Churches will never meet the expectations of all their members. The church is inhabited by God's elect, but we are still human, and what one Christian perceives as absolute truth is a bunch of hogwash to another. Perhaps the questions listed below are old and something we have come to accept, but surely the body of Christ is more than a social club for retired Christians:- Why are some churches so self-centered that sinners in their community are left to fend for themselves without ever knowing that God exists and loves them?
- Why are so many churches divided into cliques; seldom extending their hand of fellowship, or friendship for that matter, to their brothers and sisters among them who feel lost and out of place?
- Why do some churches continually preach to the choir (themselves,) and expect their lost neighbors to come to the "church building" if they want to hear a soul-saving sermon?
- Why do some churches continually spend the Lord's money on grander and more unique church buildings, while neglecting the poor, widows, and orphans?
- Why do some churches seek worldly honors, acclaim, and prestige; forgetting that we are only pilgrims on earth for a short time?
Not all churches are guilty of these shortcomings, but I have seen many examples of these listed questions in my small part of the world...so perhaps it's spread far and wide. While the church is a refuge for the saved, it's not just a building that houses a few weekly meetings, it should be the primary influence in the community to save the lost, feed the poor, and in general spread the gospel everywhere, not just in isolated human structures we call church buildings.
10 comments:
Surely there are a few good people in every church.
Rev 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
Laymond...
The church has the best people in the world as members.
It gets upsetting when churches spend every dime on themselves building stately edifices, thinking sinners will flock to them because of the splendor of the "church building."
Even our little church thinks we need to build; we don't have enough room to socialize every month or so!
I agree Larry!
The church building where I attend was built on the assumption that the minister would fill the place every Sunday, we'd reach out to the community, and so on. Ummm now we have to fix a broken this and that in a building that could be smaller for us and the bring um in minister has retired, nope he didn’t bring them in. I wonder is it was God led or man led when the building plans hit the table.
Milly...
The scariest thing in the world is when churches think they need a building committee; especially when the committee consists of a building contractor, building supply owner, and a landscape architect...your going to have a new building!
It's difficult to believe the Lord would be happy with a church that spends every penny on building payments, maintenance, and all the other things large buildings demand, while ignoring the lost and hurting in their community because of a shortage of finances.
Larry tell us what you are doing to save the lost?
Fred...
Larry tell us what you are doing to save the lost?
Probably like most other people, not enough! But I don't rely on the "church building" to be the sole place the lost can experience God. I believe we can, by example, even if a word is not spoken, show Christ in our lives daily before the lost in our communities; I at least make an effort to be a good example in my daily walk among those who don't follow Jesus.
I try to reach the lost through contributing to orphanages; Manuelito Navajo Children's Home, and Lifeline of Hope, for example.
I'm really not sure of your point in asking me the question. I wasn't running down all churches, just questioning why some churches seem to forget their mission to the lost, and seem to have a higher priority to spend the weekly contribution on embellishing the edifice rather than spending the money to help those in need.
Brother Larry I agree with everything you have said here. may god bless
Our church building, which also houses a school, was the target of arson the other day. Please pray for us. Lots of people trying to clean up the damage. And we had just done major repairs to plumbing, floors, etc. I'm just happy it didn't happen when we had an African Children's Choir with us for a concert. Those precious children shined like the sun!!
carolyn...
Sorry to hear about the vandalism. There is a time coming when we will probably have to guard the "church building" 24/7.
I've never heard the African children's Choir, and from all accounts I have certainly missed something good.
I would like to suggest that perhaps one of the reasons that our churches aren’t growing is that we are focused on just that, our churches. Whatever happened to a KINGDOM mentality? I guess what I’m trying to say is maybe the picture looks bleek (and it is) because we are unwilling to look at or contribute to the Kingdom as a whole.
Whatever happened to doing things for the good of the Kingdom instead of the local church? Why have we quit striving for an impact that is eternal AND global? Maybe we have become weak because we have isolated ourselves from the rest of the worldwide body. We have become a floating body part attached to nothing. Sometimes the sad truth is that means that some of our churches aren’t even connected to Christ.
Got help us all to “plug back in” and get to work in the Kingdom’s business. Maybe then we will see the increase that we long for deep down inside.
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