Should We Change The Way We Do Church?

Should we change the way we do church? That question is being asked by a lot of people in America. Something is not working as it should. Almost everyone agrees on that. For the first time in U.S. history, church membership fell below the majority according to a Gallup poll conducted in 2020. This graph plots the steady decline during the last few decades.i

INSERT GRAPH FROM GALLUP ARTICLE REFERENCED IN ENDNOTE #1.

The statistic stayed in the seventy percent range from 1940 to 2000. At that point it went into a steep decline. The issue is not whether something should change. Almost all agree this trend is unacceptable. The issue is how to fix it. What needs to happen to turn this trend around?

Individuals are having disappointing church experiences that are prompting them to seek a better way to do church. Church leaders are trying to improve the situation in their organizations. It seems the more we study church growth, the less church growth we have.

This morning I want to address four misguided efforts that I have personally encountered in recent years. Then we will explore eight biblical practices that must be honored in any church model. Methods can change, but we are given principles in Scripture that must not be compromised.

These four misguided revisions are not an exhaustive list, but it is representative of erroneous changes people are making. To facilitate the conversation, I will use the following terms to identify each movement.

1. Entertainers

2. Progressives

3. Legalists

4. Fellowshipers

The ENTERTAINERS seek to build the crowd through more entertaining, comfortable services. The worship service must reflect professional competence. Those on the stage must project a youthful, appealing image. All the bells and whistles of the latest technology must be in place. Keep the sermons short and sweet with lots of engaging stories and material that the crowd considers relevant.

None of that is wrong in itself. We should preach engaging, relevant messages. We don’t want the distraction of flawed technology. And we want to play our music as competently as we can. Psalm 33:3 tells us to “play skillfully” in our worship.ii Anything we do, we should do it heartily to the Lord. We should do it as well as we can with a passionate desire to glorify the Lord.iii

The problem comes in when these secondary matters are given primary attention. What is primary? The work of the Holy Spirit is essential for the transformation of hearts and the glorification of Christ. That is evident in the first few chapters of Acts. That is evident in Jesus’s earthly ministry. We see that clearly throughout the book of Acts. Zechariah 4:6 states the principle emphatically: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the Lord of hosts.”iv Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty; there is joy; there is deliverance and peace.v The Holy Spirit is able to supply everything we need in life.vi And through the Holy Spirit, Jesus will build His church.vii

But when people are living in sin and self-glorification, the Holy Spirit is grieved.viii And all those benefits are not present in the service. That’s when leaders are tempted to substitute entertainment to retain the people’s attendance.

Under the golden age of Solomon’s rule, Israel enjoyed God’s blessings.ix At the dedication of the temple, God’s presence was so strong the priests fell under the power of God.x Under God’s blessing, Solomon made 300 shields of gold for the palace (2 Chron. 9:16). But through Israel’s disobedience those golden shields were taken by Egypt (2 Chron. 12:9) during Rehoboam’s reign. Since Rehoboam no longer had the gold shields, he made a substitute: brass shields (vs 10). When leaders don’t have the golden shields of God’s best, they tend to substitute something inferior to make up for it. Let me say emphatically, fancy entertainment is always inferior to the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.xi

The misguided efforts of leaders to revamp God’s house of prayer into an entertainment center has proven ineffective.xii The Church Growth Movement of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s turned pastors’ attention to secondary matters. In doing that, many lost the active operation of the Spirit in their services.

A few years ago, I encountered this error when talking with a megachurch pastor. We were discussing the possibility of me coming on staff as a teaching pastor. The leaders were very amiable men, and I was seriously considering the possibility of working with them. To make sure our doctrine was similar enough for the alliance to work, I began to discuss a couple of key doctrines. To my astonishment, the pastor told me they do not teach doctrine. Thinking I might have misunderstood the statement, I asked what they did if a parishioner asked for their understanding of 1 Corinthians 12 and the gifts of the Spirit. The response was, “We leave the interpretation up to them. We just try to get them saved; then we let the Holy Spirit teach them what to believe.” Of course, that sealed my decision not to proceed with the staff position.