A friend of mine wrote this entry this morning. http://networkedblogs.com/p12975236 -- worth a look
I noticed that all of my other friends are linked here... so I need to step up my writing to be included.
Every once and a while I have one of those conversations with someone that is worth repeating. Last night I had one of those conversations with my dad. He is a slow deep thinker who talks in reverse circles and somehow ends up with me either thinking "I've heard this before" or just "hmmm."
Last night was a little of both so hang with me.
So my dad visited a church and made this observation; "I can guarantee you that the church we went to is at no risk of becoming a dead church."
So in my best Florida regressive language from my upbringing I responded "howya figure?"
My dad's response was quite profound. "Because it is already dead."
For me this is of great interest because I have observed things my dad considered to have "life" in the church world. I made this judgment because he failed to see the cannula and oxygen and heart monitors positioned all over some churches in his experience.
How do we miss all the obvious signs of sickness in the church leading to a certain death? If enough nurses gather around a patient it is difficult to see the signs of distress. Same goes for churches. If there is enough activity around the facility, there is an assumption of life. I too am guilty of this same assumptive logic. On the way home yesterday I noticed a brand new church sign. I immediately wondered what good things they must be doing.
So the conversation continued...
There weren't more than 2 people in the entire facility between the ages of 18 and 50. To be fair I would never presume that a church is dead just because the average membership is old, but he went on to tell me about the elementary school around the corner and how many children were picked up for school, yet none of them were in attendance at this church they all pass on their way to school.
So
I'll buy in to the argument that the church is dead. If any church, your church included, is having no impact on the lives of the people in the area it would be reasonable to assume that Jesus has left the building and the operation is now in human hands. Might be time to look for a renter since you no longer provide a product (Jesus) and the money you are spending is therefore wasted.
As the conversation continued my dad asked about our church in reference to life. Yesterday we had the most visitors since opening and the best offering by miles. Is this an indication of "life" within the church?
Almost everyone is under 50... is this an indication of life or is it a reflection of an intentional target audience?
Believe it or not the conversation had a conclusion. You will need to assume a few additional pieces of conversation prior to this question.
"How does a person come to Christ?"
Well it is not;
through a friend
with current music
with eloquent speech
with proper attire .....
It is only through recognizing;
that all of our our efforts to save ourself have failed and will fail
that we bring nothing of value to the spiritual table
that the sacrifice of Jesus is completely sufficient for our salvation
Otherwise we are we are spiritually lifeless regardless of the activity, church included, that surrounds our lives.
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