IS THE CHURCH ALIVE AND WELL?
Is the church dying, shrinking, being transformed, or becoming irrelevant? Something is clearly happening. Today 62% of Americans claim membership in a church or synagogue. Yet frequent attendance is around 44%. At the same time 89% of Americans claim they believe in God and 75% identify as Christians.
37% have identified with what is called Spiritual but not Religious. There is a vague spiritual hunger in the human population. According to Barna research, at least 10 % of these non-church members accept Jesus as their Lord and savior and have surprisingly orthodox beliefs with everything except the importance of the church.
LAITY AND CLERGY
This large percentage of what I would call Believers but not Belongers (B/NB) are spread all over our society. We meet them in the office where we work, at social events, even in our own families. The lay members of our church have frequent contact with them in their daily life.
The clergy have the task of helping members be conscious of the experience of salvation/healing that takes place in the church. The task of lay-evangelism these days does not begin with convincing people to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. In our daily conversations we have the opportunity to talk with many who accept Jesus but not the Body of Christ.
PREPARING FOR THE HARVEST
Let me suggest the outline of a training session for lay members of the church.
Read Matthew 9:35-38
“ . . . the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few; . . .
Introductions:
Let each person introduce themselves and give two reasons why being part of a church has been helpful to them in the growth of their faith.
Keep a list of the ideas presented.
When they are finished, summarize the ideas and remind them that this is the heart of the Good News that they have to share with others looking for a church home.
Exploring the Good News Further:
There are some natural questions and concerns that may arise when people consider moving from belief in Christ to becoming a member of the church or Body of Christ. Invite members of your group to identify what they think people might be concerned about or want to know before they would consider becoming involved with a church.
Divide the participants into small groups to discuss and develop responses to following questions. Remind them that they are to develop non-defensive positive answers. They are to speak from their own experience and share what is true for them
Possible statements and the questions used to explore a response might be:
I already believe, so why should I join a church?
- How has belonging to the Body of Christ confirmed and strengthened your beliefs?
- What are the opportunities now available in your church that could strengthen a believer’s faith?
I attend a neighborhood Bible study or I pray at home and I think that is sufficient.
- In what way does your church offer a healing experience beyond that which the individual could obtain privately for herself?
- What are the positive benefits you have experienced in belonging to a church that might supplement that found in a neighborhood Bible study?
- In what way does your participation in public worship differ from or enhance your experience of private prayer?
- How have those experiences strengthened your beliefs?
- What specific ways can your church provide spiritual food for the spiritually hungry?
I think the church is caught up in lots of busy work and I believe that I am saved by faith, not by works.
- If you are saved by faith and not by works, how has it been important to you to also belong to the church?
- In what way has your church helped you link the human and divine dimensions of life?
- In what way do you consider your church the Body of Christ?
- What has been important to you in performing some of the works of the church and where have they challenged you to grow in faith?
I think the church is full of hypocrites, why should I join with them?
- What Biblical evidence can you provide that from beginning of the church, God expected to work through less than perfect people to achieve the salvation of the world?
- Why would God have chosen to work that way?
- Even though they are far from perfect, what are examples of times when you believe people in your church have demonstrated their faith in a positive way?
I think the world is corrupt but I don’t know what the church can do about it.
How does your church provide an alternative vision to a world consumed by a drive for money, power, and fame? How does your church help you understand what is really important in life and where there is hope that triumphs over despair?
Describe it in your own words.
Give each group 15 minutes to develop an answer and then have them share their answers with the group.
Summarize the implication of such answers for people talking with others who say that they believe but don’t belong to a church.
Close with prayer.
This is just the beginning of helping church members be conscious and comfortable in sharing how God is working in their faith as part of the church.
