If you don’t believe the Church in the U.S. is like a sleeping giant that needs to be woken up…and we could end up a dying giant and disconnected like the church fell in Europe…then take a look at these stats:
Some of these stats are staggering…out of 44,000 churches in the U.S. less than .5 percent show growth of 10% or less. The giant is dying! And in our little Baldwin County, there are 100,000 un-churched residents…waiting to be invited to a church…..waiting to be involved….wanting to make a difference in their life if just prompted.
It’s true about our culture here in the land of the free. We are a nation of convenience….we are a church of convenience in so many ways. Is it the 20/80 rule? Are there 20% of the people doing 80% of the work! If we don’t feel comfortable, we are so quick to move on…move out…and do what we want to do. This revelation came to fruition when the couple I ran into at Sams after church had come to our service before…but decided not to come back after the pastor said “if you join this church you are going to serve.” They didn’t like “the way that came across…”
I almost fell out of my shoes…. That’s when i casually mentioned that there were 100k people in Baldwin County who needed someone to serve! The bottom line is God has always intended to fulfill his plan through the church…yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You gotta to be in church and serving for this plan to be realized in your life.
One last parting thought, I’ve been struck by a small group study I did about a year ago. This was from Rick Warren, basically a sequel to the 40 days of purpose…titled the 40 days of community. My lasting impression from the truths in that study was, IT IS NEVER CONVENIENT TO BE A CHRISTIAN. If it is, then you aren’t living out God’s plan!
Breathe In and Live Out,
Chris
