Assisting Churches Today for Tomorrow

Fiddling while Rome is burning

We are all familiar with this old saying when someone is said to be “fiddling while Rome is burning” which refers to the Roman Emperor Neo who by some accounts went to his tower and played a harp or lyre while Rome was burning.  The phrase is used of one who is said “to occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect priorities during a crisis.”  I assert that this is what many in the evangelical movement is doing today.  Stay with me a moment while I explain.

Even a casual observer would have to acknowledge that our world and America in particular is changing and changing fast.   While the politics of today fits into the changing story we are all living through it is more significant what is taking place in the Christian community.   In nearly every aspect of life America has entered uncharted waters, at least for her, because other nations have passed this way before and the price on individual freedom and liberty has been high.   The seeming demise of our free capitalist society, a shift in spite of our constitution from a representative and balanced government to a strong central and authoritarian type of government will both have profound impact on our freedoms personally and in the church to fulfill our mission.  The high profile entertainment driven churches are rapidly changing and weakening our effectiveness in ministry.   I have served the Lord for over forty years and do not recall a time when so many churches have been so irrelevant.  This is happening while these churches are trying so hard to be relevant by acting more and more like the world that they are having exactly the opposite effect on their witness.  Our discipleship and educational ministries are becoming less Biblical centered as we minimize our study of the Word.   What I am saying is that all this is going on around the church and very much within the church community and yet there doesn’t seem to be a voiced sense of urgency.  If our nation continues down the track we appear to have adopted the freedom to witness and seek to influence our societies values will be greatly hindered if not prohibited.  There is likely to be less and less freedom to share the gospel in our politically correct world and more and more persecution for those who stand firm and true to God’s Word.

 

Recently I read an article entitled The Coming Evangelical Collapse by Michael Spencer.   I do not know nor at this writing have I checked more into Mr. Spencer but in this article he nails some sad but true observations and makes some frightening projections for the church.  From the perspective on CAMA and our mission to keep the Bible central in teaching and preaching let me share a couple.  One very troubling but true observation is that “We Evangelical shave failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox from of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught.”  Another is that “Even in areas where Evangelicals imagine themselves strong (like the Bible Belt), we find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital evangelical confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.”  These two statements alone spell deep trouble for the church in the uncertain age we are embarking upon.  The church must accept full responsibility for the failure to pass on to our own children our values and core doctrines of the faith.  I submit that it is because we focused so much on the wrong things and let our own children and new Christians grow without correctly discipling them.  Hence, these are a few thoughts on why I say the church has been fiddling while Rome is burning.

We will explore more of this subject in future blogs but for now let me close by saying God is not limited and He is able to rescue His church at anytime and will do so when He sees the purpose to do so.  We are to be faithful in our ministry to others and blessable through obedience to God.  If we do so He will use us and bless us whatever the circumstance we find ourselves in.

 

Take a look around, Christians wake up!

As we enter a new year our nation faces many challenges.   When you see the urgency facing our nation it doesn't matter, or it shouldn't matter if you are a believer, what your political party associations are.  It should break your heart to see the moral drift in our nation, the financial woes brought own by corrupt politicians and greedy individuals not to mention a perilous time of war around the world.

For the Christian there is a sadden heart and personal concern of course but there should be a peace as we take confidence that the it is all in the hands of God.  These are times of spiritual opportunity too and we need to pray that God will restore integrity in government, values to our population and give peace around the world but we need to be aware that during times of peril people are more open than anyother time to the Lord and His love.  Look for opportunities to share Christ with others who may be suffering loss.  Let others see Christ in you during these difficult days.

Our churches should not miss the moment and get back to basics.  Now is a time for truth in the pulpit and genuine Biblical instruction through our Bible study classes.  Small group connections will become more important in times of need and we need to instuct our members to be alert to those ministry oppotunities.

Impacting our Culture

There is no doubt that the church and the way it conducts itself always impacts our culture.   This can can have a positive impact or it can be negative impact if the church is weak.  Recently one of our Church Assist Ministry Association supporters submitted a guest blog which I felt captured this truth.  It is printed below for your consideration.

"Balkanizing the Republicans -- and the Church"

by Paul Crozier

If he were alive today, Ronald Reagan would not recognize the political party he led as a two term president.

For the last decade Republican leadership has endeavored to systematically broaden party appeal and woo segmented, non-traditional voting blocks. To reach moderates, women, minorities, and the poor, the party shunned its base, created new federal entitlements, invited Democratic opposition to craft their legislation, and ignored immigration issues, all the while fawning at the feet of the media. This balkanization reached its zenith when John McCain claimed during his acceptance speech at the national convention, "I'm not a Republican." 

Party efforts fell like a house of cards on November 4. To add insult to injury, all but one state initiative that was socially conservative passed.

In many ways the church has latched onto the same misguided model. In an effort to attract new members, target desirable demographics, and engender popular appeal, churches have scrambled to balkanize their ministries.

Songs about the blood have been scrubbed from playlists to make room for concert fare with a good beat. Corporate worship has splintered into stylistic camps, each eyeing the other with suspicion.

Our lexicon is being sanitized to prevent “confusion” among the unchurched. As a result we're forced to speak Church 2.0 where "Life Groups" means "Sunday School", "seeker" means "lost", and our most basic identity, "Christian", must be replaced with the less polarizing (“but more literal!”) "Christ Follower".

Pastors bemoan the moral state of the flock: divorce rates; sexual immorality; obesity; credit card debt. Yet when asked about church discipline they can only offer blank stares.

Biblical exposition, with its power in the hands of the Holy Spirit to convict, began to fade the minute growth was defined as a numerical, rather than spiritual, metric. Is it any wonder the altar call, that ready sanctuary for the desperate soul, has been retired? Comfortable congregants seldom need it.

In the end, the Republicans of 2008 offered a counterfeit ballot choice. They were neither true to their conservative ideals nor as liberal as their rivals. And as the pace quickens to modernize the church -- which in practical expression results in further conformity to the world -- I can't help but feel a similar reckoning is closer than we think.

While Jesus will always recognize His own, one has to wonder if He’ll appreciate all they’ve been up to.

Impacting our culture

There is an age old question in the minds and hearts of many people that goes something like this.  Does the church impact the world we live in or does the world impact the church?  Which is true?  The truth is both are true.  There is no doubt that the church and the witness of Jesus Christ has shaped all mankind whether they acknowledge it or not.  At the same time one only has to look at the church to see clearly that the world often and sadly impacts the church.

Perhaps the more important question is which is right?  The mission of Christ is to change this world and as members of His church we are to change the world around us to be more like Him.  The church is to make an impact on the world not the other way around.

Today when you see all that is taking place one is left to question if the world is not making the greater impact on the church.  Part of the work CAMA seeks to do is to help church leaders see ways to lead their church in making a greater impact on our world.

The world needs a clear message from the church

We live in an age when the world is more and more skeptical of the church.  We live in an age when political correctness threatens to hush the church message that there is only ONE way to a right relationship with God.  We live in an age when all religions are viewed as different approaches to worshipping the same God even if by diffirent names.

The point is the world needs a church today that will stand up and preach and teach the truth of God's Word even if it makes some people uncomfortable or even angry.  The world today needs a church that will share the love of Christ in honesty and not seek to "spin" it so it will not offend anyone.