thedeadchurch.com

       Are you disappointed in your church? Disappointed in church in general? Does it pain you that the church resembles a commercial endeavor or recreational service, more than it does the book of Acts? Note the lack of unity; the absence of commitment. “Church hopping” is epidemic. The average church member stays less than three years, before moving on to look for something more entertaining or convenient. “Church growth” is the ability to attract more members than are currently wandering off.  What is wrong with this picture? Could these disjointed, unfocused, and impotent assemblies possibly be what Jesus had in mind? Could we be more shallow or noncommittal? How did we stray so far from our calling to be disciples, and to reach out to make disciples? Consider the state of the blood-bought church of Jesus Christ, and imagine how we must pain and disappoint our Savior.

      We have completely lost our focus and our identity. We have institutionalized a paradigm best described as “Consumer Christianity”. It has rendered our churches sick, lame, lazy, and terminal. Most of our churches are completely dead, functioning wholly in the flesh. They don’t need to be revived; they need to be resurrected.

      Church has become more a merchandising enterprise, than a spiritual force. The current mindset is “serve us”, not service. Leadership quickly settles for entertaining and attracting “customers” instead of following the LORD’s guidance, in serving Him. Deeply in debt, meeting the budget so as to remain open is a constant priority.  Virtually all church “growth” is transfer growth, except for our biological increase. And the larger percentage of our offspring “graduate” from church, when they graduate from high school. More than 70% of our churches are flat-lined or actually shriveling in size. We have settled for swapping sheep with other congregations instead of working the harvest field. The growth of one congregation is at the expense of others; we redistribute instead of multiply. Reaching the lost is only given lip service. Can we even claim to be disciples, if we are so unconcerned about making disciples? Have we forgotten the horrors of Hell awaiting our lost friends and neighbors?

       There is a Biblical solution to this creeping paralysis. Resurrecting the Dead Church is a proclamation of three Biblical principles that will reclaim even the deadest church, to return to serving the LORD and expanding His kingdom. It is time to return the church to her rightful owner. HE can restore, if we will but follow.