Last week, I share from an article by Todd Gaddis for Lifeway that suggested ten poisons that will kill any church. Todd reports that thousands of churches close their doors every year and many others are on life support. He writes that
“we live in a time when churches need revitalization and renewal…the eternal destiny of people depends on the faithful witness of local churches.”
Todd was reminded that certain poisons cause death, yet they are avoidable. Churches that die from these ten poisons do so by their own hand.
What are the second five poisons?
- Prosperity without generosity…tithers are dying and tippers are taking their place. John Dickerson in The Great Evangelical Recession writes “Donations are on course to drop by 70 percent within twenty-five to thirty years—due to the deaths of the most generous generations.”
- Addition without reproduction…church growth through sheep swapping, Christians hop from church to church, no net gain for the Kingdom of God.
- Birth without growth… having converts, but not disciplining them, not retaining them.
- Membership without conversion…attending church but not saved, on the church roll but not in the Lamb’s book of life. Researcher George Barna states “half of all adults who attend Protestant churches on a typical Sunday morning are not Christian.” And,
- Duty without love…calendars are full but hearts are empty, a love for Jesus, fellow saints, and one another is growing cold. These poisons are convicting. Let’s work to avoid these poisons!
-Bro. David