The Present Future

New Reality Number One

The Collapse of the Church Culture

The current church culture in North America is on life support. It is living off the work, money, and energy of previous generations from a previous world order. The plug will be pulled either when the money runs out (80 percent of money given to congregations comes from people aged fifty-five and older) or when the remaining three-fourths of a generation who are institutional loyalists die off or both.

The good news is that the death of the church culture does not mean the death of the church. The church founded by Jesus is good; it is right. The church that Jesus began will survive till he returns. It is the culture that will collapse not the church.

The church in our nation has made a way of doing “church” that satisfies our desire and our checklists but is not satisfying or even addressing the hunger and thirst that our non churched brothers and sisters have for a relationship with Christ. Often times when we meet the pre-Christians we are attempting to convert them to church not to a relationship with Christ. A perfect example of this is that church culture today is geared for builders (those born before 1946) shown by attendance records that states 52 percent of builders report going to church compared to a mere 36 percent of gen Xers. I suspect the 36 percent is a rather high number. I also suspect that a good portion of that 36 percent has either learned to “like” church culture or is lying. My wife reports to me that some of her friends will go around to local churches before their parent’s come to visit and collect bulletins and spread them throughout the house to give the illusion to the parent’s that they are indeed attending church.

Percentages by generation that consider themselves to be “born-again”
Builders (before 1946) 65 percent
Boomers (born between 1946-1964) 35 percent
Busters (born between 1965-1976) 15 percent
Bridgers (born between 1976-1994) 4 percent

As a youth minister it is quite unnerving to know that 4 percent of both my friends and the students I am called to minister to report to being born again. Dawson McAlister reports that 90 percent of kids active in youth groups do not go to church by their sophomore year of college. One-Third of those never return to church.

The problem: I believe that through our modern mindset in our attempts to understand how everything works and operating in a world that can be explained somehow in some way we have taken God out of church. Well not taken him out but split him up into manageable digestible pieces, that is so mangled and gnarled by the time we are done that this jumble of pieces hardly resembles the Almighty God of the universe.

The post-modern world appears to be one of mystery. One where even scientists are not afraid to admit that they don’t have it all figured out. The wonderful thing is that we see God stirring the pot for himself and making people more aware of his power and his mystery.

Few people will argue that the church in North America is in trouble. The statistics are clear; the proof is in the pudding. As an example of this Pastor Gene Wood of Glendora, California began sharing a statistic at the beginning of every seminar he lead. The listeners consisted of church pastors and denominational leaders. The statistic he shared was this 85% of churches are in plateau or decline. He states he has no scientific proof of this figure but the number has never been disputed by a single pastor or church leader. We know there is a problem!

The answer to this problem is not refuge. Running back to the way we’ve always done things will not work. Holding the sheep in the fold to protect them from the wolves will not work…the sheep will merely starve to death.

The answer is not “better” church. We can make church into many things and trick many people to coming inside the walls. But we will just be kidding ourselves. People with no relationship with Christ don’t need church…they need Jesus.

A few statements to close this chapter:
People are not looking for a great church. They do not wake up every day wondering what church they can make successful.
Church hopping is for church people.
The need of the church in North American is not a methodological fix.

Missional Fix:
What the church needs is a missional fix. The invitation to become a Christian has become an invitation to convert to church. We have become marketers of the gospel selling it like the newest product on QVC. We dress it up, get new stuff, generate new programs, and offer club membership. This missional fix comes in admitting that the building of our Church is not the same as the building of The Church. This will be talked about in later chapters.

God is interested in redeeming mankind. From the foundation of the world that was his intent and he made good on that by sending his son to redeem us. The love story found in the Bible is that of God’s reckless love for mankind. When he could have destroyed us and been completely within his realm and rightness of power instead he redeemed us. The church was created to join God in his redemptive mission of the world.

We have focused on taking the moral high ground rather than taking the missional emphasis of Christ’s earthly ministry. Christ looked inward and saw the heart not the outward. Just look at his interaction of the Pharisees, he calls them white washed tombs, appears put together on the outside but dead bones on the inside.

Spirituality in American is at a possible all time high. But don’t confuse spirituality with Christianity. People must be encountered with the missional mind of Christ. They must encounter his love and his desire of a relationship with Him. We must stop being focused on doing church better and instead focus on the harvest.

posted by Nick @ 9:14 AM