The Ken Johnson Group / June 20, 2005 Featured Article

The Church Alive: Is your church one of them?

by Ken Johnson

I just returned from returning the DVD Holes, which has some very exciting values to offer, to Blockbuster. No I don’t own stock in Blockbuster. Upon my return I decided to take a bike ride. The time is late spring, in fact there are only a few weeks of school left before summer break, and now it is time to come out of hibernation and begin getting a little exercise. My wife and I recently got our bikes serviced so we could do some riding this summer. What fun and what great relaxation. As I was riding I was thinking about the church, not just one church but the church as a whole. From all of the recent Barna reports the church is in deep trouble and I began to equate that to my bike ride.

The church for the most part is getting older just as I am. I have said for a long time that the thing that is most dangerous to ones health is “getting old.” Yes, I know that statement is understood by everyone and we all know that there is nothing we can do about it. But, we also hear everyday of people who have done this or that research and have found something new to extend people’s lives. We as Christians know that we don’t have any control over the length of our lives, but the secular world has nothing to live for, so they are always looking for ways to lengthen lives. Personally I’m looking forward to eternity with the Lord.

Ok let’s get back to the subject, the church. It seems like the church is in the same place that we are—getting older—and is looking, feeling and sounding like they are older and if they want to survive longer than the old people in them they need to find that miracle pill that will make them live longer.

What is that miracle pill? That miracle pill has to be new life. Maybe that pill is a face lift or implants. During the bike ride I was thinking about what I had done all winter. Well, I don’t like to admit this but the only exercise I got was walking from the car into the office and a few steps around the office and not much more. For all intents and purposes I was dormant all winter long. I usually go skiing at least once or twice, but I didn’t even do that this winter. How can I stay healthy when I am only sitting and eating? I can’t. Fortunately my physical showed that I was still alive, but my triglycerides were high, too much candy and pop and not enough exercise, but that can be reversed. It means that I have to give up something and do a much better job of exercising.

The church is in somewhat the same position except they are lying dormant 12 months out of the year instead of the 8 months that I lay dormant. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about all churches, but I am talking about a large majority of the churches. The church is filled with people my age (sixty three) and above that want the church to stay where it is, in a dormant state, and they will do whatever it takes to keep it there. It’s obvious that the church needs to get their old exercise equipment updated and get some new equipment that will help them get the needed exercise to keep them vibrant and alive.

A number of years ago I moved to a city to take a teaching position and found a basically dormant city which was quickly falling farther behind the rest of the world. I questioned a number of young people about this dilemma and was told that before the city could move forward six city councilmen, and they were all men, needed to either retire or die. It’s interesting that many of our churches are in the same position, the old guard either needs to begin to think young, retire or, should I say it, die. What a sad commentary on what God provided. He didn’t put the church here to “get old and die.” He put it here to continue to grow and mature and reinvent itself until we go to meet Him in the sky.

In my Bible study this morning I began reading 2 Timothy 1. Paul is writing from jail expecting to die soon and Timothy was struggling with a lack of confidence and was troubled with the attacks on the church. The NIV Topical Study Bible says the following about these hard times: “The church was experiencing increasing persecution and penetration by false teachers, deteriorating moral standards indicating that last days had begun.” (p. 1353) It seems like de ja vu all over again as Yogi Berra would say. We are in that same position today because we are laying down on the job in the church, accepting the status quo, and just waiting to be out of here so we don’t have to worry about it anymore. We need to begin exercising our God given gifts of love for others, prayer and spreading the good news of Jesus the Christ and the benefits of being a Christian. The NIV continues about Paul saying “Paul was confident that eternal life awaited him through Jesus Christ, who has destroyed death. When hard times strike us, our only source of comfort and hope is Jesus Christ.” (p. 1353) It seems like we as Christians today are in an idle mode. We are afraid to say anything for fear of retaliation and that is exactly the opposite of what God wants us to do. He wants us to personally spread the good news to the entire world.

We need to get the exercise that we need to get our health back, and get out and play the game like a professional not like an amateur. We need to always have our “game faces” on and play the game with the tenacity of a professional football player with the constant intent to win, not the four year old who doesn’t know which goal line is his.