In It or Part of It?

For someone who can't move the majority of my body, I get bored when I'm just sitting. Therefore, when I get to church on Sunday morning 10-15 minutes before the service, I count everyone.

In 2007-2008, average morning attendance was 198 people in the morning and 135 at the evening service. For 2019, day-time average was 160 and evening was combined with two other churches and came to around 120. For this year, four churches have combined for evening service and numbers don't look much different.

Christians are told to be in the world, but not of the world. We are to be distinctly separate from worldly desires and influence. However, the church in general has not followed this command. When attendance started declining, churches in the Western world tried to become more relevant to attract people.

It started with changing music, getting rid of traditional hymns and singing new songs. Some of these are good, but more often they leave unclear direction with an abundance of repetition and some artists even quite anti-Christian. Changes continued with getting modern buildings that barely resemble churches and name changes that try to mask denomination affiliation and sound trendy.

We are to be good stewards of the gifts we're given and sometimes older, neglected, structures cost more to maintain than start fresh. However, we also need to be careful not to leave something that already works well.

Finally, the church has changed the message of the gospel. To make it friendlier, God's love is preached without telling the consequences of sin and eternal punishment in hell. As a result of all this, Christianity in the western world continues to decrease and we see the results of it in the world around us.

I continue to pray for a return to Christ for the United States and many other countries. Unfortunately, I believe it will get much worse before that comes. No matter what comes, I'm comforted that God is in control and everything works out for those who fear Him.