Church

Dec

03

2024

Share

Listen

Subscribe

Share


Listen

Subscribe

Dec

03

2024

Our world is filled with incredibly serious and seemingly unsolvable problems such as: wars, violence, strife, worldwide economic turmoil, dishonesty, lies, jealousies, addictions, homelessness, poverty, divorce, hunger, anger, bitterness, disease, sickness, death, grief, anxiety, hopelessness, and suicide; but instead of turning to our churches to find comfort, puzzling statistics reveal that people are turning away from organized religion in alarming numbers. It’s an enigma.

So why are people leaving churches?

Turns out that it’s the churches themselves. In various surveys the unchurched and those fed up with organized religion cite numerous reasons for staying away from church. Here are the top ten as best I can determine:

  1. Too much carping about giving money
  2. Dull, monotonous, unexciting, and irrelevant messages (and series designed to eventually become a book) being preached from today’s pulpits
  3. Boring repetitive, dreary, outdated music
  4. Uncomfortable dress codes
  5. Judgmental and condemning attitudes exhibited by hypocrites in the leadership and membership
  6. Being made to feel unwelcome
  7. Being made to feel stupid or evil because they don’t know much, (or anything) about the Bible such as not being able to quickly find Bible verses when they are referred to during the service
  8. Don’t relate to ordinary people’s modern day lives with too many rules and impossible demands
  9.  People are hurting but rather than comfort them, churches criticize for sins that are comparatively trifling and negligible
  10. People have lost faith in clergy due to highly publicized misdeeds

This is not a God problem; it’s a human problem, and it has existed since the dawn of organized religion. It was in fact the leadership of organized religion of the day that demanded the horrific crucifixion of Jesus Christ for His speaking out against them and their misrepresentation of His laws and message of hope, forgiveness, and love of mankind.

Jesus did not belong to a particular denomination; nor did He recommend one. He didn’t require His congregations to dress a particular way, (nor did He). Jesus did not require them to stand and sit – stand and sit – stand and sit – and sing certain songs, and chant certain Scripture during His services. He didn’t talk down to people; He talked to people. He gave us the Bible in order that we might enjoy this life as best we can.

Any fair-minded person understands that if we lie, steal, murder, commit adultery and so forth that we will not have a peaceful life filled with joy and love. Sure, these are rules, but they are rules written by a loving Father who wants to protect us. Just as a child reaches for a red hot burner on a stove and its mother forcefully warns them not to do it to avoid getting burned, God does so with us through His Holy Word. If we listen we don’t get burned.

His message of hope, love, and peace was relevant in the times He walked on the face of the earth, and it is even more so today. He stated that He did not come to judge or condemn, but to forgive and save us.

The Bible teaches that God is love and it was exemplified through His life of being humble, gentle, understanding, and most of all forgiving. He said in Matthew 11:29 “Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls…”

That is what we want to do at church. With that said however: the Church should not be a place for performer/pretenders to entertain its congregations, nor is it a politician’s sounding board, but it is a holy place for pastors to preach principles of faith to better prepare us for the storms of life and to provide an essential ingredient needed in our lives, (fellowship with other believers), which enables us to get the very most out of our lives. God told us not to forsake the gathering together of ourselves and that is enough for me.

Most of all we should realize that the church was purchased with the blood of Christ and that He considers it His beloved bride.

Matt. 16:18
“I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Share

Listen

Subscribe

Share


Listen

Subscribe