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| Photo credit:http://jeffleakeonline.com/signs-of-spiritual-decline/ |
Churches that are doing well financially and numerically often assume that everything must be great (God must be blessing us- right?) Regardless of size, Revelation 2-3 is perhaps the best place to go for an annual spiritual check up. In these chapters the Lord of the Church evaluates seven local churches with grace and truth. If Jesus were to write your church a personal letter what would He say? What would he praise? What would he find lacking?
Your church is off track spiritually:
1) When: Numerical and financial growth has subtly become more important than the spiritual maturation of the sheep (Col. 1:28-29; Eph. 4:11-16; Matt. 28:18-20).
In my estimation this is the most common problem in the evangelical church today. Far too many church leaders today are more concerned with their resumes and portfolios than they are in building spiritually healthy and biblically mature congregations.
2) When: Your church jumps from one well packaged fad to the next (From "Purpose Driven Church," to "the Prayer of Jabez," to "the Shack," to "Jesus Calling" to Sex Therapy from the Song of Solomon, to _____ ).
In short, the leadership and flock lack biblical discernment and are subsequently "tossed here and there by every wave of trickery" (see Eph. 4:11-16, 1 Thess. 5:21-22). See John MacArthur's excellent sermon, A Biblical Response to the Church Growth Movement.
3) When: The active pursuit of godliness (1 Tim. 4:7-8; Phil. 2:12-13); is viewed as something only super spiritual Christians pursue. When striving after Christ-likeness is labeled "Pharisaical" or "extreme" your congregation is out of step with God's Word.
In our day many (ab)use grace as a license to justify worldliness, spiritual lethargy, and/or unrepentant carnality (note Jude 3-4). Others have repackaged the old "let go and let God" error; often employing "gospel-centered" language along the way.
See my article, Sanctification, Grace, and the Obedience of Faith. Note also J.C. Ryle's classic work, "Holiness."
4) When: Unrepentant sin in the life of professing believers and church members is routinely swept under the rug, because after all, "Who are we to judge?" (Contra Jesus' instructions in Matthew 18:15-17; and Paul's admonishment in 1 Corinthians 5)
See Stephen Davey's short (but powerful) book, In Pursuit of Prodigals: A Primer on Church Discipline and Reconciliation.
5) When: Church traditions and personal preferences begin to subtly trump the authority of the Bible.
When "what sayeth the Scriptures?" is no longer the most important voice in the church be very afraid. When "But we've always done it this way" is more important than "thus sayeth the Lord" their's a big problem. When the fear of man and the applause of men is more important than the fear of God and the approval of Christ we should be very concerned.
6) When: Your corporate "worship service" looks and sounds something like this or this.
See Dr. Block's, For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship or Worship By the Book for more instruction.
7) When: Longtime members cannot handle (nor desire) the "meat" of God's word (see Heb. 5:12-14); instead they prefer only milk.
8) When: Very few people in the congregation have an insatiable appetite for Holy Scripture (An intense and continuous craving for the Bible, according to 1 Peter 2:2-3, is a healthy sign and is a chief means of spiritual growth in the life of a Christian disciple).
9) When: Ministries become programs and/or events (to draw crowds) and when genuine discipleship and evangelism is regulated more and more to the periphery.
10) When: The baptism tank is rarely used, in large measure, because the congregation assumes personal evangelism is something we pay missionaries to do.
Far too many local churches that are growing numerically come as a result of "transfer growth" or in some instances blatant "sheep stealing." When the Lord is adding to His church it often happens through genuine and radical conversions.
11) When: Congregational infighting is the norm rather than the exception. Or when congregational meetings look and sound more like the Jerry Springer show than an assembly of Spirit-filled saints (Eph. 4:1-3; Heb. 13:17).
12) When: Biblical illiteracy is the church norm, not the exception (contra 1 Peter 2:2-3; Heb. 5:12-14).
If you have not read Dr. Mohler's article, The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy: It's Our Problem you really need to (click here). In biblically illiterate ministries it sometimes seems as if John 3:16 is the only verse in the Bible that is inspired by God (contra 2 Timothy 3:15-17).
Biblically illiterate individuals have no idea what Jesus said concerning marriage, divorce and remarriage. Churches that promote biblical illiteracy often ignore passages like Romans 9-10, 1 Corinthians 5, Ephesians 1 not to mention most of the Old Testament. Biblical ignorance is never bliss in the Christian walk or in the life of the church.
13) When: the congregation believes ministry is something they pay there ministers (pastors) to do. (i.e.) When professing Christians are spectators and not servants (contra 1 Cor. 12-14; 1 Pet. 4:10-11).
In God's design, the Spirit gives gifted men as gifts to the church in order that they might "equip the saints for the work of the ministry." (See Eph. 4:11-16 or listen to this fine exposition by Pastor Jerry Wragg, or read this article, Lay People: Servants Not Spectators).
14) When: your pastor and church leaders only preach a positive message and never refute those who contradict the theology of Scripture -or visa versa- When your pastor and church leaders only call out ministries/ministers who have gone astray and seldom build up the congregation with positive (biblical) exhortations (see Titus 1:7-9). It's both/and duty not either/or.
15) When: Right actions are performed out of slavish obligation rather than from hearts that beat for Jesus (see John 13).
16) When: Church leaders lead the church according to (Barna) poll research rather than simply following Christ's lead through prayer and the careful examination of Scripture.
17) When: Your church caters to the "consumerism" that dominates our culture.
Possible indicators of a consumer-driven ministry include offering different worship services based on personal preferences (eg. we offer a contemporary worship service for one group and a traditional service for another group); Or offering Saturday evening and Monday night church for those who are just too busy to worship regularly on the Lord's Day; or "in and out" in sixty minutes or less worship services, etc, etc.
Churches that are declining spiritually will not grow spiritually unless they humbly acknowledge these problems and repent accordingly. That is why Jesus says repeatedly in Revelation 2-3, "Repent or else _____." May the Lord have mercy on his Church!
