4 Reasons I'm Not Worried About The State Of The Church In America

It's not hard to look around and find a lot of doom and gloom around what people think about the future of the Church in America. You'll hear things like young people are leaving the church, or it's too consumeristic, or it's becoming irrelevant, or the Church is trying too hard to be relevant.

To be fair, there certainly is much that could be and that many of us wish were different about the state of the Church (generally speaking) in America, but I'm not nearly as worried as some may be. Here are four reasons why.

1) We suffer from being creatures of the moment

It's easy to look around and get discouraged at the decline in church involvement, or too look around and see the waining influence of Christian morality (which I would strongly argue is a good morality when lived out correctly) and think the Church is headed toward irrelevancy from which she will never recover.

Unless of course you spend any time studying history.

The very emergence and spread of Christianity happened in the midst of heavy persecution, when you didn't get a tax break for giving to non-profits, and where following Jesus meant you often lost any social significance you may have had.

There have been way more doomy and gloomy (yes, I know that's not a real phrase!) scenarios for the Church throughout history. Even today you can look no further than places like China where it is heavily discriminated against and most believers have to gather, worship, and grow in secret; and yet Christianity is exploding there.

Jesus doesn't need relevance, power, or prestige to change the hearts and minds of people with the good news that he brings. Things have been way worse for the Church in the past. God wasn't stopped then and certainly won't be stopped now,

2) Over-generalizations are unhelpful and often untrue

One of my biggest pet peeves is to hear generalizations about the Church.

"The are no churches that teach the Bible anymore."

"Churches only care about money."

"Churches are so judgmental and unforgiving."

"You can't be honest about your doubts and questions at a church, they won't let you stay around."

Yes, there are certain churches that may be terrible and may have hurt you. Please hear me when I say I am so sorry. It should not have been that way.

That being said, it is a mistake to then assume all churches are like that. There are plenty of churches that love people exceedingly well, that teach the Bible, that welcome doubters and seekers, that offer grace and forgiveness just like Christ did for us. I know of so many churches in the Raleigh area alone that are faithful and love Jesus the best that they can.

3) God does not need the American Church to advance his purposes

America is a great nation. Even if you don't think it is morally great, by all other accounts it is still great. It is powerful militarily, financially, and influences the rest of the world in countless ways. And so we in America have a tendency to think that what goes on here is more important than most other places, which creeps into our worries about the Church as well.

We think if the Church is not strong in America, the Church cannot be strong anywhere.

This is profoundly untrue.

God does not need America anymore than he needs you or I. He loves us, but he does not need us, which is what makes the Gospel even more breathtaking.

If the American church as a whole continues to become more irrelevant and even persecuted in various ways, the mission of God will not be stopped. And besides, the Gospel tends to flourish when it isn't associated with power anyway.

4) Jesus sits on the throne regardless

In the end, Jesus remains King no matter how positive or negative people view the Church or Christianity in America. The Gospel is good news for all people that anyone can receive the grace and mercy of God.

God is still God. He will still do and accomplish all he set out to do. And he will still one day reestablish his Kingdom of which he desires all of us to participate in. The question is not whether or not we are good enough to earn a spot in his Kingdom, but simply if we are willing to receive it.

This is not to say there aren't things that the Church in America could do better, but simply that God is still in control. So let's worry less and get to work wherever God has placed us.