We will be convening here at the ZigZag café, Suisse, on Thursdays for conversation and dialogue.
I invite you to stop by every Thursday for the question of the day. Your thoughts and participation are most welcome. Pull up a stool, avec un café, un thé, ou un chocolat chaud, et un croissant, and join in here on Thursday at the ZZ café.
For today:
If Christianity is true, why are so many churches empty?
8 comments:
Because Christians don't believe it is true!
Susan,
If not even Christians believe it's true we desparately need an out an out revival.
Ok so my comment was a bit over the top (though I do think we need a revival). Just that I know so many Christians who are not really serious about their faith. They wake up on a Sunday morning (or other day) and think about whether or not they feel like going to church or they make a decision about church attendance in terms of what they will get out of it (not on what they can contribute). There seems to be so few committed disciples. I think many seriously under estimate who God is and what God has done.
Btw I just read, The Living Church by John Stott which I enjoyed. I found his comment - if society is becoming corrupt it is because the church is not being salt and light to its community - particularly challenging.
Susan,
I agree with you. There are so many today that are not serious about their faith in Christ.
Believers think church is there to provide them with whatever it is they need. This impoverished spirituality is evidence of merely one of our devastating failures to be salt and light to those around us.
Stott's book is excellent.
Churches are empty, in part, because many have failed to present a full, living view of the Gospel. Instead of opening up the world and encouraging Christians to be human, to be creative, to be involved in society, they present a bubble that is not real, and that quite honestly I do not think many people want.
The church needs to look outward, not inward. Inward-gazing churches are dying, and quite honestly I would say that they should. We need to affect culture for Christ, not bubble-ize ourselves from the world.
John,
Thanks. Hey, I miss you man. This is an excellent response to the question of why so many churches are empty - and why, I assume, this will continue to be the case for many more. Once again we see that more and more churches have a fleeting interest in truth and living it out into the world in gracious and loving ways.
Greg,
Agreed. I was struck today by how narrow-minded even my own home church here in the States is in regards to the Gospel. It's not calling people to a full view of the Gospel, but rather just focusing on the salvific part of it and not going further. Truly sad, and discouraging.
I miss you too man. I miss our chats. I wish we could have a tutorial soon. I hope your vacation with the family was restful.
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