The Invisible Church Split - Part II

I previously introduced the idea that the church has a large division between the young and the old. Today I want to explore some of the issues this causes on both a small and large scale. Check out Part I for more background info!

 imagecred: richardwintle via AventuresInWonderland

Locally

This is extremely difficult to nail down simply because it begins so subtly. I have a hard time deciding what I think is healthy and what is unhealthy. However, when the young don't honor the old and the old don't teach the young, both groups suffer. 

Untaught young Christians grow into weak old Christians. This causes the local church to flounder in areas of Biblical literacy, evangelism and seeking righteousness. "Old Christians" (wherever the divide may fall in any particular body) who don't experience the process of bringing others along in their walk, begin to lack understanding for those in a less mature stage of their walk. This can lead to criticism of those with struggles inside the church (and possible denial of their own) as well as eventually causing an apathy for the unsaved.

I think this also circles back around. When the elders in the church don't have compassion for the lost in sin, young people begin to polarize. You either have to be a "church person" and separate themselves from the world completely or choose to be in it. I see so many teens and young adults fall into sinful lifestyles partly because they've been told they can't be around "those kinds of people" or "those kinds of activities". They feel shame around Christians because they've been told they're guilty of sin if they break their fathers extra-Biblical commandments. 

Regionallly

Regional areas and countries fall into their own bad habits. Though we most likely all struggle with very similar things, certain cultural aspects have an effect on a divided church. One of the major ones in the US is the death of old congregations and the emergence of churches heavily weighted in numbers of young people. Many of these churches are planted and then dwindle withing a few years because of the lack of elderly wisdom. Because of the importance of social classes, in the UK there are large churches in prominent areas struggling with being superficial and lukewarm. No one wants to man up and cross lines that would make them uncomfortable. 

Globally

Internationally, I think there is actually some benefit to this sad problem. While worldwide evangelism and disciple-making see their fair share of neglect, they also get the unhealthy church's "rejects".

For example, my pastor's wife was telling me a tragic story of a missionary she knows losing his wife. As she described him she noted that he's someone people describe as "over the top" (for instance taking his wife and children to spread the gospel in the islamic middle east) but that she felt like he embodied what Jesus described for all believers to look like. 

Similarly, we had a leader who tried to explain to us that since we were so bent on making disciples, we might want to go overseas. He wasn't sure we really fit around here.

While churches all over sit in their abundance and barely acknowledge people and places who need their prayers, efforts and resources, at least they send them the best disciple makers they have (unfortunately, to it's own detriment).

What kind of issues to you find affecting your local/regional church? What other consequences do you see that I didn't hit here?

Comment/Email your answer!

On Capital Campaigns

Today I read a number. A big number: 232 billion. To me adding a dollar sign makes it even bigger. Two hundred and thirty-two billion dollars. This is the amount of money tied up in real estate owned by churches.

So, why is this necessary? Did the apostles need a mega-church to see 3,000 people added to their numbers on one day? I do feel it's important to relate to culture, but at what cost? Do we think this is a good use of Gods resources?

I attend a church that has remodeled half of a large building. It's nice looking and not very extravagant. Our multiple-purpose room is set up to function as a sanctuary. It has the "necessities," A few lights on a dimmer pack, a large (but not enormous) sound board, sound system, small stage, you know - everything Americans need to worship. Supposedly you have to have a certain percentage of empty chairs for new people to feel comfortable enough to come in, and apparently we don't have enough. Over the last year, and annoyingly more over the last few months, leadership and attendees have been pushing to begin "phase 2" aka the sanctuary.

Many people have been praying for the completion of the building for a couple years. One year ago we ran into a hiccup with our city officials and had to resubmit our plans to a new architect. A few months into it, he had a massive heart attack that put him out of commission for several more months. Just as he was near finishing, his computer crashed. He apparently had no back up because he has had to start from square one. In all of these obstacles, people are praying for God to pull through and do amazing things...I truly believe He is. It's not a coincidence that all of these road blocks fell in our way. While they would attribute it to the enemy, I credit the all-knowing God of the universe.

Let's put this in perspective, if the American church sold our buildings and started meeting in tax-payer funded buildings such as schools and civic halls, we could feed, evangelize and equip 90 million kids until adulthood through an organization such as World Vision or Compassion Intl. That doesn't take into account how much money each church spends on utilities and supplies. If our church alone stopped our building project, we could minister to hundreds of people through organizations like the afore mentioned or by sponsoring several more missionaries. I'm guessing that more people would come to know the Lord through those avenues than through another big pretty room.

I know these last couple posts may seem very cynical. Please give me grace recognizing that I am a very passionate person. I've never really "kind of" felt something, I feel what I feel with all that I am. I'm also a problem solver by nature. As a part of the body of Christ, I find that it is my problem as well as yours that we're not functioning properly (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12) and the only thing I know how to do is write and tell the people w/in my scope of influence.

Grace and peace.