God Does Not Die

People leave the church.  Pastors and lay leaders alike know this simple fact well.  A myriad of books and articles decry the current state of American churches.  The outcry from the evangelical world sounds like a broken record - we’ve all heard the same tape over and over again.  Most churches are dwindling.  Most denominations are not growing.  The population of the United States is exploding, recently surpassing the three hundred million mark.  But the church is losing ground.  We are in a steep state of decline.  And the issue gains weight every year.

Worse yet, the church is losing influence in culture.  Local churches are having trouble relating with their community and younger generation.  While some peg this irrelevance as the major underlying factor of declining churches, I believe that it is merely symptomatic of a much greater issue - the church is no longer essential to people’s lives.  Unless a dramatic change occurs, the American church will continue down the same path as the European church, which is all but completely dead.

Look no further than the Western European church to understand what happens when the church dropout issue hits its final end.  Any traveler to this part of Europe will marvel at two aspects of the local churches.  One, how intricately and monstrously beautiful they are , as well as how empty they are of parishioners.  From Westminster Abbey in London to Notre Dame in Paris, churches built to point glory to God now contain a massive and constant flow of herding tourists.  These churches are relevant to their community only in that people , locals and visitors alike, use their premises for nice places to each lunch.  Many tourists to these churches are shocked and frustrated to find out that they actually have to wait and remain quiet for the few services that still take place with the remnant of loyal churchgoers.  For centuries these European churches stood as the focal point and heartbeat of the local community.  The now are the focal point and hub of the local tourist industry.

 The European church has suffered a prolonged and wearisome decline since the 18th century.  Following World War II, the decline became quite steep.  For years, theologians, pastors, and churchgoers have bemoaned the inert state of the European church.

It seemed an inevitable conclusion that the church would become extinct in Europe.  But now it is experiencing a spotty renaissance in areas that once were considered dead.  Several explanations abound.  One obvious reason is an influx of immigrants, all bringing with them devout beliefs.  But perhaps a more intriguing explanation is the decline of state-run, monopoly churches with has opened up a “free trade” of religious ideas.  The theory states that, like in the United States, this free market of faith allows for competition among other religions and churches to challenge each other for congregants.  As a result, a fashionable, more energetic church springs up, and Europeans flock to the church which the most worship potency.

While this theory certainly has validity (look no further than some high-energy mega-churches here in the states), it falls flat when one realizes that most European countries have very few attending services on any given week.  Places like Denmark and Sweden have only 4% of the population attending church.  A bitty renewal in some things religious has yet to equate to loyal, devoted, and churchgoing Christians.  Indeed, the church is still quite lifeless in most of Western Europe.  Free market of religion or not, the powers of darkness maintain bastions of hostility in many corners of Europe.

All speculation and stats aside, we can rest upon our Everlasting Father. The church may suffer greatly, experience religious cardiac arrest, and hang on to a few dwindling members, but our Lord will continue.  And it is through the Holy Spirit that true revival occurs, not economic theory applied to churches.

Churches may die; God does not - even in the rocky soils of Europe.

He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!” (Lk 19:40 HCSB)

Pray today for gospel success.  Perhaps the genesis of a large-scale revival in Europe is beginning to take root.  Perhaps 2008 will be the year that churches in the United States begin to connect with people where they are.  Pray that the message of God will reach into the dead religious deserts of global society.  Pray that God will work in the hearts of people in the United States and across the globe.

We serve a risen Savior.  He was, is, and always will be.  God does not die, even in dead churches.  And no matter how dead the body, the Great I AM lives eternally.  We can rest assured in the omnipotent Lord that our prayer can help bring a worldwide revival.