The Church-Decline Accelerator
Updated: Mar 11
Church attendance has been declining for decades, but it was very noticeable during the COVID-19 shutdown. The COVID-19 shutdown was an accelerator of an already happening trend.
Has that event awakened church leadership to the fact that Christianity in the USA is in precipitous decline? At the very least the traditional way to attend "church" is in decline.
The traditional Euro/American model is actually out of line with the original biblical model. I've written about this often in order to make Christians realize they do not need an official-looking church building in order to assemble together the Biblical way. If persecution comes, we still can meet--even if only in twos or threes.
The "sit-down, shut-up and listen, close your eyes when we pray" model was totally alien to the New Testament church model. It was actually a holdover from the Roman Empire's takeover of Christianity in the Western World. Martin Luther reformed theology, but not church structure. He still kept the model of the country being hooked up in collaboration with the state.
The New Testament model, which is holy, inspired Scripture and our blueprint for Christian living, was a meeting held, not in a building furnished with pews. They met in homes, in borrowed halls, down by the riverside, and in caves. I have actually visited the remains of communities of Christians living and hiding in homes carved into mountains. I saw a room in which Christians could meet together carved into these underground caves. This was in what we know today as Eastern Turkey. The persecuted Christians had to hide from the government and the population when they met.
It is imperative that Christians meet together. It does not matter the size because Jesus said, "where two or three meet together there am I in the midst." Jesus did not say where two or more meet together in a church building with a pulpit and pews there am I in the midst.
I think you get my drift: The motive for Christians to get together is not "to be the church." It is to meet with Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as we await the soon return of Christ, continue to meet with the brethren. You can do it without an ordained minister if you must. Sit, talk, pray, read Scripture and talk about it, sit quietly, then give testimony, then pray, then read more Scripture, etc., until the Holy Spirit of God Himself tells your group, "go be Jesus to your community." ##