Church Alive: Christ's Physical Presence

 These are tough days for most churches.  Most are stable to declining.  Not long ago, more were stable than declining.  But now, it may be more like 50/50!

As churches face decline, they search for answers.  Their older members remember the good times of the 1950s and 1960s, when churches were growing, and most people went to church.  In addition to that, American culture supported church values.

But beginning in the 1960s, things began to change.  First, mainline denominations like Methodists, Presbyterians, and Lutherans began steep declines.  In the 1970s, the popular wisdom among conservatives was that this decline came because of their liberal theology.

But now in the early part of the 21st century, conservative denominations have started to decline as well.  The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has posted declines in membership for almost a decade.  Last year, it lost 200,000 members and 850 churches closed.

What happened?  We don't have time to explore all that happened, but the short version of the story is that American culture went through seismic shifts beginning in the 1960s.  These shifts have become so profound, the culture no longer supports the Christian faith.

What are churches to do?  They need to go back to the beginning of the church.  To the New Testament Church.

The first use of the word "church" in the New Testament is in Matthew 16:18.  Jesus used the word ekklesia.  An ekklesia wasn't a building.  It was a people.  As assembly called out for a special purpose.

In 1 Corinthians 12:27, Paul said the church was the body of Christ.  That meant that the church is Christ's physical presence in the world.  Empowered by the Holy Spirt, the church continues Christ's work in the world.

The early church was missional.  This means it saw its members as ministers and missionaries, and it saw its locale as a mission field.

The early church was also incarnational.  It saw itself as Christ's physical presence in the world, continuing his work in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Early Christ followers transformed a world that gave no cultural support to it.  If we're to have the same impact they did, we need be become missional and incarnational.  In doing so, we reflect the plan and mission God has for us!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God's Dynamite: The Battle Within

Image
"It was on fire when I lay down on it."  Robert Fulghum wrote about reading this statement in a small town newspaper.   Smoke was billowing from a second story window.  The Fire Department arrived, broke down the front door, ran up a set of stairs, and pulled a man off a burning bed.  Later, when they asked him how he got in that predicament, he said, "It was on fire when I lay down on it." Why on earth did he do that?  We don't know, but his story reveals a human truth.  We often do self-destructive things.  We testify, "People told me not to do it, but I did it anyway."  "I knew it was wrong, but I did it." The apostle Paul wrote about our human propensity to sin and self-destructive behavior in Romans 7:14-25.  Verse 15 sums up his point, "I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do and what I hate I do."   He describes an intense inner battle.  On one side is the "flesh," his
Read more

God's Dynamite: More than Conquerors

Image
One person goes through a terrible experience and emerges from it stronger, more mature, and more loving.  Another goes through a similar experience and emerges from it weaker, less mature, and bitter.   What's the difference? I think it has to do with what's in the person's heart.  It has to do with his or her faith and perspective of life.   In Romans 8:35-39, the apostle Paul asked, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?''  Is there any person or place or experience that can remove us from Christ's loving presence?  Trouble? Hardship? Danger?  Sword? Paul could answer this question because he experienced all the above and more.  He said, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."  We conquer all these things through Christ's love for us. To be sure, we can have times when Christ's love seems far away from us. In the depths of suffering in times like these, we can won
Read more

God's Dynamite: Resurrection Transformation

Image
Easter is about more than you going to heaven.  That's part of it, but not near all!  It's about your death and resurrection. In Romans 6, Paul was answering opponents.  Those opponents said that if salvation is by God's grace through faith, then you have no motivation for righteous living and good works.  Why not sin more to get more grace? Paul answered by using the image of baptism.  He said when the pastor plunged you under water, he symbolized your death in Christ.  Through faith you died on the cross with Jesus.  Your old self was a slave to sin and rebellion against God.   Paul said when the pastor raised you up from the water, he symbolized your resurrection in Christ.  Not just in the future but in the present.  In faith, you identify with Jesus' death and his resurrection.  You're raised to a new life, free from slavery to sin. So Easter is about more than personal salvation.  It's about transformation: dying to an old life and ris
Read more