Lately, as of the last 10 years, I have been a little scared for the Traditional Structure of the Church. By that I mean that I see the statistics, watch people as the “worship” on Sundays, talk to those worshippers during the week, and have to asked myself why they don’t see what I see. The church is falling into “regurgitated christianity” mold, and is involved in the “same-ole, same-ole” Ferris wheel mentality of “doing church.”
I see the Barna statistics that over 1,000,000 christians are leaving the Traditional Structure of the Church every year (yes.. that’s one million). I have personally experienced, as a church leader, the total lethargy of many believers when it comes to truly impacting the lives of others for eternity. Less than 2% of Christians have led one person to Christ this year, and only 8% of Pastors have led, at least, one person to Christ this year. That’s the easy part; equipping that new believer is the difficult aspect of the Great Commission.
I wonder if we (church leaders) understand that we are approaching the catching away of the church. The Bible says that things will wax worse and worse… spiritually speaking… before Jesus returns for His Bride. The Latter Rain does not happen until the end of the Tribulation. At that time the Jews will repent, accept Jesus as their Messiah and the Latter Rain will commence. Then… Jesus will physically return, and rule with Israel over all the nations of the earth (Rev. 19). The church age believers will then reign with Christ, as His wife, over that kingdom.
I want my life to make an eternal impact on the life of others. I want to see people come to accept Jesus as their only access to God the Father. I want to equip individuals to join with me, as spiritual warriors for the truth, and make waves for the cause of Christ. I want to partner with churches who want to develop HomeWord Bound Fellowship groups that will see their neighborhoods as mission fields, and seek ways to reach them for Christ. This will not happen accidentally or by osmosis; it must be systematically taught (Eph. 4).
If you are part of a local assembly of believers and want your church to be viable as it relates to impacting lives, then I ask you to get your pastor in touch with me. You can ask him to go to http://vision20twenty.org, and take a look at what I can offer your church. I charge no fees; I just want churches to know that there is a definate way to reach people for Christ, and equip them with the tools necessary to grow through the 7 levels of spiritual growth. If we don ‘t begin developing our people now, we will continue to see our numbers drop. There are more christians dying each year than there are people being led to Christ. We must reverse this tred! The Bible says… I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. I really believe that. We can make a difference together. Will you join me?
Just Thinking,
Mark (Prov. 13:12)
markharrell