Ask anyone who’s been around the church community for a few decades and they’ll tell you, “it ain’t like it used to be.” They’re right, church has changed. It hasn’t just changed its programs, service, styles and music, rather it’s very essence and philosophical approach to ministry is necessarily changing after several hundred years of relative continuity.
Looking back, it seems it all started with the Worship Wars of the 90’s…where debates raged on primarily over hymns and choruses. That leaked into churches seeking to become more attractional in their styles of music, dress, service structures, and even things like coffee bars. Just to transparent, I bought into many of these changes myself. And look, none of these things are inherently bad, but as churches clung to them as solutions in a new era, the church in North America began losing ground rapidly. In the face of a post-modern and post-Christian society, answers of facilities, looks, styles, and superficial attempts to chase culture, were obliterated by a questioning and thinking society. Dr. Gary Nelson, President of Tyndale University in Toronto sums it all up quite candidly… he writes “no matter how radical (these changes) may appear to the Christian culture, (they) have minimal impact as we are still waiting for them (unchurched) to come to us.”
So, you say, great Brett we all get the problem, but what’s the solution? Well, I can give you the short answer, or the long answer. The short answer is God’s Word, that is the solution. As I’ve pointed out many times in other SKOPOS features, our mind is mentioned time and time again in God’s Word. We are to study, to have an answer, to renew our thoughts, set our minds on Christ, and to KNOW GOD through His Word. There is absolutely no substitute for that life-changing activity of studying God’s Word and seeking intimacy with Christ. The longer answer, we are to take the gospel to the world. We can no longer sit inside our brick and mortar buildings and wait for the world to come listen to us. We must GO. We must act like missionaries in our very own worlds of work, neighborhoods, community centers, sports teams, etc. We must show the gospel and we must preach the gospel as the very essence of who we are in Christ.
No longer can we lazily do church as usual, we must GO and the only way we can be equipped to do the work of the ministry is by seeking and knowing Christ through the power of His Word. The good ole’ days are gone, but we know that Christ will always have his church and that we have a mission to establish his kingdom here on earth through the gospel. So, step 1, get in the game, begin reading, praying, asking God to show you where he is working and how you can get involved in the Missio Dei, the Mission of God.
