Random Thought about the Church and Church Replants.

Lamentations 1:1
"How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave."

Jeremiah describes the city of Jerusalem who in the past had been a booming city, spiritual, physical, and emotionally healthy because they were in right standing with God. However, what once was is no more. She had become an abomination to God, weak in the eyes of other nations, and feeble in their vitality.

How this describes the majority of churches today. With 80% of churches across denominational lines suffering decline or plateau, they sit there lonely and dreaming of the good ole days. Sadly, many of these church do not realize there is something terribly wrong. Those who have yet to produce a convert, baptisms, or new members in years, defend adamantly they are not dead. Understand this: healthy lives, organisms, organizations, and churches reproduce. Reproduction can be in the form of conversions, transformations, new members, and new churches being planted. Just because a church still has their doors open and is paying their mortgage and bills does not mean they are healthy. Truthfully death is knocking at their door.

What kills people? Immediately you might think old age, cancer, disease, car wreck, obesity, etc. These are means by which people die, but it is not what kills people. Their inherited nature of Sin kills. Man was created in the image of God. One attribute of imageo Dei is to live forever. The sin of man did not discontinue their eternality, but did inaugurate their earthly state of death. Therefore, from the sin of Adam and Eve everyone who would follow thereafter would die as result of sin. This sin would spread into every sect of society: home, civilization, culture, nation, people, and eventually the church.

Individual churches over the course of 2,000 years have experienced this life cycle where sin eventually kills them or renders them ineffective and unfruitful. Think about the seven churches of Revelation. They were second generational churches who Jesus had issues with. Jesus took issue with some more than others. Nevertheless, this tells us today, if we are not careful we can allow the church to become infected in areas which may spread to the overall health of the church. Eventually this infection can cause lukewarmness, unfruitfulness, and ineffectiveness to the point Jesus vomits. What Christian or Church in their right mind wants to make the Son of God, our Savior and Lord vomit? But, the reality is Jesus is constantly up-chucking due to the state of many of his local churches in the West, particularly in America.

What is needed? New life, new birth, resurrection, renewal, restart, and reproduction. The churches who have suffered sever decline, degeneration, and imminent death need to do something drastic and radical. Rather than smothering the gospel and it's mission because of their tradition, preferences, selfishness, hurt, bitterness, resentment, and sin, they need to allow the gospel to shine and give birth. In other words, they need to decrease and allow Jesus to increase. Jesus wants his church to be healthy, vibrant, and reproducing. In order for this to happen, churches must rekindle what it means to be Christo-centric, gospel-centered, and mission-centered rather than ecclesiastical-centered. When churches become ecclesiastical-centered they become stagnate, institutional, traditional, internal, self-centered, and maintenance driven.

If churches or people who gather under the banner of a church name fail to do this, they cease to behave and act like the church. The Church is the bride of Christ sent on his continuing mission. Therefore, we submit and surrender to our husband and what he would have us do. Failing to surrender and submit to our husband and be guided by him is a declaration of our independence from our husband. Churches who desire to return to their first love must repent and confess of their adultery. These actions of adultery can manifest itself in selfishness, perceiving the church belongs to them not Christ. Adultery can manifest itself through pride, arrogance, racism, and apathy.

My prayer is that more churches would recognize their unhealthiness, ineffectiveness, unfruitfulness, and their imminent death and would repent, and desire to replant.