This news article quotes Christian leaders as saying we no longer live in Christendom, and that we have to accept it as a “thing of the past.” They blame “dwindling numbers of congregants” for the problem, and claim they’re actually having to merge church congregations together in order to help fill churches.
It’s human nature, I suppose, to blame everyone but oneself for a problem. But with a little bit of self-analysis these so-called “Christian leaders” might see that their “dwindling numbers of congregants” has a cause.
After all, they do everything Christ was vehemently against, and then complain that church attendance is falling and Christianity is crumbling. If you scroll through the article at the link above, you’ll see that these religious leaders:
- Are focused almost solely on money (Matthew 6:24; John 2:14-17).
- Wear their long flowing robes to create the illusion of piety and spirituality (Luke 20:46).
- Never quite get around to teaching the richness and depths of God’s Word, but instead, “play church” by putting on empty religious rituals every Sunday and teaching man-made religious traditions in place of God’s Word, creating the illusion of spirituality and perpetual religiosity (Mark 7:8) without actually having either.
- Meet in gigantic and ornate church buildings (Mark 13:1-2) to create the illusion of heaven on earth through church attendance, though it never quite pans out for them.
- Never quite get around to evangelizing to the lost (Mark 16:15), nor equipping their congregants with the means to do so (Luke 10:10-11), but instead spend their time lazily preaching salvation to buildings full of already-saved people (Hebrews 6:1), boring them half to death in the process and ultimately driving them out of the church.
Then, when church attendance plummets, these same “Christian leaders” complain bitterly that Christianity is over, Christendom has been lost, and we might as well accept it. Clearly they don’t know their Father’s Word.
These very same Christian leaders are the CAUSE of the slow motion loss they’re now lamenting over. That’s because they won’t do church God’s Way. They have their own church system based on ritual and man-made tradition. This is why Christ said in Luke 6:46, “And why call ye me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things which I say?”
Most Christian churches today never teach their congregants anything from the Bible beyond John 3:16 and a few related salvation verses. Yet there are over 31,000 verses in the Bible, which constitute God’s policies for gaining admission into His eternal family household, and for helping others do the same.
The Christian church is supposed to teach God’s policies to Christians, over the course of time, so that Christians can gradually institute those policies into their daily lives and be blessed by them as their lives are transformed for the better.
But if you fail to feed Christians what their souls need for spiritual strength, restoration and transformation, they’re not going to hang around for long – at least, not the smart ones.
You’ll either bore the church-goers to tears and sooner or later drive them back out into the world. Or, you’ll drive them out of your church in search of real spiritual food, and sooner or later they’ll find it, for God is a knower of hearts, and will make sure those who have that inborn love for Him will find what they’re looking for.
No, Christianity has not fallen. Nor is it disintegrating. It is the predominate force for good in the world today. And it always will be. Eventually, it will conquer all opposing forces, spiritually speaking.
The only thing crumbling and falling is empty church ritual and tradition that have nothing to do with God’s Word. And that’s probably a good thing.
Real Christians eschew church ritual and tradition. Instead, they keep their noses in their Father’s Word – a little bit each day — learning His policies and implementing those policies into their lives. They adjust their thinking to God’s way of thinking. And God blesses them for it. And in the end, they have the victory through Christ (Luke 12:32).
The church, however, will continue to crumble. And that’s because its leaders continually say “Lord, Lord” with their mouths, yet with their actions they ignore what the Lord’s Word actually says.
Regards in Christ,
Steve Barwick
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