I was recently talking to a pastor who was telling me about the amazing things God was doing in his church. The church is 150 years old, and had gone into steep decline. Up until a few months ago, they were averaging only 8-10 adults on a Sunday, all of whom were over 65 years old.
The pastor shared with me that recently, in response to many years of prayer, God had brought “revival” to the church, and they were now averaging about 150 people!
I was amazed and impressed. The church went from 10 to 150 in a few months! And while I believe in the power of prayer, I was amazed when the pastor said that, aside from praying a lot and building a brand new building (how did they fund that with only 10 people?), they hadn’t really done anything different with outreach or their worship service.
But as I talked longer, it came out that the 140 people had come from a big church across town that split.
My heart sank at the news. This pastor was thrilled at the “health” of his church, and the “revival” that God was bringing in response to years of prayer, but really, not a single new person in the community had come to faith in Jesus. Instead, a church across town experienced a messy split, and 140 people came over to the church in town with a new building. Is that really a “work of God”?
As I sat there fuming, trying to decide if I should burst the pastor’s bubble by telling him what I thought, and that it was probably just a matter of time before his church split also, God reminded me that in my first pastorate, I was actually praying for other churches in town to split or fold, and for other pastors to have moral failures, so that my church could possibly receive some of the people in those other churches. It saddens me to even think about it!
But this is what the American church has come to…feeding off each other as we try to survive a nose dive into oblivion and cultural irrelevance. If we want to not only survive but thrive, we need to change. I think I am beginning to see and envision what some of these changes will mean for me. The question now is whether or not I have the faith and courage to follow through on them.
Jeremy,
This is just so sad. We pastors (and other family members) do seem to “blame” God for such travesties with a great sense of spiritual pride. We prayed correctly, persistently, faithfully, biblically, and enough…God finally gave in to our pleas and destroyed another church family so we could have what we wanted. Praise be to God.
Thankfully God is not wringing his hands in anxiety over all this. Something wonderful is about to happen…is happening…all over the world with his Church.
“Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Ps 46:10
Is that really a “work of God”?
I guess it depends on what he was praying for. Was he praying for more people to come to Jesus, or just to increase attendance at the church? Or he could have been praying for someone else’s failure like you did. I really can’t believe you actually did that. But then, need + immaturity = stupid actions. And it’s not like you blew up a competing church. You didn’t, right?
But that right there might be the problem. “Competition” Churches with billboards? Churches with television commercials? Churches all over the place have become corporations selling their brand of salvation to an American public that is incredibly fickle. Americans are used to changing brands if they have a bad experience or even just a coupon. By becoming part of the corporate culture, a move that probably worked quite well in the short term, churches have now equated themselves with the retailers of any commercial product. Faith has become a commodity.
But then, it always has been, to a degree, in America. Churches also sell legitimacy and social status and have for ages. The right denomination, the right congregation, the right people. I’m sure in times past, people wouldn’t dream of leaving their church for anything short of serious fundamental differences. Leaving a church may as well have been leaving society. Now, though, if we don’t have our asses sufficiently kissed, we take our business elsewhere, regardless of the product.