Future Church Strategy (10) Conclusion

I have been a little disconcerted by the response to my series of posts on Future Church Strategy. The posts describing the problems faced by the church were very well received, with lots of likes and positive comments. However, when I began to suggest solutions, the enthusiasm dropped away. I would not mind if people showed that my proposed solutions are unbiblical, or if they came up with better ones, but the lack of interest in doing something different is quite disturbing.

I have experienced this before. When I published my first critique of the church in the early 1980s, in a little booklet called the Bride of Christ, it was extremely well received. Several thousand copies went out very quickly (this was before the internet made communication easier). However, I noticed after a while that people were mainly interested in the critique of the church. The New Testament analysis of what the church should be seemed to have gone right past them.

When I republished the material under a new title with fuller and clear descriptions of how the New Testament teaches that the church should function, I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to leave out all criticism of the existing church and focus on sharing a positive vision. The book, called Being Church Where We Live, was not nearly so well received, although it shared the same concepts.

I conclude that people are aware of the severe problems the modern church faces but are unwilling to make the costly changes necessary to turn the situation around. They agree with the warnings about the challenges we are facing, but seem to be hoping that catastrophe will not happen, or if it does, they will be able to muddle through by doing what they are already doing.

Thinking this way is human, but it is a dangerous strategy for leaders, who should be showing their followers the path ahead. I can understand the New Zealand Rugby Union and the political leaders of the European Union adopting this “head in the sand” strategy, but I expect more of Christian leaders.