Sign of fallenness

This post is from the defunct blog "Dying Church"

I wonder if the very prominent concern about survival in churches is a sign of their fallenness...Both the concern for "church growth" and the concern for survival (which can sometimes be the same thing) lead to many of the tactics of fallen powers, such as competition, the overwhelming pressure on church leaders to be successful, reduction of the gospel for the sake of marketing, and so forth. (Marva Dawn, Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God)

Marva Dawn describes the predominant way that churches operate within our culture, and then correctly identifies the underlying problem. A church can never worry about its own survival if it wants to stay faithful. It's a little like the way most of us live. At one point, I wouldn't have minded losing all my worldly possessions. That would have been fifty books, some clothes, and some battered furniture. Now that I own a house and a car and tons of other stuff, it's harder to think about losing it all. It's easy for a start-up church to lose everything. It's much harder for a church with a big campus and a reputation and history to lose it all. It's harder to follow Jesus, individually or as churches, when we feel we have to carry all the stuff with us. Leaving it all behind scares many of us to death. But we won't be able to follow until we do exactly that - leave it all behind.

Comments

[Anita]

A church can never worry about its own survival if it wants to stay faithful we know that, and yet, we worry.

[Adam Tinworth]

It's an interesting thought. Many churches here in the UK seems more concerned with the upkeep of their historic buildings that the day to day business of being a Christian. Sometimes that legacy of our past, of the vast numbers of Christians giving money to build the church in an architectural sense have created a burden for this generation. We desperatly try to maintain what our ancestors gave us, a struggle which can divert us from more neccessary pursuits.

[bill bean]

Very true. I have experienced it myself. It seems to me that when anyone is talking about the survival of their church they ultimately mean the building and programs and sometimes, again from my own experience, a salary.

[Toni]

Actually, I have been reflecting on how this applies to me. It WAS easier to say "I'll give you everything" when it was just the 2 of us in a slightly scruffy house in London, compared to the country cottage. I keep looking at what we give (not tithe - that's separate, whether you agree or not) and then seeing what I *want*. And there's a gap there too. Not good. Don't you just love a challenge?

[Toni]

I wonder if we have too great a sense of history and historical importance? One of the recurring themes on Leighton Tebay's blog is how postmoderns like 'celtic' christian ritual to give them a sense of depth and belonging. Jesus said 'let the dead bury their dead'. A feeling I've long held for the 'traditional' church in it's various forms. One of the most interesting prophetic words I heard recently was (IIRC) "presumption is doing what worked before". I hope and pray no-one ever does the things I did because 'it worked for me'.