A couple of weeks ago I introduced the idea that a decline in numbers in the majority of western churches was not only a result of a lack of new recruits or even because of a disappearance of the younger generations but increasingly because everyday, average Christians are staying away.

This is the first part in my promised “A Church for tomorrow?” series. I am going to look at the idea that the Churches relevance has somehow impacted the the membership and commitment of everyday Christians to a local congregation. 

This is a common reason given by Christians  for not being an active member of a local congregation. Before we even attempt to look at it’s validity I think we need to first ask a couple of questions and try and put down some definitions.

  1. What do we mean by Church?
  2. What do we mean by irrelevant?

Church

The Biblical idea of Church is the collection of people that act as Christs physical body on earth. I think we would be hard pressed to find any Christian that would suggest that is an irrelevant idea. The world today, maybe more now than ever, requires a physical outworking of the grace and love of Jesus Christ. This, therefore, cannot be what people mean when using this reason for non-committal to a local Church.

So what is the alternative?

I think this must be the weekly gathering of people that, generally speaking, happens on a Sunday morning.

Irrelevant

So a dictionary definition is; “Unrelated to the matter being considered”.

Where church is concerned; “the matter being considered” can only be one of three things (or more probably a combination of them).

  1. God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
  2. The world “out there”
  3. Me

Using our Biblical idea of church, I don’t see how being Christ’s physical body on Earth is unrelated to any of the above.

How about the weekly gathering being unrelated?

I would suggest that a weekly gathering of believers is indeed related to God. I would find it difficult to argue against this.

Whether or not it’s related to the “world out there” is possibly contentious. Different models of Church will have a slightly different emphasis. Some will strive to be welcoming to “outsiders” while others will strive to equip their members to be ready for their interactions during the rest of the week. In reality I’d imagine most are somewhere between these two extremes.  So, with that said, I would suggest that Church, is indeed related  to “the world out there”.

So what about me? Is the Church related to me? I think that here lay the crux of the issue. Is the Church doing what I want, in the way I would want it to happen, when I would want it to happen?

I fear that, while all individual Churches will have varying degrees of success in it’s relation to the first two points it will never be exactly what I would want it to be.

Challenge

Is the Church irrelavant? I would suggest no. I would even suggest that it is possible more relevant now than it has ever been. However, as a western Christian it is becoming increasingly challenging to commit to a local body of Christians.

Apart from finding it difficult to commit to anything at all we are increasingly mobile.  Almost approaching nomadic in movements from place to place and therefore not having any great ties to a particular location. 

We are persistently encouraged to shop around in every other area of life. If the product we are consuming is not quite to our taste, or we simple fancy a change, we shop elsewhere.

We are increasingly busy. Work, friends, family, hobbies, etc. All put massive pressure on our time. Being part of a Christian community takes investment and our time is precious.

Please don’t misunderstand me. Church needs to stay in touch with the modern world. A valid charge can be leveled at many a Church door, of all denominations and styles, that it lives its life as though it was still the 20th century (or worse). But this issue is only increased when Christians dissociate themselves.

Being a member of a local Church can be a challenge. It is certainly effort (even hard work) and requires time and commitment. But let us all be clear that these are the issues. Irrelevance, I would suggest, is not.