What's your reason?

My favorite singer is Michael W. Smith. One of the lines from the chorus of his song Cross of Gold goes, "What's your line, tell me why you wear your cross of gold. State of mind, or does it find a way into your soul." Founder and CEO of the Church Answers blog Thom S. Rainer wrote an article last year titled Five Types of Church Members Who Will Not Return after the Quarantine. Here are the five types of people he listed:

1. "The decreasing attendance members. These were your members who, at one time, attended church almost four times a month. Before the pandemic, their frequency of attendance declined to twice a month or even once a month. COVID accelerated their trends. They are now attending zero times a month."
2. "The disconnected church members. If a church member is in a small group, his or her likelihood of returning is high. If they attend worship only, their likelihood of attendance is much lower. Please let this reality be a strong motivation to emphasize in-person small groups once everyone feels safe to return." There are some things I could say about "feeling safe to return," but that would turn this post into something that would best be left to times when I am actually aiming to talk about COVID-19 and the response to it since March 2020. What I can directly testify to is the importance of small groups or Life Groups as my church calls them. One of the things that has made Life Church feel like home to me is the personal connections I have made there. Let me qualify that a little by saying that the first thing I pay attention to with any church is not how they make me feel, but what their doctrinal statement is. If I don't agree with the beliefs of a church, they could be the nicest people in the world, but I don't belong there. That being said, how a person is treated once they begin attending can be just as important to keeping someone there as the doctrinal statement should be about whether or not a person begins attending in the first place. We call each other brothers and sisters in Christ for a reason. It's not just a nice sentiment. We are united as one under the blood of Jesus. When we are genuinely connected with other believers, we are more likely to stay at a church than if they are not.
3. "The church-is-another-activity church members. These church members see gathered attendance as yet another activity on par, or lower, than other activities. They were the church members who let inclement weather keep them from church but not their children’s Sunday soccer games. Commitment to the church was a low priority before the pandemic. They have no commitment in the post-quarantine era."
4. "The constant-critic church members. These church members always had some complaints for the pastor. In fact, your pastor may be dying a death by a thousand cuts. They are likely still complaining even though they have not returned to in-person services. Many of them will not return at all."
5. "The cultural Christian church members. They were part of a declining group well before the pandemic. They were those church members who likely were not Christians but came to church to be accepted culturally. Today, there are few cultural expectations for people to attend church. These cultural Christians learned during the pandemic that it was no big deal to miss church. It will be no big deal for them never to return."

People don't fall away because Jesus isn't good enough. But if the primary message that draws people to Jesus is not primarily about him and what he has already done for us in regards to eternity, then it's no wonder why people eventually become disillusioned and develop a harder heart toward godly things. Jesus said, "God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in Heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way" (Matthew 5:11-12 NLT). He also said, "In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33 NIV). When is the last time you heard an invitation to Christ that included promises of mockery, persecution, lies, evil, and trouble?

To be fair, of course, that's not all the Christian life is. There is love, joy, peace, GRACE like I talked about in my last post, that comes with conversion to Christ. But those are promises that come alongside the less positive ones mentioned above. Neither category of promises supersede the other. The ultimate reason for coming to Christ is because I owed a debt I could not pay. So Jesus paid my debt that he did not owe. If people are drawn to Christ with that being the reason, they are less likely to fall away when a sucky world acts like it sucks because that's already been factored into the equation. On top of that, they will encounter people in congregations who will love them as we are called to do because they came to Christ for the same reasons. I don't know who originated this comment, but the one I have heard use it the most is Bryan Fischer, who used to be with the American Family Association. "The Christian life is not a pleasure cruise, but a battleship." So let us dispense with false promises and expectations and get our armor on (Ephesians 6:10-18). There is a battle for souls going on every day. Are you on the field and in the game or a cheerleader on the sidelines?