Does the Church Still Matter Today?
A lot of things wear out their usefulness over time. Some of these are fads that seem to go as quickly as they arrived. Whether it’s a song that you can’t quite escape (Macarena[1] anyone?). A gadget everyone seems to have (Still have a drawer with a neglected Tamagotchi[2] in it?). Or even a social media site (Check out your old MySpace[3] page lately). Things come and things go. Why? Because despite the effort, attention, and energy we once put into these things, they just don’t matter anymore.
What about the church?
Some say the church is slowly losing ground, others will point out its steady decline, and others till may say that the church has lost its way altogether. In a fairly recent post[4], pastor Carey Nieuwhof cited statistics from the Barna Group that while 80% of practicing Christians have a positive view of the church…only 21% of non-Christians think of the church in a positive way. This means that four out of five people that we interact with in our daily lives that aren’t already believers do not hold a positive thought about the church. For them, it may not be that it doesn’t matter, but that it isn’t good, they’re indifferent towards it, or is irrelevant to their lives and this world.
We would once find those statistics hard to believe. For a long time, the church, its people, and its leaders were trusted to do good in their communities, be on the forefront of positive societal issues, and would be there for those who were in need. Those on the “inside” of the church will inevitably point the finger outwards, saying: “we didn’t change, the culture around us did.” While some of that may be true as our culture shifts more rapidly than it has at any point in history, we do ourselves a great disservice by not also accepting some of the blame. The church has seen its share of scandals. Its leaders have had their issues with moral and ethical failure. But, also, we’ve lost the drive to make a difference in the name of Jesus in our communities and world, sacrificing mission for comfort.
In spite of all of this, however, the church still matters today. Being a part of the church still matters. In an age when people are pulling back from the church, as some say “In order to find Jesus,”[5] we must do a better job being the people of God that He has called us to be. Loving the least and even the unlovable. Serving the world as Jesus’ hands and feet. Going into all the world to make disciples. Praying for His Kingdom come and His will to be done in our lives, our churches, all our places.
This week we’re going to explore why the church still matters and we pray you’ll learn that it does for your life as well!
Links:
https://youtu.be/CHQmaLMgI_k?si=nwayJyqq-AEAsDLR
https://www.bandai.com/brands/tamagotchi/original-tamagotchi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace