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!

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