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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Is the Church Dying or Are Christians Just Falling Away?

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Is the Church Dying 

or Are Christians Just 

Falling Away?

JENNIFER LECLAIRE, Charismanews

doctor
Is the Great Physician unable to heal rifts in His church? (Stock.xchng)


Is the church dying? 
Apparently, that depends on whom you ask. Indeed, the life or 
death of the church of Jesus Christ that was founded more than 
2,000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost is a topic of debate in
 some evangelical circles.

Ed Stetzer, the president of LifeWay Research, author, speaker, 
pastor, church planter and missiologist, recently penned an article
clear where he stands. There’s no tip toeing around the issue or 
trying to avoid offending anyone who disagrees.

He says, in five words: “The church is not dying.”

“Yes, the church in the West—the United States included—is in 
transition right now. But transitioning is not the same as dying, 
particularly if you hold the belief that Christianity is represented
 by people who live for Christ, not check ‘Christian’ on a survey
 form,” Stetzer writes.

“While I believe we need to understand reality inside our ranks,
 I don’t believe the situation is quite as dire as many are making
 it out to be. Actually, no serious researcher believes Christianity 
in America is dying. Not one.”

Steve McSwain begs to differ. McSwain, who describes himself 
as an award-winning author, speaker, thought leader and spiritual 
teacher, responded to Stetzer’s article with a snarky question: 
“Really? What cartoons have you been watching?”

McSwain then points to information from the Hartford Institute 
Americans “say” they go to church weekly. As it turns out,
 however, he points out, less than 20 percent are actually in 
church. In other words, he notes, more than 80 percent of 
Americans are finding more fulfilling things to do on weekends.

“Furthermore, somewhere between 4,000 and 7,000 churches 
close their doors every year. Southern Baptist researcher, 
 puts the estimate higher. He says between 8,000 and 10,000 
churches will likely close this year,” he continues. “Between the 
years 2010 and 2012, more than half of all churches in America 
added not one new member. Each year, nearly 3 million more 
previous churchgoers enter the ranks of the ‘religiously unaffiliated’.”

OK, so fewer people are going to church. That’s a sign of the 
times, if you ask me. But how does that prove that the church 
is dying? Saying the church is dying—DYING—seems like an 
anti-biblical perspective. I mean, correct me I have misinterpreted
 the holy Scriptures, but wasn’t it Jesus who said, “I will build 
My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it”?
 (Matt. 16:18).

I suppose one could argue that the church that’s dying is not 
the church Christ is building. But, from my perspective, it seems
 like the church that Christ is not building—that false church 
that endorses homosexual lifestyles and refuses to otherwise
 call sin a sin—is thriving in the age of humanism.

There are many reasons why people don’t go to church. 
Pharaoh is working some of them to near death. Others have 
been spiritually abused by pastors and don’t want anything to
 do with the church. Still others are watching televangelists on 
Sunday mornings because they don’t feel like getting gussied 
up and driving across town. Yes, sometimes it’s just that simple.

The reasons why people aren’t going to church—or why people 
are leaving the church—go on and on. But make no mistake. 
The church of Jesus Christ is not dying. Jesus is still building
 His true church. That may mean in these last days that there 
are fewer believers flocking to organized religious buildings, 
but that doesn’t mean the church is dying. It may mean more 
are opting for home church or some other alternate form of 
fellowship in the name of Jesus. And it absolutely means 
we need to get out on the American mission field and
preach the gospel.

“Bad stats and hyperbole do just that—demoralize God's 
people,” Stetzer concluded. “Today, we need a mobilized 
mission force in the midst of this mission field. So, it's time 
to time to work for the sake of the gospel, and to live for 
the cause of the gospel, not run around proclaiming the 
sky is falling.”


What's your take? Sound off in the comment box below.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is
also the author of several books, including 
or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on 

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Thanks for sharing. Blessings on your head from the Lord Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach.

Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People
Charlotte, NC USA