Christian Churches today in America, don’t really attract new members to church. They either attract folks who quit going, or they poach members from other churches. A very large amount of folks joining non denominational churches today, are former Catholic members. Protestant churches compete with each other with bigger and better stages, and bigger and better sound and light equipment, and bigger and better youth area, or a bigger, and better coffee shop, etc. Nancy and I went to a church for a fabulous Christmas Play last week, that actually had nose bleed seats. When the angels in the play started flying around, suspended on their trapeze wires, I believe the seats were higher up, than the angels. There are the Mega churches, there are the Mega-Mega T.V. churches, there are the medium sized churches, and there all the storefront churches. I see them all, and always wonder if they are doing any good in the community they are in. Here in Detroit I see all of these. Then I look across the street, and see burned up vacant houses. What happened? How did they let this happen? Why do they allow this to continue. The church is not a fort to hide out in, and defend yourself. It is a place to invite folks in, love them, and help them. I see hundreds of churches in Detroit in various levels of decay, just like the neighborhood around them. When did they become just like the world, instead of being Jesus’s bride, that he is coming back for. Great churches are everywhere in Detroit also. Churches that invest in their communities and congregation , and are too busy helping people to find time to play church. It irritated my mother to no end, to see churches of all sizes, empty all week, except for a few hours on Sunday morning. Jesus Loves Detroit Church’s goal is to be open 24/7/365, and why wouldn’t we? Most church doors are locked up, almost all the time.
Why do you go to church? Why did you leave? What would it take for you to start going again?
According to Carey Nieuwhof, and the Barna Group, here are the top 7 reasons folks don’t want to attend church anymore.
1.The Church is irrelevant
2. The Church Leaders are Hypocrites.
3. The Church Leaders are Moral Failures.
4.God is Missing in the Church.
5.Legitimate Doubt is Prohibited.
6.They Are Not Learning About God.
7.They Are Not Finding Community
and I will add the biggy,
#8. All they care about is the Money$.
These are the most common answers to not going, and I agree with all of them. People are busy today, probably a lot more than they should be, and are more busy than any other time in man’s existence. It really needs to fulfill them, if they are going to come. Should we all drive away from a Sunday service, critiquing the Preachers message, complaining how long it took to retrieve your child, and bemoaning the fact that we feel, we didn’t get fed spiritually today?! Or perhaps we should pray for the preacher, see how we can volunteer at the church, and start regularly giving, instead of just throwing a twenty in the plate?! Get involved, make it your church! One of my friends joined his wife for Sunday Service, at the church she regularly attends. He disagreed with the message, and used this as the reason to not go back. She also quit attending. What I would say is, there are another 10 million churches in the world, just try another! Its about GOD! Its about JESUS! Its about THE HOLY SPIRIT! Keep those relationships healthy, and God will direct you to another church. The American Church is to blame for making it boring, and uninteresting. They have taken the Greatest News anyone will ever hear, and marginalized it. The bible is Gods inspired truth, not the church. Read what a biblical church is, then compare it to your church. How does it match up. I used to say, “who needs organized religion, I can worship God in nature, or at home. ” Of course you can, but that is not Gods plan. I changed my view. He wants community. He wants us all in it together. He wants us to support, and encourage each other. The analogy story of a fire, demonstrates this best. Take a glowing red hot ember from a fire, and set it apart. It will burn brightly for a while, but eventually it will get cold, and burn out. If it stays in the fire with the other coals, it will burn brighter, and longer, and create a better glow! Lets all get back to the basics of Matthew 25, where Jesus illustrates what, we as individuals, and the church should be concerned about, and what we should be doing. Jesus is so serious it , he makes a graphic distinction between the groups of people who do these things, and the groups of people who don’t do these things! Read it in your bible, or google it up. Then tell me what you think. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO FIND A CHURCH THAT FITS YOUR FAMILY AND GET INVOLVED. HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST. This is the most important thing I could ever spout out of my mouth, as your life depends on it! It really does! Our church is dead serious, as we deal with a lot of marginal folks, and their serious issues, and their dismal poverty. But throughout it all, we have FUN! Yes, church should be FUN! After all, the Creator of the Universe invented it, not us. Please read your bibles, please talk to God, and please don’t give up, and you will find your church! I close by asking you, to draw on all Gods love and power, Kevin Pelto