According to a recent church study of those who value church attendance and strongly identify as evangelical Christians, almost two thirds state their reason for attending is to learn more about God. This is a good thing. The church should be an avenue of learning; it should be a place where good teachers and preachers provide the vehicle of understanding and sanctuary of study. But the study went on to say of those self-identified church attendees, only 6% say they learned something about God or Jesus the last time they attended.
Why is this happening? Why is the very place where we come to know our God so without what we yearn for? Where is the meat of the Gospel? I believe the Gospel has not changed. The Gospel as Paul would characterize it in his first letter to the church in Corinth (15:1-7), was Jesus who died, Jesus who was buried, Jesus who rose again, and Jesus who was seen. Is it that we know it all and nothing new is being taught? Is the church satisfied to live on the milk as Paul stated in this same letter (3:2)?
The early church leaders did not have the things we consider essential for our faith. They had no official church buildings, no vision statements, or even statements of core values. There was no social media, radio broadcasts, well-constructed web pages. They didn’t even have the completed New Testament. Christ-followers were often deeply misunderstood, persecuted and some gave their lives for their faith. Yet they loved and they served and they prayed and they blessed—and slowly, over hundreds of years, they brought the Roman Empire to its knees.
Today’s Christian culture has more tools at its fingertips than any since creation. You can go to any Walmart or Dollar Store and purchase Bibles for less that we spend at Starbucks. The most gifted preachers are available on the web. We can watch video sermons on our electronic of choice. We may listen to live worship CDs as we drive down the road. We have bible software on our phones. We can read in depth studies in Greek and Hebrew on our favorite texts. We have Bible conferences on growth, denominational systems, leadership, missions, church planting, evangelism and even conferences for church leadership on people who don’t want to go to church. We have Christian TV, Christian radio, short term mission trips for anyone who has the dollars to go, and we get a federal deduction for our giving to the Church.
Yet the very place where we should learn of Jesus we are not learning anything that would change our lives. The emphasis is on decisions not discipleship. Relationship is not dependent on change on our part, but a free gift. We are justified by our faith not by works. But the Church is not going to the next level. Discipleship, growth, maturity comes from knowledge and a changeable spirit; it is a constant giving up as we are enlightened.
Wake up Church.