On a typical day, I receive 50 or more pleas about this issue. The pleas come in the form of emails, Tweets, Facebook posts and blog comments. All of them have a common theme. They are pleading for help and insights in their declining and frustrating churches.
I am so grateful for the resurgence of new churches across our nation and the world. I am blessed beyond words to hear of more men and women answering the call to go reach the nations of the world.
But I fear we have largely neglected one major area of great need. We need more men and women committed to the often arduous and frequently frustrating task of revitalizing churches. Let’s look at this issue from three perspectives.
The Urgency Issue
In the United States alone, at least 300,000 churches are in need of Great Commission revitalization to some degree. Of those churches, approximately 4,000 in our nation will close this year, totally abandoning the mission field where they were once a Great Commission force.
Most of the churches in need of revitalization are in numerical decline. Most of them are reaching relatively few, if any, unbelievers with the gospel. Most of the leaders readily admit their churches are not making disciples. They have become holy huddles of inwardly focused church members wondering why their churches are not as vibrant as they once were.
The Lostness Issue
Measuring the true non-Christian population in our nation can be tricky. For example, if you were to do a simple survey asking a statistical sampling if they are Christians, about eight of 10 would answer “yes.” The number of true believers in the United States, of course, is much smaller than 80 percent.
We could probably say with some level of assurance that at least 150 million people in the United States do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In their present spiritual reality, they are doomed for a Christ-less eternity in hell.
The challenge is that more than three-fourths of our congregations are in need of major revitalization. Many of them are ill-equipped and ill-prepared to move in Great Commission obedience to reach the lostness of their communities.
The Leadership Issue
It can be easy for a pundit like me to sit behind my keyboard and bemoan the state of our churches. Meanwhile, pastors, staff and lay leaders in churches are struggling and pleading for help. They don’t need another voice describing the difficult realities of their challenges. They need help. They need real and meaningful help.
One of the greater needs can be summed up in one word: leadership. Our churches need more men and women who have a sense of call to and passion for struggling churches. We need to pray for God to call the called, specifically those who are willing to invest themselves for the often long-term process of leading revitalization.
We need church leaders, leaders in seminaries, and mentors of others to invest their resources of time, prayers and focus on church revitalization. Hardly a day goes by that I do not hear from a pastor or staff person in a church who is struggling with issues of leadership, practical ministry, and interpersonal relationships. All of these struggles are great distractions toward the leadership of their congregations toward the Great Commission.
I Will Go Revitalize Churches
The good news is that more men and women are responding to God’s call to revitalize churches. They have not given up on these congregations. While they are not blind to the challenges they face, they still see God’s hope and possibilities on these mission fields in America.
May we all pray to this end. May we all labor to this end. And when we hear the call to invest our lives in one way or another in the revitalization of churches, may we answer without hesitation: I will go.
— Thom S. Rainer is president of LifeWay Christian Resources. This column first appeared in the Great Commission Magazine of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Reprinted with permission.