In the film Concussion, Nigerian born doctor Bennet Omalu--played by Will Smith--discovers the disease he names CTE in the brain of deceased football star Mike Webster. His findings have the potential to cripple the economic giant that is the National Football League. He’s asked, “Do you really want to take on the NFL? The NFL Owns a day of the week. The same day the church used to own. Now it’s theirs.” Wow! Are Sundays really no longer a day owned by the Church? Have people generally stopped going to church on Sunday? Is the Church no longer the social center of the community? In earlier posts I’ve demonstrated findings about dying churches and unchurched millennials. To many people, the church building that has represented something truly loving and righteous, now represents something of the past. But what if I said that this is not only ok, this is the best thing that could happen! You might be thinking, how can you say that? I say it because today we have an opportunity to reinvent our churches in a way that engage the surrounding culture like never before. We have an opportunity to live out the mission of the church to make disciples in a more genuine way than ever before. But we first have to come to terms with this troubling fact...Sundays are losing
One church discovered that just 4% of its members consider themselves "full-time attenders" (Link here). Why are Sundays losing? Here’s just a few reasons that might help explain how our culture is changing:
In general, people aren't automatically going to church anymore...and that’s ok. Once we come to terms with this, we can begin new ways of reinventing how we do Church. But it is necessary for some to mourn the loss of Sundays. For many people losing Sunday is like losing a close loved one. They have significant memories of people that have made a major difference in their life and this difference is best represented by what happened on that day of the week. I am a sucker for TV shows like Kitchen Nightmares and Bar Rescue where Gordon Ramsay and John Taffer turn around a dying restaraunt or bar. Most of the energy these guys spend is simply getting owners to come to terms with a simple fact; their business is dying. It’s not an easy thing to come to terms with. To use a sport’s analogy, as I write this I recently watched the Golden State Warriors NBA team win a thrilling come from behind effort against the Oklahoma City Thunder in game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. They were behind for nearly the entire game until something interesting happened. They had a sense of urgency! They adopted a new attitude on offense. They made some changes on defense. They came back and won the game. But this wouldn’t have happened unless they came to terms with the simple fact that they were losing. If we trust the Spirit, we will be amazed at how God can work through all of this. But be careful not to HATE culture for murdering a day of the week. People simply aren’t that menacing. Our energies are not spent well protesting outside NFL stadiums and youth soccer leagues for operating on Sundays. Today’s post Christian society is not a problem that’s too big for God. In fact, declining attendance just might be putting Christianity in the very place it’s most comfortable--as a minority, as a counterculture movement, and as an organization unsanctioned by the state. This is the context where the Church not only grew, but where the Church first came alive. Think about it, when your favorite team is down, backs against the wall. Who do they call on? I grew up near Chicago during the Michael Jordan Bull's era. I got to be a kid when Jordan was in his prime! When the Bulls needed a big play, it was Michael Jordan that stepped up. He was made especially for those moments when his team needed him. It is the same with the Church. There are some major hurdles to overcome. Our backs are against the wall. But the Church was made for moments just like these. This is the context that Church Forums was made to operate in. So what we can do? Here’s 2 quick things:
Life is here now, breathe it all in. Church Forums have helpful strategies to do this. PURPOSE: To provide resources for community gatherings that engage culture. GOAL: To help eliminate the widening gap between churches and their surrounding community. VISION: To create a diverse and unified church
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