Some churches that once thrived reached a stage of senility, sterility and impotence. They lost their reproductive capacity. They failed to share the Gospel, to win people for Christ, to engage in evangelism. Consequently they became inward looking, comfort zones for the converted, and faded into obscurity and geriatric decline. Many closed. I have written about the Brethren of Havering but I could produce evidence of church decline and demise in the former Congregational chapels that became United Reformed churches (URC). It was sad, to me anyway, to find that URCcongregations in Essex and North London no longer exist. The closure of Wethersfield and Finchingfield URC chapels hurts. Some Baptist chapels had to die, in my opinion, because they had clearly lost their candlesticks, their living witness in the community. Dead churches, I'm sorry to say, are not a positive force for good, but a waste of resources: energy, money, time and electricity etc. Failure and survival without Holy Spirit blessing merit closure. Some churches exist without any evidence of Holy Spirit activity. Some are museums or places of historical/architectural interest, but they are not places of vibrant fellowship and evangelism.
If a church wishes to survive and to thrive then it should evangelize, by the Holy Spirit. It should be unapologetically conversionist. "Kindness evangelism" as I call it, may be sweet and cheerful, but the mission of the Kingdom is to proclaim the authentic Gospel message of repentance, conversion, regeneration, eternal, abundant life in Christ, spiritual life from God. That is not to deny the social and ethical dimensions of the Gospel, the God given Good News in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Every Christian church or fellowship needs to ask the questions:
what is the evangelistic strategy?
what is being done to share the Gospel?
what is in place to see conversions and spiritual growth?
If a church wishes to survive and to thrive then it should evangelize, by the Holy Spirit. It should be unapologetically conversionist. "Kindness evangelism" as I call it, may be sweet and cheerful, but the mission of the Kingdom is to proclaim the authentic Gospel message of repentance, conversion, regeneration, eternal, abundant life in Christ, spiritual life from God. That is not to deny the social and ethical dimensions of the Gospel, the God given Good News in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Every Christian church or fellowship needs to ask the questions:
what is the evangelistic strategy?
what is being done to share the Gospel?
what is in place to see conversions and spiritual growth?
1 comment:
Christians should ask themselves, what on earth am I doing to advance the Kingdom of God? Evangelism should figure in the answer.
Post a Comment