Paul Nixon, in his book, I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church, argues that the churches in America today are dying because we have become too comfortable. He picks on pastors mostly. He says that preachers too often avoid challenging themselves. These shepherds of the church no longer have the desire necessary to move a congregation toward greatness, toward new life, toward vitality.
Nixon’s premise is simple: “I believe God invites every (congregation) to thrive.”
In Jeremiah 23 the prophet looks out at the burnt landscape of what had been a strong and mighty nation and realizes that God still wants them to thrive. God declares through the prophet, “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.”
God did not lose hope in God’s flock. Today God looks at the church and that same hope burns deep within the heart of heaven.
Go back in time with me to 1920, to a meeting of about 75 people in Brookside. They wanted to start a church. They had no building. They had no money. They had no pastor. They had just one thing: a vision of a church that could thrive if it gave itself to the work of God, the love of God and the love of neighbor. That group of folks was more than willing to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to create a place where grace would be spoken.
The churches that learn to thrive in his new era will be the ones that are willing to dream with God. What about you and your life? Is there something in your world that feels awful, looks endlessly hopeless? I have good news for you. God looks out over the barrenness of your life and expects not despair, not dullness, but life, excitement and more. Someone said, “Faith believes that with God we are never helpless victims.”
Our church and your life can experience a renewed sense of hope when we are willing to do whatever it takes to trust in the power of God and the love of each other.
Grace and peace to you,
-Glen
