The State of the Church in the United States

We are at WAR!! The church has been engaged in a war from its very institution. No, we are not fighting against the any particular religion or nation. We are fighting against powers and principalities. We are followers of the one true God fighting for the kingdom against the powers of darkness. So how goes the battle for the kingdom in the United States?   According to some we are losing the war at home. Bill Easum stated that 75% of churches in existence today will not be here in 22 years. Church membership has been decreasing in nearly every denomination. C. Kirk Hadaway calculated that 70% of Southern Baptist churches were either plateaued or declining. However, he did not differentiate between the churches which were growing by conversions and those growing by transfer growth in the 30% of churches experiencing growth.   Bill Day of the Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health noted that when one defines healthy church growth to include conversion growth, the number of growing, healthy churches drops to 11%.   Based on these statistics, it seems like we need to change our tactics. Is there a new gospel presentation that will be more effective? Maybe we need to change how we worship God. We should have more drums. We should have less drums. Perhaps the answer is a bus ministry. All of these ideas are useless for our current church membership!   When a king mobilizes his army, he doesn't simply give people weapons and send them to battle. Not if he wants to win. Weapons training and state of the art weaponry are important, but if the king has an army of weaklings, it doesn't matter what kind of weapon they carry.   Similarly, the methods of evangelism a church utilizes is important, but if the pastor does not build up the body of believers, they will fall in the fight (don't stretch the metaphor too much. I am not saying they will lose their salvation. I am saying that they will be ineffective and afraid to engage in the battle).   I believe that churches are declining because we pastors have set low expectations for membership. Let me describe a typical church process for membership. The pastor finishes his sermon. The time for the invitation is at hand. The pastor may or may not share the gospel, but he will offer an invitation for people to come and give their lives to Christ, recommit their hearts to Jesus, or join the church. When the potential new member comes forward, a brief discussion ensues, a pray is lifted up, and the person fills out a membership card. The amount of discussion depends on how much time is left in the song of invitation. Afterwards, the pastor presents the person for membership (either as a new believer or as a transfer of membership), and calls for a vote to approve the person for membership. Everyone says "amen." Any opposed? Of course there are none. Welcome to the family.   Does this sound familiar? Certainly there are variations, some churches have added a new members class. What I would like to know is "How is the church protecting the sanctity of the body?" Another question I'd like answered is "how does this process make effective disciples?" The answer is that it doesn't. If it worked, then people would be progressively becoming like Christ.   There isn't a single answer to solve this dilemma, but I think that a greater emphasis on discipleship and accountability would go a long way in developing Christian soldiers. I also think that churches should institute a member candidacy period in the process. When someone desires membership in the church, they should be encouraged (new believers should be celebrated via baptism), and then entered into the member candidate stage. During this stage, the pastor and spiritual leadership (elders, deacons, etc. whatever the ecclesiology of the local church stipulates) watch and pray for the candidate. When the candidate displays fruit, then he/she should be invited to covenant with the local church body. It is very much like an engagement period prior to marriage.   Also, we should disciple our church members and hold them accountable for their spiritual growth. We need to help them develop the heart of Christ within them. Then our church members will see the lost and seek to rescue them from the fires of hell.   Our churches need to change how they operate. We are in sleep mode because the buildings are paid for, salaries are being paid, and we're able to keep the lights on. If established churches acted like church plants – if we operated under the principle that we either win souls or lose our funding – then we would operate differently.   This is a great time to be a soldier for Christ. The amount of spiritual interest is high. People are searching for meaning in their lives. They are looking for solutions. Unfortunately, they are not looking to the church. We need to show them that the church has the answer. We need to show that Jesus Christ is the only answer that will satisfy.   I invite comments on other ways we can help the church to become more effective at making disciples. Let us labor together to share the good news.