If you don't live in Colorado, you may not know that today marks the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News a daily paper in business since 1858. Today I bought the last issue, my first, so I readily admit that I don't have a dog in this hunt as they say. I am one of those people who get all my news/information on the Internet and Radio (I don't even watch TV).
Listening to the radio yesterday and reading the story of the history and now fall of the paper has been... well interesting. And I don't think there is any one single reason that explains the closing of this paper. Economics seems to be the leading contender, with more specific issues of loss of circulation, loss of advertising revenues, and the rising cost of production being discussed heavily.
But in listening and reading I think there is a perception that needs to be considered in evaluating the closing of this paper (and what may become a trend in the newspaper business). One Rocky Mountain journalist remarked that she "still believed in newspapers." And that may be an indication of the problem. I believe a good question should be asked is, "What is your business?" I believe the wrong answer is, "We are in the newspaper business." The correct answer is, "We are in the News & Information business." We live in changing times. More and more people are getting their news & information from the Internet, Radio and TV. Another columnist quoted "Thomas Jefferson, who said that if he had to choose between a government without newspapers and newspapers without a government, he'd choose newspapers." But I think that misses the point. Jefferson had only 1 medium for news and information. We have many. It is the news - a free press (or blog, or website, or radio program or all-news, all-the-time TV stations) that matter.
So what does this have to do with Churches of Christ? If you've been reading The Christian Chronicle for the last 3 months you know they have been running a series of important and excellent articles about the decline of Churches of Christ. And there has been a great deal of discussion as to the cause of this decline. I would like to throw out a suggestion as to a possible cause (at least one of several, and in the cause a solution.)
I wonder if like in the newspaper business, we have a slightly skewed view of our "business"? It seems to me, that many think that we are in "the Church of Christ business." We worry and fret that so many of our children (as well as quite a few of Baby Bomers and even seniors) are leaving the church (The Church of Christ) and going elsewhere. Are we worried about The Church of Christ? Are we worried that the institution that we are so familiar with, marked by signs that read, "The Church of Christ Meets Here" is going into decline and maybe even one day might disappear from the landscape of American religion? I believe we have misplaced our concern.
What if we were less interested in The Church of Christ, and more interested in The Christ who is head of His church? We are not in The Church of Christ business, we are in the Gospel business, we are in the Service business, we are in the Worship business, we are ultimately in the lifting up Christ business, and I think that a lot of our congregations have forgotten that.
When I interviewed with the Shepherds here at University some six months ago. We talked about the vision for the local church that we each had. During the break, one of the Elders said to me, "I hope you understand that we are not interested in being 'The Church of Christ', we are interested in being a church that honors Christ in all we do." The difference in perspective is significant. When we restore what it means to be the people of God, understanding that His Church will never die, then we can stop worrying about 'the decline of Churches of Christ' in America, and what we are going to do with fewer churches and members.
Like journalists, we are in the story telling business, not the building business. Journalists don't need a newspaper for that, and we don't need the institutional structure that we have built, in fact sometimes that is the obstacle for powerful story telling.
Let us begin again to live and share the gospel of Jesus Christ, as Paul said in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel for IT IS THE POWER of God for the salvation of everyone who believes."
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing your thoughts John. I enjoy reading your blog.
I would hope that as Journalists, we would do a better job on stating facts. Some journalists have a hard time achieving this responsibility.
As Christians I would hope that we are teaching the life of Jesus with Biblical facts that are from God. Jesus told us to go and teach the word all over the world. It is hard to do this from just a building alone. The Church of Christ is where I think you get plugged in, if you will (sorry, I'm an electrician) to the Word and POWER at the building where other believers meet. To worship, sing songs of praise, and communion with the Lord. And "hopefully" a good sermon. :) (Yours are always good). Then we are responsible to share it with others correctly as God told us to do, and in the manner of how to do it.
Like a Journalist, I need to do a better job at this.
I agree, sometimes the story told in Newspapers is not accurate, but biased, and sometimes the story we tell is also more biased to our traditional view than it is Gospel. We need to do better.
I agree with you John. I too have been reading the articles in the Christian Chronicle about the Church Of Christ decline. I didn't grow up in the Church Of Christ but we have been members for 12 years here in NJ and I feel like there are some obvious, real reasons for this decline, just based on my own experience.
There is an article in the Christian Chronicle that illustrate what I believe to be the biggest culprit and my deepest frustration. Title: 'HAMILTON: Skater's faith journey led him to baptism'. My short response is - WHAT? The longer version of that is - why doesn't that title say Christ instead of baptism?
This wasn't a typo - this was, and always is a clear and deliberate expression of the Church Of Christ. This doctrine is not a self sustaining message - it also deviates from the truth found in Scripture (in my opinion)- which eventually leads true seekers away from the church - hence the exodus.
Whenever obedience (baptism)is treated as a condition for salvation rather than a symptom of salvation - you have started down that very slippery slope of legalism that only leads to a spiritual starvation.
I don't want to be completely negative. We have found it to be a good church - we love our congregation very much - but I feel like if Jesus were to address our church, he would say the same thing that He said to the church in Ephesus in the book of Revelation (2:4):I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
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