Christianity Today 2

Friends,

I have heard so many people lament over the years about "the good old days" as it relates to when our churches were growing leaps and bounds...and if we could just get back to that time, we would grow again. This is wishful thinking -- but, no. (In fact, Solomon says..."Do not say, 'why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions" (Ecclesiastes 7:10, NIV). In speaking about the "rebirth" of churches of Christ during the 19th century, it occured during a time where rationalism reigned supreme and emotion/passion was subdued. Rationalism was at the root of the "modern" societal movement. Churches of Christ (as well as other mainline religious groups) experienced great growth at the high point of the "modern movement" in the 1950's and 1960's because the "modern" thinking of those attending churches (and particularly those in our fellowship) walked hand in hand with the "modern" culture (as stated -- strict authority...including overstated emphasis on obedience, little grace, appeal to intellect, denigration of emotion, etc.). As culture began to shift in the late 70's and early 80's growth in churches of Christ (as well as in other groups) levelled off and, in fact, began to decline. (People came to counter the authoritarian culture of the day...with the "authoritarianism" of the church receiving the brunt of the exodus). There is virtually a (baby boomer) generation (now between the ages of 48-62) missing in our churches. Why? Our culture was transitioning to a post-modern mindset, whereas our churches were, by-and-large, still "modern" -- authoritarian, strict, lacking grace -- in their thinking and culture. It is hard to believe, but it is still so today (20 years later) in many places. It has been a very difficult transition for our churches -- as how do we overcome 100+ years of history where the same basic rationalistic scheme for evangelism worked?

All of this has a great effect on how we relate to the world today. In effect, we are still in many ways "modern thinking people" now fully immersed in a port-modern culture. What is the point of all of this? Evangelism in our day and time requires that paradigm shift in philosophy that I shared about in an earlier post (see Paradigm Shift). The days of mass baptisms as the result of the gospel meeting and door knocking are obsolete. In general, we are not going to win over people with superb rationalism and debate skills who want to "experience God with their whole being." We have to truly be willing to invest time and energy in relationship with people in this postmodern world...people who, as a whole, are skeptical of us. They do not want to hear a sermon...they want to see it. Most churches are 1). still trying to use modern techniques and utilize modern thinking in a postmodern culture...and it does not work, or 2). not willing to invest in others' lives, develop trust in building relationships that will make the difference with outsiders.

I have heard many people say it...how can my wife and I go to work 5 (to 7) days a week (40 -60 hours), get home, eat, still get a little time with our family, then go to bed, get up and do it all over again...and you want us to evangelize??? We have to change our philosophy, our thinking...to becoming MORE biblical with our evangelism. Jesus did not go out of His way for anyone -- it was His way. The Great Commission says... (As you) Go, make disciples, baptizing them... We need to bring people along with us in our busyness as much as possible. This is why we have seen such an outgrowth of small groups...it is a way to connect with people and build relationships that cannot and does not happen at other times (like Sunday A.M. worship assembly, which has its own culture and purpose). People want to know that we are "real"...that we not only think, but that we have real concerns, experiences, emotions...in short, real lives. We can have the evangelistic campaign come to our church and go out and baptize 30 people, but how many of them do we typically keep?...not very many. I think that we have always put too much emphasis on "results" (i.e. number of baptisms), instead of number of converts that come from the leading up to and the following after baptism (i.e. number of relationships with the Lord -- and with us -- built). This all sounds so simple enough, but for many of the reasons mentioned above, as well as others, it is easy enough not to do. There is no magic formula, or sermon, or logic...just a conscious, genuine investment of time and energy -- getting real -- in the lives of people who need the Lord. God bless,

Don