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Part 1: The Collapse of the Church Culture. By Maurice Goulet

Having traveled the four corners of this country, I have witnessed firsthand, the imminent demise and the collapse of the unique culture in North America that has come to be called church. This church culture has become confused with biblical Christianity, both inside the church and out. A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith. Not only do we not need God to explain the universe, we don't need Jesus Christ to operate the church. It's written in the word that in the last days of this age Christ is outside of the Church knocking and looking for anyone who is willing to let him in. Many operate like giant machines, with church leaders serving as mechanics. The Lord doesn't have to show up to get done what's being done. People no longer want the powerless God of the modern church.

Some are asking, how Do We Do Church Better? All the effort to fix the church misses the point. You can build the perfect church and they still won't come. People are not looking for a great church. Most of the growth of mega churches represents people transferring from small fishing boats to cruise ships. The real question should be, how Do We Deconvert from Churchianity to Christianity?

I have observed that there is a spiritual awakening occurring in America. However, it is not informed by Christian theology, and it's not happening in the church. God is pulling end runs around the institutional North American church to get to people in the streets. God is still inviting us to join him on this quest, but it is the invitation to be part of a movement, not a religious club.

The Church Growth Movement that began in the 1970's had both some things that were right and some things that were wrong. Here's one of the wrong things: Unfortunately, it fell victim to an idol as old as the Tower of Babel, the belief that we are the architects of the work of Christ. As a result, we have the best churches men can build, but are still waiting for the church that only Jesus Christ can get credit for. I say this because I hear the wrong question asked frequently. How Do We Grow This Church? How Do We Get Them to Come to Us?

In their quest to be attractive to potential congregants, churches added staff, added programs, added buildings (including full health clubs), all to improve their market position. And it worked! A study released in 2002 found that one-half of churchgoers attended churches in the top 10 percent of church size.

Keep in mind all of this has been done with what results? Diminishing returns! In other words, overall church attendance continues to decline. We can keep on this track just to watch even more dismal results, or, we can change our focus to: How Do We Transform Our Community? How Do We Hit the Streets with the Gospel? The Pharisees' evangelism strategy sounds eerily familiar. Their approach to sharing God was, "Come and get it'. Jesus' evangelism strategy directly challenged the Pharisees' approach. Instead of "Come and get it" it was "Go get'em".

Jesus' strategy was to go where people were already hanging out. This is why he went to weddings, parties, and religious feast day celebrations. Taking the gospel to the streets means we need church where people are already hanging out. We need a church in every mall, every Wal-Mart super center, every Barnes and Noble.

Bottom line: we've got to take the gospel to the streets. This is the only appropriate mission response to the collapse of the church culture. I am not talking about short forays into ports off of the cruise ship. I am speaking of an intentional 24/7 church presence in the community.

We need to go where people are already hanging out and be prepared to have conversations with them about the great love of our lives. This will require our shifting our efforts from growing churches into transforming communities. They're not coming to us. We've got to go to them.

The first Reformation was about freeing the church. The new Reformation is about freeing God's people from the church (the institution). The original Reformation decentralized the church. The new Reformation decentralizes ministry.

The historic Reformation distinguished Christians one from the other. The current Reformation distinguishes followers of Jesus Christ from religious people. In India and other places these people are called "Great Commission Christians" to distinguish them from mere pew sitters.

Today, ministry is being defined largely in church terms and lay people often being viewed as functionary resources to get church work done. The collapse of the church culture and the emergence of kingdom growth as a paradigm for renewal spell the end of an era of church members playing support roles. Many clergy just don't get this. They view the recruitment difficulties they are experiencing as a motivational issue rather than understanding the significant shift in how people are making decisions about how they will spend their lives.

I propose that we begin studying the culture of the people we are ministering to. North American culture is increasingly postmodern. The church in North America is thoroughly modern (i.e., out of touch with its surrounding culture). The result of the modern church's form of spirituality is a North American church that is largely on a head-trip. This is at the heart of why the lifestyles and values of people in the church mirror so closely the lifestyles and values of people in the larger culture. We have a rational faith. The test for orthodoxy typically focuses on doctrinal stances, not character and spiritual connectedness to Christ and others.

In keeping with modernism, Christians in North America practice their faith in a segmented approach, separated from other parts of life (business, family, and so forth). This is why we go to 'church' to do our spiritual activity. This is why we don't do spiritual formation at home. That's what the church is for. After all, spiritual 'education' should be left to the professionals who have the training and credentials for it.

The end result is parents unable to talk to their kids about God, church members who take their teenagers to church (believing that this activity inoculates them against the influence of a pagan culture) but don't talk about life implications of faith, couples who are embarrassed to pray together - the list goes on and on. True Christianity starts in the home and is built upon the following three truths. First, God is no respecter of persons. Everyone in the church is an integral part of the Body and is no more or less important then any other. Second, every Christian home can become a center for fellowship. Neighborhood fellowships build strong communities and become centers of outreach for those who are seeking Spiritual nourishment, but do not have a church of their own to attend. Third, every Church building with a local pastor should be a training center to support the home fellowships. This approach will give the local pastor the time to work with those who have the ability to minister to small groups and at the same time build unity within the church.

Maurice Goulet is the Author of Lord Of Darkness ~ Lord Of Light.(Unfolding The Signs Of The Times And The Hope Of A New World) Now available Online at www.CDBN.com.

About the author: Maurice Goulet is an ordained Minister and the founder of The Chosen Path Home Fellowship Ministries. He teaches and writes an online newsletter on the principles of building a successful home fellowsip program. He is also the Author of Lord Of Darkness ~ Lord Of Light. (Unfolding The Signs Of The Times And The Hope Of A New World) Now available Online at www.CDBN.com.