October 6 - Where is the Church Going?

Today I began reading two books for my Christian Formation course.  They're both fabulous and speak to the ever-indulgent, inward looking church that we recognize as the church in Europe and America.  With the decline of the church in the West as it becomes more and more secularized, the question of what to do is even more pronounced.

In the first book I read, "The Shaping of Things to Come" by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, the authors call for a revolution in how we perceive 'church.'  We can no longer simply live within the buildings that have been erected, but need to move beyond seeing 'church' as an institution to seeing it as a mission.  They call for the church to be 'incarnational' - taking the church to people who are not Christians, where life happens.  Right now the church is what they call 'attractional.'  We expect to plant a church and then have people show up. In the incarnational model, there are no expectations for people, except to live and transform.  They don't have to come to a building, they have to be in relationship with people.

The next step is to Missional - not dualistic.  Dualism comes because we have separated the sacred from the profane.  This no longer works with our society.  We have to find ways to live among the people of the world without giving up the truth of the Gospel.  There is a credibility gap between the church world and the real world.  The real world recognizes it, but the church ignores it.  The church has an 'us versus them' mentality and looks at 'the world out there' rather than becoming a part so that it can transform.

Then revolution has to happen within the hierarchy of the church.  For a church to be missional, the overly religious, bureaucratic, top-down model of leadership needs to change to an apostolic model which asks people to cast their nets beyond themselves and be the face of Jesus in their relationships, at home, at work, at soccer, at football games ... wherever their lives interact with others.

The second book I'm reading is "The Next Christendom" by Phillip Jenkins.  He agrees that Western Christianity is in severe decline.  Grand church buildings that were built to hold thousands of people now seat several grey-haired people scattered throughout the pews.  While many in North America and Europe are decrying the death of Christianity, God has moved southward.  In Africa, Latin America and Asia, the church is growing at exponential rates.  There aren't buildings available to host the immense congregations of people who have come to know Jesus Christ personally.  The church is growing so rapidly that within the next 25 years, it will outpace most other religious growth numbers.  Western scholars worry over the rapid rise of Islam in the world, but ignore the fact that Christianity is growing much faster. 

In North America we seem to be ignoring this rapid growth.  Christian publishing houses don't publish books about it because North American Christians simply want to read about people that look, act, and feel as they do.  Western Academics ignore this growth as well, focusing on the decline of the church as they see it.

The Next Christendom is happening right now.  Some Southern scholars say that Christianity is returning to its roots since until 1400 AD, Christianity was found in Northern Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean.  When the church moved into Europe, Christianity transformed, taking on the beliefs and structures of the Europeans.  As it moves into these other countries, it will transform again.  Many of these new Christians have a strong sense of the supernatural.  They haven't been taught that science can disprove anything.  They bring a new sense of the wonder of God to their worship and daily life.

We are an insulated people, living lives that are self-centered and very self-aware.  The world is becoming immense and Christianity is moving into places of which we have very little information.  It is time to move out of our small words and accept that the entire world will be brought before God.  He is doing that work right now.  Will we be a part of it and allow revolution to change us, or will we hide in our beautiful buildings and wait for God to show up.

He's got a lot of people to bring into His kingdom.  We can be a part of it, or we can ignore it.  It really is our choice!