The American church is in major decline and it will take some major rewiring and rebuilding, not just tinkering to bring necessary change. It will take courageous leaders who intentionally set a new course and work with others who are on a different course as well. On Oct. 6, those who are engaged in exploring how to address the larger challenges and opportunities before the church will gather to hear from a wise man, who like the men of Issachar, understands the times, Pastor Harold Bullock.  When Harold speaks, I listen.  I know of NO ONE more qualified by life, study, ministry, and wisdom to speak to us on these vitally important related topics.

Assuming a church knows it purpose and where it is going, it is important to look for and read the signs correctly. This is especially true when the church in America and individual churches are experience warning and danger signs at virtually every turn and signpost. Statistically, for some forty or fifty years the number of actively engaged followers of Christ in a local church has declined. A steady, significant and consistent pattern, that now according to the latest Pew Research has some 8% fewer American adults claiming to be Christians than just 7 years ago in their earlier study.  THIS IS MONUMENTAL and ALARMING DECLINES!

The Southern Baptist Convention is considered to be one of the most effective denominations in evangelism and church planting (starting). However, the SBC is reporting a 70 year low in baptisms. Additionally, in spite of their recent all-in emphasis on church planting, are starting some 500 fewer churches per year over the last 6 years, resulting in about a reduction of 35%.  SBC seminary President Chuck Kelley warned that Southern Baptists are losing the South faster than they are making gains in the non-South.

When one examines the moral, ethical, and behavior impact of the church on the culture and even among those call themselves Christian, it is also alarming. Many of the cultural ills are not only present in the church, they are there in equal rates.

So, it is apparent the church in American and individual local churches are in desperate need of asking essential questions that will impact its future. Think About It… (1) it is wise ask questions, (2) wise men ask good questions, and (3) if you ask the wrong questions, you will get the wrong answers. The church in American cannot afford to be on a plane flying to the wrong destination.

Church Questions Asked…

Church at different points in its history have asked and sought to answer different questions. Your church may have been at a different stage and asking different questions, but it appears we have been asking these questions….

• Pre 1970 How do we make good church members?
• 70s What’s wrong with some of them?
• 80s How do we draw them into a crowd?
• 90s How do we help them with life-skills?
• 00s How do we connect with them outside the walls of our facilities?

These are not bad questions or wrong questions, there are just other essential and fundamental questions we need to asking today in the midst of such major statistical decline and based on the relative low impact we are having on those engaged with our churches or on the society around us.

In an upcoming conference on “Rewiring the American Church”, Pastor Harold Bullock and I will be leading the group through several vitally important areas facing the church today.

I will be examining the Questions we must address to see the church advance: Foundational, Key, Model Producing, and Other Questions.

Harold Bullock will be addressing several matters related to hidden factors which are negatively impacting the church and presenting challenges to every church pastor and church leader. He will then explore how to address those challenges and provide paradigms and practical helps to begin addressing them.  Three pastors from Los Angeles will join us to tell their experiences in seeing people move from lost, to ordering their lives around Biblical values and teachings.

If you are a thinker who is an influencer in your church or among multiple churches, you will benefit from the opportunity to learn from Harold Bullock and our other guest leaders.  I encourage you to make every effort to join us.

Conference Details & Links:

• Oct. 6, 2016 – Thursday at LifeBridge Church (formerly Harvest Bible Chapel) in Windermere, FL
  • 9:00 AM – doors open
  • 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Conference
  • 5:30 Informal buffet at McRaney’s home for additional causal conversations with each other and the conference leaders
• Required reading to participate –  “Rewiring the American Church” by Pastor Harold Bullock.

Information, Registration & Host Hotel Registration Link

Facebook Page Link

Three important races are taking place in the United States: the Presidential race, the cultural race, and the race to see the American church turnaround from decades of declines. The culture is unveiling new challenges almost daily. The Presidential race result is uncertain, but concerns about whoever wins is certain. Left unchanged, the church will continue to see major declines in active followers and weakened impact on its followers and the culture around them.

The culture-shapers are rapidly turning much that we have known, valued, and trusted upside down and intentionally led us into moral decay in many areas of life. In the midst of this culture shift you would think the church would seize the opportunity to advance God’s Kingdom, instead the church is losing ground, even among our own children.  We should be engaged in our most important race in these unprecedented times to live and carry the gospel to neighbors near and far.

Presidential Race

The 2016 Presidential race is quite abuzz. We have never seen such political race lows. Most voters are voting against a candidate, not for one. Few are pleased with our Presidential options or our country’s direction. These Presidential candidates have negative views at record high levels and rate remarkably low in trustworthiness. People do not trust our national leaders, but it does not end there. Most all areas of culture, including the church, are experiencing declines, unrest and a lack of trust.

Cultural Race

The people of the US live in a cultural bog or swamp, where the dangers are many and hidden, and the travel forward is difficult at every step. The cultural bog is far away from the solid ground of our Judeo-Christian heritage, values and teachings. The degeneration has been mounting for decades, but the pace is quickening exponentially. Over the last hundred years, the church collectively has lost philosophy, science, truth, morals, ethics and all types of historic norms regarding gender identify, sexuality, and acceptable behaviors which are expected not only to be tolerated, but accepted. The cultural bog has gripped the American church’s values in both its leaders and followers. The culture-shaped values of the church then affects the behaviors. Our church gatherings and efforts have done little to prevent the damage and to free the church from the bog to advance the church’s mission around the counter-cultural values of God.

Church’s Race

The church of America should be racing (actually in a battle) to advance its mission in the midst of these political and cultural challenges, yet we are traveling at increasing speeds downhill farther away from our uphill finishline. We are losing ground in efforts to help followers of Christ live out biblical values instead of cultural/media shaped values of health, wealth and personal pleasures in moral relativism. While some Christians look to political leaders for answers, it is past time for the church to reset its course and develop a “peculiar” people who live Christ’s Word closely and thereby distinctly and intentionally impact people and parts of the culture around them.

Leaders of the church inherited the responsibility and privilege to care for and attend to the purposes of the church. For God’s glory, we steward the bride of Christ and are engaged in advancing the purposes, values and commands of Christ among our neighbors, both near and far. We consider the consequences of handing off a national debt to our children and grandchildren. Should not we be giving even more careful attention to the type of church we are handing off to our children and grandchildren?

While there are notable good things happening and our team wins in the end, we need to be careful to not believe our own PR press that things are well or good enough. It seems to me that we need courageous national church and denominational leaders to stand and speak the truth: that the American church is in distressed times. It is hard to rebuild a plane in the air or a boat in the swamp, but evangelical Christians must. We must examine our approaches in our mission efforts, training of pastors and church leaders, engagements of the lost, and how we develop courageously committed followers of Christ. Swamp living is different than living on solid ground. It is a new world.

Troubling Decades of Trends

Over the last 7 years according to the largest research project (Pew Research America’s Changing Religious Landscape) on Christianity, 7% fewer people of the entire national population identify themselves as Christian. This is staggering! The fastest growing group in America are the “none”s when it comes to religious affiliations. Southern Baptists, historically known for their evangelism and church planting successes, are seeing 70 year low baptisms and starting 35% (500+) less churches each year over the last 5 years than the previous 5 years. This is painful now, but will soon be devastating unless something changes.  It is insane to continue doing the same thing and expecting different results. Beyond ineffective guilt and working harder, something has to change. The church needs a rewiring and retooling for current challenges and opportunities. The church has to deal with the fundamental questions of who we are and how we do our mission.

“regardless of who gets elected President, in all likelihood America will be worse off 8 years from now. This includes the church too…”

Because of the rapid decline happening in virtually all aspects of culture and society, regardless of who gets elected President, in all likelihood America will be worse off 8 years from now. This includes the church, too, unless we rewire the church for the new ministry environment and the new realities facing the church and its leaders.

It is not enough to wish, to try harder, or to seek to recapture the good of yesteryear. The church is not at the head of the cultural or political or educational table any longer at the national, state or local levels. Regaining that position should not be our objective. We should work wisely, with faithful courage, and with humility and diligence to address the larger challenges and opportunities before the evangelical church of America. Encourage your church, denominational leaders, mission boards, and training centers to lead wisely and courageously.

Rewiring the American Church: 4 Large Tasks

However, in light of our current position and the current situation, Pastor Harold Bullock in  “Rewiring the American Church” with remarkable wisdom and insights summarized what has happened in the past, the situation today, and offered four markers for the task ahead for the American church includes….

1. Developing pastors and staff who are courageous leaders, not simply pastor/teachers with a pulpit to fill on Sundays. Ones who are living out the Bible’s teaching faithfully as they intelligently help others live out the gospel in all places of society, including their own homes.
2. Developing new approaches to train church members to live lives directed by Biblical perspectives, commands and values. People whose personal and corporate behaviors are real and pleasing to Jesus, and who able to influence their neighbors and society with their lives, words and actions.
3. Developing church organizational forms and denominational agencies that operate justly, with integrity, and as effective experiential training grounds for Biblical values and behaviors.
4. Developing multiplying re-wired congregations that do the above, not just multiply what currently exists in the US or redistributes Christians to new churches and forms of church without meaningful differences. (4 items adapted from summary examination by Harold Bullock “Rewiring the American Church”)

It is not enough for church and evangelical denominational leaders to be like Hezekiah who said everything was “good news” as long as the destruction, plunder and captivity prophesied by Isaiah did not happen during his reign, but on his children (Isaiah 39:8). It is not enough to keep the church’s doors open, although thousands are closing annually. It is not enough to continue to do business, disciplemaking, training, and operations as usual without earnest humble prayers, gut-wrenchingly honest evaluation, and then wise adjustments in who we are becoming and what we are doing.

What Now Shall We Do?

In the political arena… Christians should vote. In the culture… Christians should be positive influences on matters around them. In the church… rethink, rewire, and rebuild itself for the new realities.

It is time to rethink, rewire, and rebuild, not just tweak the American church and how we train followers and leaders. It is time for wise statesmen to help lead us forward, not religious celebrities. It is time for the courageous leaders who fear God more than most (Nehemiah 7:2), not a time of retreat by professional religious leaders. It is time for men to lead, who like the men of Issachar, understand God and the times, not a time for unproven methods or political polling and positioning by untested Christian personalities (see How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins for description of stage 4 of decline). It is time for Christians to live out Biblical values and commands, not merely hold to doctrinal statements while ignoring the world and people around us. It is time for the church to stand and be the bride who reflects Christ to a desperately needy and searching world. It is time to recognize and engage in the spiritual war before us. It is time.  Is it your time?

“Rewiring the American Church” conference on Oct 6, 2016  in Orlando

** For information, Registration, and Hotel:   Event Info Registration

** For an article on the conference, see article by McRaney

WOW! The last 10 months have been extremely trying for me and my family. There has been no outlet or opportunity for me to discuss what our separation from the MD/DE convention has relationally and emotionally cost us. So, I have done something I have never done before, and that is to video record a few thoughts for you on two subjects…

(1) some of the things God has taught me and things which have helped me and my family get through these trying times of betrayal, hurts, major disappointments, and uncertainties.
(2) some things I would like to say to men and women who hold positions of trust and are responsible for the stewardship of people and Christian organizations, in particular North American Mission Board trustees, and members of the General Mission Board of the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network.

In the first 12 minutes I share my heart and the things I learned and in the closing 4 minutes I speak from my heart to those in leadership from my experiences on the other side of their decisions.

If something similar has happened to you, I trust you will be encouraged and helped. If you are in a position of responsibility and oversight, I hope you will be challenged and encouraged to “do good” as it is within your power to do so.

If you know board members or spouses from either organization, I would appreciate your sharing with them.
Sandy McRaney

Confused, people all across America are spiritually confused. But, this is not just true outside the church. Actually, many inside the church are also confused, especially in determining what it means to follow Christ. We are asking all sorts of related questions, such as:

• Is the church there primarily to serve me, or I am there to serve the church?
• Does the church primarily serve its members, or its members serve the community?
• Is the church there to love people inside and outside the church or is the church there to advance the mission of the church?

The answer to the last question is  ‘yes’. Followers of Christ are to be concerned about the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Both are Scriptural commands and summarize much of what it means to follow Christ.

Perspectives…

At points in history Christians have tried to separate these two out as it relates to carrying out the ministry of the local church. In fact, more left leaning Christians were heavily engaged in addressing poverty, social issues, and matters of justice. More right leaning Christians were engaged in various forms of evangelism, such as crusades, tract distribution, and street witnessing. Some expressed love by doing ‘mission’ efforts. Other expressed love by ‘evangelism’. While there are some reasons for this, the dichotomy is not found in Scripture.

Wisdom requires that the Great Commandment and the Great Commission be intimately connected. It is impossible to fully do the Great Commandment without doing the Great Commission. Equally so, if we seek to carry out the Great Commission without regard for the Great Commandment, we fall woefully short as well. As Pastor Harold Bullock of Hope Church in Ft. Worth notes, one sets the boundary and the other sets the priority of ministry.

Influencers…

One’s education, societal upbringing, church and neighborhood culture, spiritual mentors and influencers, and a host of other things impact our perspective of the gospel and what it means to follow Christ. For some believers, they are deeply engaged in loving and caring for people as their spiritual service. They emphasize the doing of good deeds and are passionately invested in doing so. Others however, emphasize the telling of the Good News as their primary method of spiritual service. They too are passionate.

Great Command – Boundary…

God gave us the command to love Him with all of our hearts and minds, and love our neighbors as ourselves before He gave us a commission to make disciples of all the nations. It is impossible to do the acts of service or acts of mission without these important two boundaries. First, the boundary of doing nothing that violates our loving relationship with God. Second, the boundary of doing no ministry, no mission effort, and nothing for God that violates the boundary of loving people in accordance to specific commands and principles from God’s Word.

Great Commission – Priority…

God also instructed to not only love people around physical, emotional and relational needs, He commanded us to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey God’s Word. The love of Christ compels us to help people come to know and follow Jesus Christ. It is impossible to love a person completely, and not actively share Jesus with them. The Great Commission sets the priority of our ministries.

America tends to be a results-oriented people. People want to see a return on their investment of time, money, and other investments, and too often take unbiblical short-cuts to get the results.  The potential danger for those wired naturally toward the Great Commission is forgetting the boundaries of love. Therefore, all forms of trickery, coercion, manipulation, and guile are all outside the will of God. These things violate and step outside the boundary of loving our neighbor as ourselves.

We have to really love people and do right by them according to the Bible in order to stay inside the boundaries that God set for us. We cannot just do whatever we deem is best, or feels right to us, or fits the chosen ethic of the moment. All too often our evangelistic efforts fall flat as we seek to evangelize strangers, because we have not done the hard work of loving well those who know us best. We have to live with integrity, humility in our short-comings, and take steps to clear up relationships when there is conflict in order to effectively share the gospel with those closest to us, like family, friends, and co-workers.

Conclusion

The boundary of the Great Commandment and the priority of Great Commission are inseparably connected Biblically and hopefully practically in the church as well.  Regardless of intentions and the desired objectives, the End does not justify the Means because God said so.  God’s work must be done God’s way or it is not God’s will.  This is true for individuals, churches, and denominational leaders as well.

Questions:

• Is your life, church or ministry both specifically committed to both the Greatest Commandment and the Great Commission?
• Do you need some assistance developing a workable Great Commission strategy?  If so, I can help you.  Contact me.

   Macy on a pony in Louisiana

My family does not camp, but 4,000 miles in a car with a 6, 9, 12 year old daughters has to be similar to camping. The summer of 2001 included our family’s all-time favorite 16 day summer vacation to Tucson and work trip to Glorieta, NM. Beautiful scenery, Tombstone, the desert golf courses, a jaunt into Mexico, visiting family and a water park along the way, and then a week at Glorieta Baptist Conference Center where I led several workshops while our kids joined into various activities. A special family trip.

Big Red

A favorite activity was riding horses into the AZ desert at sunset and returning at night under the clear moon light. All four girls and I rode into the beautiful desert of AZ, compliments of winning a giveaway at one of those timeshare presentations. Macy, our youngest daughter, drew Big Red as her horse, so off we rode.

Big Red’s job was to carry riders down a path to expose them to the AZ desert and safely return them to the ranch. Big Red carries all types of riders, young and old, men and women, boys and girls, and people from all across the world. With paying riders, Big Red performed his duties because his owner wanted a return on his investment.

Having grown up around lakes and beaches, I am more familiar with water happenings, than farms, but both of my parents grew up on rural farmland in Mississippi. So, I have personal experience watching a mule pulling a plow a garden.

What could I possibly learn about stewardship from a horse named Big Red and its young rider?

Preparing mature horses to safely carry riders takes intentional work. Horses are born out of birthing pains and care of its owner. From the early days to the riding of the horse into the desert, the owner attends to the horse, provides water and food, watches and nurtures its development, cleans up after the horse, even the stinky stuff. The owner provides a safe place for the horse to rest and grow and learn as it matures. The owner trains the horse from walking to running, from no saddle to a saddle and then a saddle with a rider. The owner teaches the horse commands and how to respond to the bit in its mouth, all because the owner wants a return on his many investments into the horse.

Macy looked the part as a rider with her cowgirl getup, but she had never been on a horse before. She had absolutely no idea or appreciation for all that went into caring for and developing that horse so that she could ride into the AZ sunset. Truth be told, neither did her older sisters or her parents.

Macy riding Big Red reminds me…

1. God is the owner of everything. He is expecting a return on His investments into our lives, just like the owner of Big Red.
2. We are all stewards of many things. God has entrusted much to us and we should handle our stewardship with care, just like Macy on top of Big Red.
3. Many of the things we steward were birthed and developed out of the pain, sacrifices, and generosity of others, just like Big Red.
4. We did not find the world empty, let’s pay it forward.

Parents/Families

Parents…. My wife and children, how God created them and how I get to help them grow and mature into all that He created them to be. They belong to Him, but He expects me to steward my responsibilities well as one who will given an account. The Scripture teaches that generations will be impacted by what we do in our roles as parents with our children. Parents, our greatest investment of time, emotional energy, thought, and financial resources will probably be in our children. Do it well as unto the Lord.

Church Leaders and Pastors

Church leaders and pastors… Churches really do belong to Jesus as well. He owns them, we steward them for a time, but then pass them on to the next generation to enjoy and serve Him for His glory. Should you be a part of the birthing of a new church, it is still His church and the people are His people.

The vast majority of followers of Christ in a church, like Macy with Big Red, have no idea all that went into having that church there for them. Churches have birthing pains, require enormous amounts of attention, create lots of messes, and have to constantly be nurtured as they develop through their years. Often land and buildings are secured, built and paid for by those who have come before us that are either with Jesus or that we may never meet on earth. People all throughout the past have cared for the bride and put their special little touches all over the churches, certainly imperfectly. Steward your church with humility, wisdom and a grateful heart that you get to participate in caring for the bride of Christ.

Pastors and church leaders, like Big Red, ride and enjoy, but handle with care, because we are not the owners. We are the stewards of all the investments that preceded us.   We steward for a season before we handoff the bride of Christ to the next generation. Cultural norms and current challenges before churches may be different, but the task is the same, to safely lead people to Jesus for His glory. Let’s not be reckless in our stewardship, but be found faithful as one who will give an account.

Denominational Leaders

As for my tribe of Southern Baptists, we too are facing difficult cultural norms, expectations, and unique challenges and opportunities in all aspects of denominational life.

Whether you find yourself serving the local association, the state convention, or the national agencies and seminaries, steward them well as one who will give an account before Jesus.   There were birthing pains, costs of training, caring for and developing that to which you now steward.

Macy was riding a horse she did not birth, care for, feed, clean up after, train or finance the expenses. After she gets off, the horse will still have new riders that will come along. This is true for most every denominational worker in the SBC. Enjoy and lead, but do it with care as one who will give an account to God Himself.

Conclusion

Parents, church leader, pastor, or denominational leader, you play a significant role. However, remember with humility of heart, that you are not the owner, but a steward of what God has been entrusted to you, not just for your benefit, but for the future and eternity. Steward well so that Big Red can carry others safely home in the future.

Be it your family, your church or some aspect of your denomination…

If you find yourself sitting on top of a horse, remember you are not the creator or owner of the horse, so steward it well.

Grandmother’s World from her 4’4” entrepreneurial view…

In the small community of Lone Star in Southwest Mississippi, my grandmother Grace McRaney, “Mammy” as I called her, shared her living space with her business that she and my grandfather purchased together as a startup in 1930. For 74 years, the last 52 years by herself, all of her 4 foot 4 inch self owned and operated a gas station, grocery store, and something of a small general store with various essentials for living in her Southwest Mississippi community. She took up farming in her early 60’s to grow more food and to help several less fortunate members of the community find productive work. Side by side, often on their hands and knees, she would work with the African American ladies she hired, as well as with Doodle who could not speak because of a surgery that caused his vocal chords to be removed.

Until she was 96 and a half, she ran her business, completed and filed her own taxes and in many ways was the centerpiece for the small community of people around her. Every day, 365 days a year, Miss Grace, as the community called her, reported for duty to provide gas and groceries, but more importantly to be the cornerstone of life in that community, along with the two local churches that met every other week. The people would change churches each week depending on whether the Presbyterian or the Methodist preacher was coming to hold services that week. The only time she closed the store would be for her to attend church briefly on Sunday mornings.

Values Matter: Community Values in Lone Star, MS

Throughout her life many things changed, but most of the important things in life did not…the life shaping, values shaping role of the church, community, and family. Hard work, honor, friendship, and care for your neighbor were the norms. People knew one another for generations, so there was no fooling or much need for psychological counselors. Family and community discipline was expected. When someone was in need, the community came to their aid. Young men and women got some training in formal education, but most of their training for life came for working side by side with their parents and neighbors.

As a child on visits from our home in Florida I would sit on the top of a wooden Coca Cola case stood upright and swat flies and listen to members of the community. They would come in the store not just to buy something, but to engage in storytelling and life-sharing. One could learn a lot by just sitting and listening, actually that is one major way that values are communicated to younger generations. The community progressively had access to newspapers, telephones (started with a party line phone) and televisions, but most of their influencers, values and news came right there at Mammy’s store on US Hwy 84 sitting on a stool or RC Cola case. Additionally, on alternating weeks the Presbyterian or Methodist preacher would stop in their community to lead a worship service and attend to spiritual needs among the people.

Miss Grace is fondly remembered for so many reasons, including treating people fairly and with grace regardless of skin color, education, financial means or standing in the community. She often sold her goods on credit with a simple word or signature on a paper ticket for the goods purchased. While human nature has always been sinful, mostly in Lone Star a man’s word or a handshake was more binding than a legal document.

Today’s Cultural Tsunami: Something Feels Amiss

Something in America, something in the church in America, something in your community and church probably feels amiss to you. You may feel uneasy, nervous, anxious, maybe excited or unsettled in some ways. The reality is that America is in the midst of seismic cultural shifts and growing concerns in most areas of life. Enormous changes and challenges to our historic values and norms have put pressure on every aspect of society, including the American church and the American family. Both of these institutions are the bedrock for the Judeo–Christian framework which has impacted American life since its earliest days over 240 years ago.

Can I say what you already know and feel? America is radically changing, and not for all the better. You may get a sense that the family and the Christian church is under siege in various ways. Families are feeling pressures on multiple fronts: financially, work, safety and growing terrorism concerns, rearing children, not to mention the pressure of just dealing with all the changes.

Churches are declining all across America at a time when God has brought the world to our doorsteps. The behaviors of church attenders too closely reflect the behaviors and patterns of the general society. Pastors have a most difficult job and responsibility trying to navigate the cultural changes, help the church function and advance, and not let the culture or the church destroy him or his family in the midst of it all. Things…. they are a changing.

Cultural Tsunami: Radical Change and Challenges

Mammy died on January 2, 2006 in the small Covington Country Hospital in Collins, MS at the age of 98.   Along with her passing was the closing of her store and a way of life in that community. In different ways, places and timetables, that has happened all across America. There was a time in our country when the wisdom and values of community leaders were the primary shapers of culture for those in that community or town. The wisdom of elders has been replaced in the passing of time by values shared on the television, movies, music, the internet, and social media. People still get their values from the current storytellers, but unfortunately now grandmother’s wisdom has been replaced by the media makers. We look to Washington to solve problems, not inside our family, church and community. In essence, we are in the midst of a cultural tsunami.

In this current tsunami, the waves are powerful, enormous and most difficult to navigate. People are struggling to survive, find their way, keep their bearings, and live productive and meaningful lives. Yet, it seems most of the rules have changed. In days of old the good guys were easy to spot in their white hats while the bad guys wore black hats. Today, it is not so easy to distinguish what is good and bad, know who to listen to and follow, know what to believe, and to do so in a maze of cultural diversity and the globalization that is happening all around.

Spiritual Impact

People in a mess spiritually. They are…

• spiritually confused
• spiritually frustrated and conflicted
• not impressed with what they are finding in the American church
• indifferent to Christianity and many have stopped searching
• increasingly resistant and antagonistic to Christians and the church

To a certain degree, there was a time when the church and its leaders were not only at the table of the community, but at the head of the table. We moved through a transition from the head of the table, to a seat at the table, to the child’s table, and for some now we, our churches and our values, are unwanted at the table of American life. Newsflash on the obvious: this will only get worse in the coming years.

According to a 2014 research effort by Pew Research, nationwide the number of people calling themselves Christians dropped 7.8% in the last seven years since their last similar polling. THIS SHOULD BE ALARMING! Those claiming NONE, or no religion increased to 56 million Americans, including 19% of adults in the South.

My tribe of Southern Baptists is declining at only about 1%, but are reporting a 70 year low in baptisms. Also, while prioritizing church planting, the SBC are starting some 500 less churches each year and those new churches are experiencing reduced evangelistic effectiveness compared to their past and some other denominations.

What are parents, Christ followers, and church leaders to do in the midst of the cultural tsunami?

Different Context – Same Mission

This is not my grandmother’s community any more. Like the once popular advertising slogan, “This is not your father’s Chevrolet”, nor his church, nor his America. However, the church is still the bride of Christ. Parents still have the capacity to be the single greatest influencer in the lives of their children. God is still on His throne and the same yesterday, today and forever more. The mission of individual followers of Christ and collectively of His church HAS NOT CHANGED.   We are to love Christ and follow Him in the midst of the tsunami. We are to love neighbors and share Christ as we make disciples of those around us and around the world.

Since the mission field and the ministry context have undergone radical change, I propose that we need to rethink not only how we do mission and ministry, but how we train church leaders and how we train parents and children to navigate the cultural tsunami.   The mission or playing field is radically different, it will demand more and different parenting, child rearing, training of community leaders who follow Christ, engage our mission field, and prepare leaders for His church.

The Future

I believe it is going to take a different kind of follower of Christ, a different preparation model for the leaders of His church, a different training model for parents and children to navigate the cultural tsunami that is bearing down on American Christians today. 

I believe it is going to take a PECULIAR people as noted in 1 Peter 2:9 to survive and thrive in the midst of radical changes we are facing. While we should be culturally aware, we are His people, on His mission, for His glory.

While I have some insights I have gained from my walk with Christ and learning from others, I desire to learn along with you and from you. Much of my life has been focused on the training of leaders of churches, families and communities. I will be exploring these matters with you through this blog and through my work as a Leadership Strategist and Coach with the Ministry Enhancement Group.

I founded the Ministry Enhancement Group as a vehicle to provide helps to leaders of homes, churches, communities, and organizations. I have some areas of strengths, but to be of greater help, I work with several men who bring a variety of strengths and experiences.

I specialize in helping individuals, churches and organization develop contextualized and workable strategies to navigate these cultural waves and advance the mission of Christ. 

Decide to Wisely Swim Against the Cultural Tsunami and Advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ with your personal and church family

If these matters are of interest or concern to you, check back in with me through this blog or secure a resource or let’s talk about how to put together a workable strategy for you or your church. I would enjoy working with you on these and other related matters as we seek to live for Christ in our homes, churches, communities and world.

We serve a mighty God! We have a mighty call to lead our families, churches and communities toward God. May God find us faithful and fruitful as we serve Him.