The unfortunate decline of church

There are churches I have known that have completely missed what being a church is about. The infighting and politics have completely trumped any form of pastoral care and generosity. Everyone has such an agenda that it is impossible to truly grow and become vibrant as a congregation. Instead, stagnation occurs, and eventually death comes knocking on the church doors. I wish there was some way to shake a congregation and yell, "WAKE UP!" But there isn't. We can only stand by and watch and cry and pray.

But how does a church get to this point? The churches I have been a part of in my life have at one time or another been thriving bodies of Christ, being in the world doing things. They were places of joy and celebration. And even though the two churches in which I grew up preach a theology that doesn't align with what I believe now, I can still appreciate how both of them grounded me in a faith that has held on for dear life through my life's struggles.

It's true that both the pastors I had growing up were utter failures at their pastoral duties. The first was so corrupt that I can't even take the time here to flesh out his many failings as a spiritual leader. The second was so apathetic and power hungry (no those things are not mutually exclusive) that he neglected members of his congregation at every age group. These were the two examples of pastoral leadership I had for eighteen years of my life. Yet the churches of which I was a part, for my time, were still thriving bodies.

Something happened along the way though. In the latter congregation, people began seeking their own agendas instead of the will of God. People began to believe that making sure their voices were heard was more important than hearing God's voice. It is hard for me to fathom that a church can be so full of itself that membership drastically declines to make room for all the egos. There is an unwillingness to change, an unwillingness to compromise. It is impossible to exist as any organization, much less as a church family, under those conditions.

I have been blessed to have encountered a church that does things differently. For the first time in my life, I have two pastors who live out what I have always dreamed a pastor should be. Amy and April are pastoral counselors, spiritual directors, dynamic preachers. They are compassionate. They live their lives with consistency that stretches beyond a Sunday morning facade.

That I have such a blessing in my life makes me long to have the church family of my youth see the potential of what church can be. Yet sometimes, people must be left to their own devices. Yes, even in the church. How often did the people of Israel sin against God and receive judgement? I do not have all the answers to this problem. I don't even have the answers for this congregation. I do, however, feel like I have some basic understanding of how God works. This church will either be broken and remade, or it will die. Some things are beyond the ability of people to fix. At some point you must step back and give God full reign, as difficult as that is. God will not let the church be a mockery for long.