How can a church, whose heroes all died as criminals, whose Bible is filled with stories of people being arrested, tortured, and killed by angry mobs and government forces, be part of the mainstream culture?
Answer: it really can't.
Oh, it can for awhile. America has proven that. Christianity has been the majority religion here in America since its inception. It still is, and probably will be for a long time. Faith isn't as easy to stamp out in a society or a people as you might think, no matter what the liberal press and militant atheist social media warriors would like you to believe.
However, there is no doubt that America is changing.
The guys who have been in youth ministry have known this for a long time.
I was a youth minister for 9 years before being a senior pastor, and the front-page news headlines screaming about America's changing spiritual landscape was common knowledge to all of us ten years ago. Working with the upcoming generation, we all saw it.
And honestly, a lot of us welcomed it.
See, Christianity in its truest form can only exist when it is a minority outside the mainstream. When Christianity becomes popular, when it becomes cool, when there are societal benefits associated with being part of a church or being called a Christian, the true faith is watered down.
When Christianity is mainstream, people will join a church because of friends, or because of business contacts, or because of social status, or simply because "that's what a good American does." When churches are filled with people who want the benefits of Christianity but aren't in relationship with Jesus, aren't willing to pay the costs, not willing to accomplish the Great Commission, aren't willing to sacrifice anything at all, the church suffers. Big time.
When Christianity is moved to the fringes, when it isn't cool, convenient, or popular, the church sheds a lot of dead weight. When the heat is turned up, when Christianity begins to cost, when Christianity begins to be dangerous and risky, there is a major pruning that goes on. When that pruning is over, all that is left are hardcore, committed disciples of Jesus Christ. That's when Christianity begins to exist in its purest form.
That's what's happening in America right now. Casual, lukewarm Christianity is disappearing. And I say good riddance. God is refining His church right now. He has gone into full-blown Gardener mode (see John 15) and is ruthlessly pruning off dead, unproductive branches of His church. He is refining His church, destroying casual, nominal Christianity and leaving His church full of people who are serious about discipleship.
How do I know this? I spend a lot of time with Christians in other countries who are distinct minorities.
I think that American churches need to learn from them. Here are two things that I believe the American church will need to do in order to thrive in a post-Christian America.
1) De-centralize. Our brethren in China showed me one thing: they do not have massive places of gathering. They do not have real estate. They do not have offices. They do not have anything, really, other than their homes. Whatever you have can be confiscated by the government. So, they are de-centralized. Their churches are incredibly hard to shut down, because there ARE no churches. At least, no church buildings. One house gets shut down, they move to another.
Also, their leadership is de-centralized. If the police break into a church meeting and demand to know who the pastor is, all raise their hands. If they arrest one, another takes his place. Their locations and their leadership is de-centralized, and therefore impossible to destroy. Right now, here in America, leaders are easily identified and buildings are easily spotted. Learn the lesson from our persecuted brethren and be ready for the day when we will need to act as they do. De-centralize.
2) Orphan care. Churches outside the mainstream need to look for ways that they can have legitimacy in the eyes of the unbelievers. Every society has helpless members, and the most prominent are the orphan children. Our persecuted brethren overseas all have orphanages. This is for two reasons- one, because the Bible commands it, and two, because it afford the church protection. If a church runs an orphanage with 150 children, what happens when the government comes in and threatens to shut the church down? The leaders say, "Okay, these children are now your problem."
No local government wants to deal with orphan children, so they back off. Also, many local people are won over to Jesus Christ by seeing the compassion of the church for the orphan children.
I see these two things- de-centralization and orphan care- as being two things of absolute necessity in the American church in the coming years. These are things our persecuted brethren have done to survive in their communities. American churches need to do this as well.
So, to the average churchgoer, are you willing to raise your hand and say you are the pastor? Are you ready to take over leadership of the church when your pastor is arrested? Are you ready to take seriously the care of orphans?
The time to decide that is now. The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining. When it starts to rain, it's too late.
The time to decide these things is now, before government forces begin shutting down churches and persecuting the faithful. Decide now. But don't worry. Our rich history is filled with people who stayed faithful in face of violent persecution. They are our heroes. They are our examples. If they faced it, so can we. God bless you all.
Answer: it really can't.
Oh, it can for awhile. America has proven that. Christianity has been the majority religion here in America since its inception. It still is, and probably will be for a long time. Faith isn't as easy to stamp out in a society or a people as you might think, no matter what the liberal press and militant atheist social media warriors would like you to believe.
However, there is no doubt that America is changing.
The guys who have been in youth ministry have known this for a long time.
I was a youth minister for 9 years before being a senior pastor, and the front-page news headlines screaming about America's changing spiritual landscape was common knowledge to all of us ten years ago. Working with the upcoming generation, we all saw it.
And honestly, a lot of us welcomed it.
See, Christianity in its truest form can only exist when it is a minority outside the mainstream. When Christianity becomes popular, when it becomes cool, when there are societal benefits associated with being part of a church or being called a Christian, the true faith is watered down.
When Christianity is mainstream, people will join a church because of friends, or because of business contacts, or because of social status, or simply because "that's what a good American does." When churches are filled with people who want the benefits of Christianity but aren't in relationship with Jesus, aren't willing to pay the costs, not willing to accomplish the Great Commission, aren't willing to sacrifice anything at all, the church suffers. Big time.
When Christianity is moved to the fringes, when it isn't cool, convenient, or popular, the church sheds a lot of dead weight. When the heat is turned up, when Christianity begins to cost, when Christianity begins to be dangerous and risky, there is a major pruning that goes on. When that pruning is over, all that is left are hardcore, committed disciples of Jesus Christ. That's when Christianity begins to exist in its purest form.
That's what's happening in America right now. Casual, lukewarm Christianity is disappearing. And I say good riddance. God is refining His church right now. He has gone into full-blown Gardener mode (see John 15) and is ruthlessly pruning off dead, unproductive branches of His church. He is refining His church, destroying casual, nominal Christianity and leaving His church full of people who are serious about discipleship.
How do I know this? I spend a lot of time with Christians in other countries who are distinct minorities.
I think that American churches need to learn from them. Here are two things that I believe the American church will need to do in order to thrive in a post-Christian America.
1) De-centralize. Our brethren in China showed me one thing: they do not have massive places of gathering. They do not have real estate. They do not have offices. They do not have anything, really, other than their homes. Whatever you have can be confiscated by the government. So, they are de-centralized. Their churches are incredibly hard to shut down, because there ARE no churches. At least, no church buildings. One house gets shut down, they move to another.
Also, their leadership is de-centralized. If the police break into a church meeting and demand to know who the pastor is, all raise their hands. If they arrest one, another takes his place. Their locations and their leadership is de-centralized, and therefore impossible to destroy. Right now, here in America, leaders are easily identified and buildings are easily spotted. Learn the lesson from our persecuted brethren and be ready for the day when we will need to act as they do. De-centralize.
2) Orphan care. Churches outside the mainstream need to look for ways that they can have legitimacy in the eyes of the unbelievers. Every society has helpless members, and the most prominent are the orphan children. Our persecuted brethren overseas all have orphanages. This is for two reasons- one, because the Bible commands it, and two, because it afford the church protection. If a church runs an orphanage with 150 children, what happens when the government comes in and threatens to shut the church down? The leaders say, "Okay, these children are now your problem."
No local government wants to deal with orphan children, so they back off. Also, many local people are won over to Jesus Christ by seeing the compassion of the church for the orphan children.
I see these two things- de-centralization and orphan care- as being two things of absolute necessity in the American church in the coming years. These are things our persecuted brethren have done to survive in their communities. American churches need to do this as well.
So, to the average churchgoer, are you willing to raise your hand and say you are the pastor? Are you ready to take over leadership of the church when your pastor is arrested? Are you ready to take seriously the care of orphans?
The time to decide that is now. The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining. When it starts to rain, it's too late.
The time to decide these things is now, before government forces begin shutting down churches and persecuting the faithful. Decide now. But don't worry. Our rich history is filled with people who stayed faithful in face of violent persecution. They are our heroes. They are our examples. If they faced it, so can we. God bless you all.
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