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Dilemma: Should you fellowship a dead church?
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RELIGIOUSLYINCORRECT.org
We know that to fellowship a church that teaches and practices false doctrine is not what God desires. (Rev 2:2; John 4:24)
But what about churches that appear to be "doctrinally correct," but are lukewarm?
In other words, how should we deal with dead churches—or churches that lack proper spirit?
James said that "the body without the spirit is dead." (James 2:26)
Whenever a person dies, his spirit obviously leaves his body and goes to the place God has appointed.
But what about a church that has died? What about a church that externally seems to be going through all the right
motions but is not pro-active in the cause of Christ?
Just as your body can die—so can the "Body" of Christ
As you likely know, the church is referred to as a "Body." (Eph 1:22-23)
And, just as your body without your spirit is dead, so your Body (or church) without proper spirit is also dead.
Jesus spoke of such churches in Revelation 2 & 3, congregations that apparently were "worshiping in truth" but clearly had lost their zeal,
their spirit.
Like many today, the congregations at Ephesus and Laodicea had the right God, right religion, right Bible, and right worship function.
They would have been readily admitted into modern "church directories" and considered "true" churches in "full fellowship."
In fact, they were so "devoted" that they even drew the line on serious false teaching, and made sure false teachers had no place in their churches
(Rev 2:2). It should be noted that this PLEASED Christ, by the way.
But they were not considered by Christ to be true, saved churches (without repentance and change).
They were not following the true ancient path. They were not representative of the church Christ died on the cross to create.
Their sins of omission were dooming them.
They had become like a body that had died. The "Body" did indeed exist—it just wasn't moving any more. Or, if moving, it wasn't
moving in the healthy manner Christ (the "Great Physician") had prescribed.
Jesus basically informed them that their situation was so dire that—if they failed to repent—He would no longer
recognize them as one of His churches. (Rev 2:5)
They would cease to be a "church of Christ's."
What are we to do about modern dead churches of Christ?
My question is this:
If Jesus would remove His fellowship from dead churches that seemed to have everything else right (except for their lack of zeal)–should you
and I not do the same?
Should we continue to fellowship modern dead churches of Christ?
If Christ has removed His candlestick (and fellowship) from a church, should we attempt to continue to fellowship that church?
After all, if such is the case, that church is no longer a true church of Christ's. It may indeed have a sign out front stating
"Church of Christ" on it, but you must do more than quack like a duck to be a duck.
Of course, the "million dollar question" is: How can we truly KNOW Christ has removed His candlestick, that He no longer recognizes a
church as being "one of His?"
I believe this should be obvious after attending a church a few times. They're either working diligently in the full cause of Christ
(not just "keeping house for the Lord")—or they have few, if any, pro-active plans whatsoever.
Zealousness can also be identified by listening to the public teaching. When teachers largely seem to have no enthusiasm for the
greatest message on earth, there's something terribly wrong with that picture!
Other serious "red flags" to a dead church are: Christian families that fail to keep their own children faithful and strong in Christ,
dwindling and aging churches, general lack of interest in sharing knowledge with others outside the public assembly of the church
(as the Bible instructs us all to do),
failure of our women to teach the younger women (as they are commanded to do—Titus 2:3-5; Heb 5:12-14), and the like.
Is this really the type of church Jesus died to create? Surely you must know it is not!
The dilemma
Dead churches, of course, pose a dilemma for active Christians who seem to have no other good choice.
When we look around us and see: (a) Rampant false doctrine taught in the Christian religious world outside; and,
(b) Almost no recognizable zeal in many of our own churches—what then is one to do?
I believe the best solution is to work hard to change your current situation, and to bring awareness about your
congregation's condition so the complacent will change.
However, I believe this too should have its limits—if the cause of the Lord is being hindered by our diversion of valuable time to a dead church.
We must "work while it is day, for the night will come—when no man can work."
Nor is that to suggest we should expect every member to be active. Some of the Revelation churches contained a mixture
of typically "a few" who pleased Christ, and many others who did not (this can be contrasted with Ephesus and Laodicea—where
the entire memberships needed to repent). Please note also that most members of these churches apparently were NOT pleasing Christ—a
scary thought indeed, especially since their sins were typically the less obvious "sins of omission"
(lack of activity, lack of zeal, incomplete deeds, etc).
So, if you are a teacher where lukewarmness is prevalent, I hope you will bring continued awareness to your congregation in your teaching (both publicly and privately).
If you aren't, first make sure your own life is active for Christ, then visit with your church leaders and others about doing the same.
Try to open the eyes of your church.
And, please join us as we try to bring this reality home to the U.S. churches of Christ. I fear many, many of our
churches long ago left the true path of zealous service for Christ. And many people seem oblivious to this dangerous situation—another
sign of complacency.
This was one of Israel's many problems prior to their dramatic destruction. They failed to heed the many
warnings of God's true prophets, instead choosing to believe their false prophets who convinced them "all was well with the world."
Preachers and teachers of the church, take heed!
To the prophets of Israel who were failing to do their jobs by warning the people of Israel, God said this:
From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.
(Jer 6:13-14)
Preachers and teachers of the church today, take heed.
It's your job to send this message forth, clearly and often. Do not treat the
wounds of God's people as though they are not serious!
All is not well in our modern churches. So, let's resolve to work together for change, for Biblical solutions.
Change is certainly possible—if the will to change is there.
But failure in this is not an option, for all we hold dear is at stake.
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