Thursday, April 27, 2017
Inbred churches get sick and then they die...
Inbreeding is not healthy for families. Not physical families, and not church families either.
Inbred churches are those that have no -- or very little -- new blood. Very few first generation Christians, and not many second generation ones. No new converts and few whose parents were new Christians. Many churches are mostly third and fourth (or more) generation Christians.
One obvious problem is that if you are not making new disciples, you are not growing. But there are a number of other problems that are a result of inbreeding.
Inbred churches tend to want to preserve tradition. Family traditions become church traditions. Nothing changes because we are comfortable with the way it has always been. Preferences become traditions which become commands, which leads to convoluted attempts to explain that Scripture means what it does not say.
Or... inbred churches get focused on themselves. They expect to be fed instead of feeding others. After all, there are no new Christians to feed. Buildings for us. Youth programs to teach our kids. Preachers at inbred churches have to please an increasingly self-centered audience. Self-satisfied, inward focused churches. And that leads to fighting and a desire for something fresh and exciting. Eventually old things are discarded without much thought to why they were done in the first place. Which often leads to convoluted attempts to explain why Scripture does not mean what it does say.
New Christians mean that a church is being outward focused instead of inward focused. New Christians need teaching, fellowship, and discipling. They bring excitement and enthusiasm. Teaching lost people the good news of Jesus keeps churches focused on the main thing: Jesus.
We worry about keeping our young people. Why would they want to stay in a church that is more focused on preserving the past than creating a future? Or why would they want to stay in a church so focused on change that there is no sense of something solid and permanent?
So do a survey of your church friends. Find out how many of them are first or second generation Christians. You will find that to be a very accurate barometer of the overall health of your church.
God did not send his Son to die just for your kids and grandkids. He sent Jesus to die for the sins of the world.
Start believing it and then start living it.
It will change everything in your community of faith. It may even change everything for you.
Inbred churches are those that have no -- or very little -- new blood. Very few first generation Christians, and not many second generation ones. No new converts and few whose parents were new Christians. Many churches are mostly third and fourth (or more) generation Christians.
One obvious problem is that if you are not making new disciples, you are not growing. But there are a number of other problems that are a result of inbreeding.
Inbred churches tend to want to preserve tradition. Family traditions become church traditions. Nothing changes because we are comfortable with the way it has always been. Preferences become traditions which become commands, which leads to convoluted attempts to explain that Scripture means what it does not say.
Or... inbred churches get focused on themselves. They expect to be fed instead of feeding others. After all, there are no new Christians to feed. Buildings for us. Youth programs to teach our kids. Preachers at inbred churches have to please an increasingly self-centered audience. Self-satisfied, inward focused churches. And that leads to fighting and a desire for something fresh and exciting. Eventually old things are discarded without much thought to why they were done in the first place. Which often leads to convoluted attempts to explain why Scripture does not mean what it does say.
New Christians mean that a church is being outward focused instead of inward focused. New Christians need teaching, fellowship, and discipling. They bring excitement and enthusiasm. Teaching lost people the good news of Jesus keeps churches focused on the main thing: Jesus.
We worry about keeping our young people. Why would they want to stay in a church that is more focused on preserving the past than creating a future? Or why would they want to stay in a church so focused on change that there is no sense of something solid and permanent?
So do a survey of your church friends. Find out how many of them are first or second generation Christians. You will find that to be a very accurate barometer of the overall health of your church.
God did not send his Son to die just for your kids and grandkids. He sent Jesus to die for the sins of the world.
Start believing it and then start living it.
It will change everything in your community of faith. It may even change everything for you.
