The Work Of God Thrives

So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:7 KJV

Psalms 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

A great missionary, Hudson Taylor, once famously stated, “Work done God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

That being true, if your church is consistently struggling and on the brink of closing then let it close. For whatever reason God is no longer working in it and is not supplying the needs. Trying to fight the inevitable is not honorable. It is waste of time, manpower and money and indeed perhaps an affront to God. It makes Him look like He cannot supply His people’s needs when in actuality His people are not not seeing what He may be saying about the church.

There are two major reasons the church is not thriving. One, it was built by man’s desire and not God’s and the plans and machinations of man have run out of steam as they always will. Being the last man standing in such a place is not admirable. Living in desperate hope that the church will return to its glory days is depressing and if the glory days were man’s work and not God’s it never had true glory days, just an illusion.

Sometimes the neighborhood has changed from mostly Caucasian to some other ethic group. I knew one church where the neighborhood became mostly Latinx and African-American. The twelve or so people who were members drove in from other neighborhoods. Ideally, they should have sought for a co-pastor team of those ethnic groups to reach that neighborhood. None of them were able to do the ministry themselves. They were hanging on to memories and the building was deteriorating. That happens a great deal.

Or has Taylor indicates at some point you stopped doing God’s work His way and leaned on your own understanding. God blesses a church and after awhile the pastor, staff or the board think they are the ones creating the success they are seeing and start having ideas and plans of their own and the downgrade begins because God is not getting the glory and He will not share His glory with another.

There can be other explanations, but I suspect they would fall under these two. Taylor was correct and indeed God must give the increase if anything is going to endure. A fellow pastor once said that churches are like humans. They are born and go through all the stages of growth and then decline and die. Let it die rather than struggling to keep it alive. Find a church where God is at work and join it. Let the building go. You are the temple of God and He cares far more about you than buildings. Indeed, struggling to keep the doors open are not good for your spiritual or mental health. Have a celebration of life ceremony and then lock the doors and move on. Sell the property to someone who can repurpose it. Take the money and invest it in a ministry that is still in its youth and thriving.

If you want to keep your twelve people together, join a church and ask to have a Sunday School class for your group. You can also meet in a nursing home and maybe triple your congregation’s impact without the building maintenance cost. The people there would be thrilled. You still need to be part of a thriving church, but this could be a ministry of your group. You would have a purpose and people would be blessed. Worship God, not a building. All will burn one day, but after you are gone it may be condemned and bulldozed making your holding on until the bitter end vanity. Be free of the mundane and thrive in the Spirit. Maranatha!!