THE CRISIS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH

There is a crisis in the local church. Local churches are increasingly struggling to continue going along in the same old way.
Why is there a crisis? What are the problems? And how have we reached this sad state?

Let us take a closer look at this.

When The 'Good News' Can No Longer Truthfully Be "News"

The greatest (of several) problems which confront local churches is that they are finding it difficult to continue going along in the enthusiastic assumption that there are thousands out there who - once exposed to the truth of the gospel - will seize it with both hands, just as a child from an impoverished African country might eagerly seize a brightly-coloured candy bar which he or she had never seen before! In the early years of the New Testament Church, Christians knew that they were taking out a message which was genuinely new and different - after all, the very word 'gospel' means 'good news' - and this really was news! Wherever the first evangelists went they discovered a hunger to hear and learn more of this exciting message that a Saviour who was God incarnate had come to earth and had died a horrible death upon a cross in order to reconcile a straying humanity to Himself! Even in a world which was steeped in religion, and even in religious claims, this was somehow very different. Indeed, just in case people did not know how different this message was, God Himself allowed dramatic miracles to accompany the preaching of the message by the original Apostles and the original 70 Evangelists! (Notice Luke 10, for instance).
We sometimes forget today that many of these miracles caused an absolute sensation - for example, read through the first 2 or 3 chapters of Mark and note the huge crowds who wished to follow Jesus everywhere He went because of the miracles which they witnessed - then notice that on that very first post-resurrection Pentecost an amazing 3,000 people were baptized in just one day (Acts 2:41). Sometimes historians seem unsure as to what caused Christianity to so shake up all the known world in the first century AD - the reason is that it was surrounded with some amazing occurrences of the supernatural and the miraculous!! The effect was that people simply could not ignore it.

We have to admit that - except to a lesser extent during a few periods of Revival - such things do not happen today (actually, there is compelling evidence that many of the supernatural signs again occurred when the gospel first went into new areas of the world such as China, Burma and Nepal in the last century).We call ourselves "evangelicals" - and it is a good enough name for us Bible-believing Christians - but here in the West, which has been steeped in the Christian gospel for well over a thousand years, we really need to re-think some of the assumptions involved in that word 'evangelism'.

There is a growing feeling that - while, of course, the flock must continue to be fed - we may well be living in a post-evangelistic age. Even the most enthusiastic evangelists - when operating here in the West - are finding that its not so much that people "desperately need the message of the gospel" but that those people are already familiar with the claims of the message of the gospel and are either completely indifferent to them or they purposefully reject them. Do we then pressurize acceptance of this message? There is no New Testament mandate for doing so. The problem is that the gospel has lost the 'news' part - over a thousand years of Christian history means that the gospel of Jesus Christ can no longer be 'news', except to children. For the rest, it is either indifference or rejection!

The Failed Experiment of Restorationism

In response to this situation, many have sought "restoration" through the Restorationism of Pentecostalism and the various phases of the charismatic movement. Alas, even whilst applauding the sincerity of many people involved in these movements, this now appears to be a failed experiment. All too often, the lack of the active involvement of the Holy Spirit has led to emotional extremes of behaviour being used (even frequently by the most sincere of people) as some sort of a Spirit-substitute (even if entirely unconconsciously). Even worse, since Restorationism has mostly stepped outside previously accepted Christian worship patterns, it has become a hotbed and a fertile ground for countless false apostles, false prophets and hundreds of money-motivated preachers! Some extremes of what I can only call 'charismania' have even (and shamefully) led to demonic involvement in some "church services." I have also been hearing of Restorationist leaders who have attempted to contact the dead! If these reports are true, this would seem to underline the final utter failure and desperation that a movement which once promised so much has finally only led into a spiritual cul-de-sac.
So why has Pentecostal/charismatic Restorationism failed?

Restorationism, in its various phases and fashions, has failed because it has not understood that our Lord, and the apostles, never promised that the stunning and miraculous would always be the 'norm' for the New Testament Church of God! Please note 1 Corinthians 12:4-6. The Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of working in a quieter way among believers. Paul is quite clear that our Lord alone decides which Gifts of the Spirit go where; 'Pleading (and screaming) down the gifts' will make no difference! The testimony of the record of Scripture itself is also often ignored by these naive people; Scripture clearly indicates that the abundantly miraculous only accompanied certain vital stages in God's Plan - most notably, of course, the ministries of Jesus and the apostles. At other times our Lord prefers to work with people through the laws of nature which He Himself so carefully designed and now upholds.
The miracles of Jesus, on the other hand, provided clear evidence for his identity: His miraculous ministry was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Matthew. 11:3-5). Jesus Himself cited his utterly unique miracle ministry as one of the evidences for his Messiahship (Matthew. 11:3-5; Mark 2:9-11; John. 5:36; 10:37,38).
For their part, the apostles (and the 70 evangelists) were specifically required to be witnesses to the ministry of Jesus and were empowered for this purpose. Just note Matthew 10:1; Matthew 10:8; Mark 16:20; Luke 9:1-2; Acts 2:43; Acts 5 12-16; Acts 14:3; 2 Corinthians 12:12 and Hebrews 2:3-4. Indeed, the New Testament writers usually referred to the miraculous 'signs of an apostle' in the past tense - this alone tells us a whole lot.

The first century is now a closed chapter. It cannot recur, just as we cannot make the Gospel message a new proclamation all over again.

None of this means that genuine miracles are now impossible - indeed, I have personally witnessed several dramatic and unlikely healings after prayer was offered and several amazing answers to prayer as well but we have to recognize that this is not the way that our Lord usually works with us in our day - the emphasis is not on the supernatural and it can be spiritually dangerous to continue to look for that at all times.

Today's Widespread Disaffection and Disillusionment Within Local Churches...

Okay, apart from the difficulties of taking the 'good news' to a society which has already heard that news but is indifferent to it and the failings of charismania, what are some of the other problems in too many modern congregations which have led to thousands of Christians joining the swelling ranks of the 'unchurched' (that is, preferring not to regularly attend any place of worship):

• Too much ritualism in which elaborate rituals, lavishly expensive gowns and golden altars are somehow almost seen as a substitute for real living faith.

• Too much informality in the shape of services. This is the other side of the above coin! A few evangelical places are just too informal - this is very common here in the UK. No attempt is made to encourage reverence for God, its all just somehow too 'loose' and 'sloppy' - its good, for example, when people are encouraged to sit quietly before services and meditate on the greatness of the God whom they are coming before! Also great to occasionally say some of the great Christian creeds in unison.

• Too much concern with money. At its extreme we have the prosperity money-men but, even aside from that, many other congregations also seem to have pastors and ministers who somehow just talk a little too much about money! This is valid as a general and separate point but it is also involved in some of the points below.

• The encouragement of tithing. This is still far too widespread and many Christian leaders should be more outspoken in attacking this practice which is so open to abuse and so open to giving believers the impression that they can buy themselves into the kingdom of God and buy security in their local church!

• Doctrinal lukewarmness which warmly welcomes gays and lesbians, deems abortion to be okay and presents brief, politically-correct sermons which can offend no one - yet which also means that absolutely nothing of any real substance is communicated!!

• The tendency towards mega-churches of several hundred (and sometimes several thousand) people. As a regular weekly place of worship, these places can never be the answer. Sometimes members die in these places but nobody even knows who they were! Smaller churches should have been planted at regular intervals but one strongly suspects that this does not happen because of the desire to hold all funds central!

• The use of "marketing growth strategies" which have a financial base and usually include a huge appeal to young people with the heavy use of pop-style worship songs (rather than hymns) - frequently 'image' becomes all-important in these places and only young faces are promoted within the congregation. Older people are (for obvious reasons) starting to abandon these places.

• Doctrinal Rigidity- this is the other end of the pole. Too often gifted preachers are ignored (or only ever sarcastically referred to) because they may come from an opposing Christian tradition, maybe Arminian or a Reformed (Calvinist) tradition. The age of denominationalism has just about past and this is a relic from that age. Its not that the issues are unimportant but that modern evangelicals are usually happy to work among differing groups concentrating on the gospel whilst refusing to argue over the peripheral areas.

• The pressurizing of people to commit to becoming 'members' of specific local churches. This might have once been something of a 'norm' but it is no longer seen as tenable or reasonable in the modern world by many newer Christians - neither does any Scripture support the practise.
  

Keeping the Balance...

Of course, we really need to keep some balance here; despite all the foregoing, there are still many excellent places to attend Christian services. There are places which are a sensible size (less than 80-100 people), places where there is real loving fellowship,
Places where people have attended for a long while and not been pressurized into becoming 'members' or into tithing and where the preaching is always biblical.
Places where the right balance between being too informal and being overly strict, staid and legalistic is carefully maintained.
Places which guard against divisive growth tactics/strategies including the current 'youthfulness is all' strategy.
Places which while being clearly evangelical do not spurn/condemn Christians of other backgrounds and are prepared to patiently work with them to increase their knowledge and understanding where necessary, and
Places in which there is genuine loving support and pastoral care (rather than attenders being apparently forgotten about if they miss a few services due to illness).

Keep Your Eyes on the Main Goal!

In all our considerations of the difficulties of local churches, let us never forget that all Spirit-led Christians are - in any case - members of the Eternal Church of Jesus Christ whose names are written in the Book of Life. This is the true, although currently invisible, spiritual Church of all the ages. We may, understandably, get frustrated with the visible and temporal manifestations of that but let us never get so bogged down with such difficulties that we take our eyes off our ultimate goal, that wonderful coming day when we all sit down to the glorious wedding feast of the Lamb! Read Romans 8:28-39 and Revelation 19:1-9 !!
Robin A. Brace, 2006.