The Church Tomorrow
(Luke 18:8)
Introduction
- Jesus once asked the question “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
- As I begin this lesson, I feel obligated to say that I am no prophet, nor the son of a prophet, as Amos once said to Amaziah (Amos 7:14).
- The best I can do as I attempt to look into the future is to speculate based on history, trends, and human behavior.
What I know
- The church of Jesus Christ will never go away (Daniel 2:44).
- The church in America is going through some hard times.
- “Seeking True Unity” –2006
- We lost 8500 buildings and retained 2600.
- We lost 90% of our members –1.3 million to 159,000.
- 1861 –Benjamin Franklin estimated that out of the 10,000 congregations that existed, less than 50 were using instruments.
- Today, we find ourselves in very similar territory.
- When we wrote that book in 2006, there weren’t more than 20 or 25 congregations using instruments…What will happen in another 30 years?
What I Foresee
- These are just my predictions based largely upon what I have experienced and observed.
- I foresee that we may be replicating what happened 150 years ago.
- However, the good news is that the church is resilient.
What Can We Do?
- Integrate.
- (Titus 2:1-6)
- The church is a body and must function together, in concert with each member.
- Indoctrinate.
- We must dust off some old sermons and teach the necessity of authority and how to establish authority.
- (Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 4:6).
- Indulge.
- We must resist the urge to codify our preferences.
- (Matthew 15:8-9).
- We must tolerate, and even embrace differences in matters of expediency.
Conclusion
- As with any generation of the church…if we do nothing, the next generation will suffer.
- The future of the church is bright! After all, the future of the church is heaven (Ephesians 5:23).
