Church 101-03 Are We Losing The War?

It has been more than eight months since my last post on the subject of Church 101. During this time, we have visited several churches, attending some for an extended period. The primary purpose of our visits was to observe how these churches see their mission based on the way they practice church. We have learned a great deal.

Tradition seems to be the overriding theme in most of the churches we have visited. In other words, what is being done in these churches is based on what has been done in the past. While I am not in favor of throwing out our past for the simple reason that it is old and this is the twenty-first century, I am concerned that the picture I see in the Scriptures isn’t always being carried out.

It is not my intent to be critical for the purpose of being critical. But my heart and my Bible are telling me that God has called His church to a much higher purpose than that I am observing. And if we were in a war, and we are, at this stage, we would be losing big time, especially as it regards many of our traditional churches. Look around you. Look at the older churches. What is happening to them?

Here is a thought. Admittedly, I have not researched this. But I suspect that history will bear me out. A hundred years ago, in these united states, we were substantially Christian. Fifty years ago, one would be hard pressed to find those who said they did not believe in God. In those days, we had daily prayer in our homes. We had daily prayer at school and after school events. God, as a reality, was a foregone conclusion.

But to day, here in the twenty-first century, we are more enlightened. Therefore, those things are no longer true. The paradigm under which many of our old churches were created is no longer viable. We have a new culture, a new environment to contend with. Change is occurring so rapidly that many of us are being left behind. And with this new culture must come a fresh perspective. It is time we went back to the church authority – the Bible – to find this fresh perspective.

I call it fresh because it is not new. It is what we have heard from the beginning. But some how it has lost favor with us.  Take a look at Luke 19:10 and Matthew 28:16-20. Now meditate on Ephesians 4:11-16. If you are a Bible student, you will note right away that this latter passage deals specifically with spiritual gifts. And most likely you have your own understanding of this passage. But I urge you to read it again, for the first time, and answer this question: “What is the purpose of these gifts?”