A recent Barna Study produced some heart-breaking information. “Fifty-one percent of churchgoers don’t know of the Great Commission.”
(tinyurl.com/ya7dz7cg) In other words, more than half of churchgoers were not aware of the purpose for which the church exists. Churchgoers did not report knowing the church exists for the purposes of making (new) disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This surprising study not only causes reason for pause and reflection, but, it also explains why so many churches are not aligned, intentional, nor living out the purpose of making disciples in their churches.
Given the study results and the number of declining churches across the country, I thought it might be helpful to provide a top ten list to help us recognize if we are truly “being the church.” So, in the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy, here is your “You Might Not Be the Church if…”
… your church has no first-time guests and/or returning guests.
… your church has no new professions of faith.
… your church has more focus on the facility than the mission of making disciples.
… your church has no intentional faith development process.
… your church’s financial capacity is limited to building and salary. expenses leaving nothing for ministry.
… your church is relying heavily on endowments.
… your church has a lack of competent, compelling, and contextual worship (regardless of style).
… your church has too few people to serve on required committees.
… your church is lacking community impact (becoming invisible in the community).
… your church lacks flexibility in shifting the vision to reach the neighborhood (contextual relevance).
… your church lacks alignment of all the church does with the mission (purpose) and vision (God’s preferred future for how your church uniquely makes disciples).
Recently, I discovered that 467 of our churches in the Susquehanna Conference had NO professions of faith in the past appointment year. Another 66 churches had only one profession of faith. In other words, approximately two-thirds of our churches had either zero or only one profession of faith. So, the very reason our church was planted (many times with great sacrifice and hard work) by our ancestors (to share the Good News with our neighbors) is not being accomplished by approximately two-thirds of our churches today.
For those of you who know me or have heard me speak, you know I am pretty upbeat and generally approach everything from a positive perspective. I share this information with you not from a cup two-thirds empty, but from a cup two-thirds full. Friends, we have work to do! There is so much potential! The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. There are more unchurched people than ever before in recent decades.
Church is not about you and me. The church is to be the vehicle for which people come to know Christ. Church is not the building. The mission is sacred not the facility! The church is the people – both those who are already gathered AND those yet to be gathered. For this season, the Bride of Christ is under our care.
We are called to be faithful to her in purpose. I am prayerfully challenging ALL of us to once again claim our purpose and go to work to make it happen as we have vowed to do through our UMC membership vow to “witness.” Let’s rally together, get back to our purpose, re-tool as needed, stop doing what isn’t effective, start doing what is fruitful towards our mission fulfillment, and make the church once again “the church” as it was intended.
www.equippingvitalcongregations.org
