In the Phillips paraphrase, Hebrews 8:13 reads this way – "When a thing grows weak and out of date, it is obviously soon going to disappear."
I was talking to a lady from the Lutheran Church in the town where I live last evening. I know the church, the folks and the pastor and the church is the traditional Lutheran church in every respect. She was saying how the church there is in trouble financially and how attendance has dropped way down to just a few people so that there are not enough helpers to serve communion etc. They are talking about the possibility of the church closing. She said she can't understand how the people could want the church to be there for them when they had a need but they didn't attend or support the work.
She also spoke concerning the support money wise and how the folks there raised the question about giving more money to something that might close soon.She said this because the thought was introduced, by leadership people, that the people should give more to meet the financial needs the are overwhelming the church now.
According to Rick Warren, pastor of the Saddleback Community church and author of the book, "The Purpose Driven Church," the reason that 95% of all churches in the world never grow past 300 members is because their structure keeps them from growing beyond that point. Quoting today's scripture, he said, "When a thing grows weak and out of date, it is obviously soon going to disappear. That's true of churches, too. If a church cannot change, it will eventually die." (taken from Timothy Satryan's First Impressions page)
Is the traditional church in trouble today? Not just one church or denomination but the way church has been done throughout the land. Is it time for a change in the methods or the way we approach the idea of "church"? What do you think? Do you even care? Give me some feedback..Thank you.
Blessings on Ya!
Pastor Kitner
28-06-2010 05:03 AM
Junior Member
Posts: 27 Joined: 25.01.10 Location: Luton UK Age: 45
Just some thoughts from the UK. Is the traditional Church in trouble - good question, my reply is yes and in some instances it is a good thing. Being a Christian is about a real tangible relationship with a loving Heavenly Father. If tradition stops this relationship from occuring, which it can do, then that Church is hindering the Gospel and should be dealt with. Church must be relevent and upto date to reach people where they are today, but it must also hold firm to true Christian Teaching. Jesus is alive today and not iving in the 19th Century and our Churches and relationships must reflect this as the Apostle Paul said 'I must be all things to all people'. The Church must relate to the communities it is placed in and be relevent not traditiional. Just my opinion though.
God Bless
Phil (Justified)
27-07-2010 03:08 PM
Newbie
Posts: 8 Joined: 13.07.10 Location: San Angelo, Texas Age: 30
Is the traditional church in trouble today?
Good question. I think the reason less and less people go to traditional churches is because men and women these days refuse to change completely once saved. People seem to want the church to change for them. My pastor told me that in his career as a pastor there have been times new families would ask him while visiting what the church can do for them. This is a sad look on reality these days. We shouldn't be asking what the church can do for us but what we can do for the church. It seems to me some of these new types of churches do exacly that, they change things to meet the needs of the people of the church. Now this isn't all bad except when you sacrifice Biblical principals simply for wanting to up the member numbers. If the church or the saints are Jesus's bride then when it comes to biblical principles we should not change because Christ does not change. Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever." My point is if the traditional church is in trouble its not cause of it being traditional but because of men and women refusing to allow Jesus to change them. Too many want to bring things from the world into the church with them. II Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE;old things are passed away; behold ALLthings become new. James 4:4 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
Steve(MyProvider)
27-07-2010 10:01 PM
Newbie
Posts: 1 Joined: 14.07.10 Location: corpus christi, tx
my wife and i moved back in january and had to look for a church. we came from a nondenominational, contemporary church. we just found a new one last month, which is baptist and traditional. honestly, we did not care whether it was traditional or contemporary. the problem we found, was that, be it contemporary or traditional, churches seemed to lack their most basic foundation, Christ. the church we attend and the churches we've attended had worship that was Christ centered and a message that was Christ centered and growing. God leads some churches to be more modern and others to be more traditional. if a church isn't growing, i'm sorry to say, but it needs to look within, which means we need to look within. we are the church and we are flawed. i do believe the church today, specifically in america, faces many problems, with the internet, with failing marriages, and sadly, with love. bono was asked why he did the charity work he did, his response, "well, its the churches job, but right now she's asleep." how sad and true. Hebrews 5:11-14 seems to be spoken to us all, "we have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. in fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again. you need milk, not solid food. anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. but solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
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Is the traditional church in trouble today?
