use some improvement…quickly!
So in looking to the church of tomorrow, it’s pretty clear to me that the work must begin today. Our divisions will have to be bridged and replaced with a revival of Holy Spirit empowered unity. The competitive nature between churches for butts in the pews, will need to be replaced with edification of the whole body. The church body will have to care genuinely about each other at a local, state, and, yes…even denominational level. The cross must become the foundation of our endeavors. And, if we work at it…I believe we can all begin the work to make the church of tomorrow a reality today.
No comments:
Post a Comment