HEALTHY CHURCH: Wake Up Church

         In Church Revitalization, Russell N. Small stated, “Revitalization is the supernatural work of God that restores health and vitality in a plateaued or declining church evidenced by submission to God’s Word, right relations among members and a renewed commitment to Great Commission ministry!” An Essential Church is awake and aware of its role and responsibility in carrying out God’s mission. In Rev. 3:1-2 Jesus says, “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.”

      The church in Sardis desperately needed to be revitalized by waking up to its God-given assignment. The heart of God is demonstrated by Jesus, who came to seek and to save that which is lost (Luke 19:10). God’s love for us is illustrated well in Luke 15 through the parables of a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. In The Church Revitalization Checklist, Sam Rainerchallenged all churches to rediscover their purpose by asking an important question: “What can you do to shift your church to an outward focus?” He continued, “Without a rekindling of evangelism and outreach, a struggling church will not be revitalized.” Every church must wake up to reaching the unchurched.

      In a recent research project by Church Answers, they discerned that “insularity” is one of the challenges most churches are facing. “Only 1% of churches have an ongoing evangelism emphasis. How have churches grown in the last 25 years? For most, it was not due to evangelistic efforts and conversion growth. It was not due to biological growth. Transfer growth has driven most of it. As a result, churches are full of people who are long-time believers, with few new believers among them.” Several other studies support their conclusions, stating that of the 15% of churches growing, only 1% of them is by conversion growth.

      It appears that one of the primary reasons a church exists has been neglected. “A 2019 LifeWay Research survey found that, over a six-month period, only 45% of active churchgoers shared their faith.” Honestly, I am concerned that number is an overly inflated and way too optimistic. Sam Rainer continued, “More than half of current churchgoers do not share their faith with others.” (See Lifeway quote above.) “The church is sitting still and becoming apathetic. This apathy means fewer people are hearing the gospel.” That is very different from Acts 19:10, “…so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus.”

      In the report New Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, finding #10 stated, “Churched people tend to care more about worship style, programming and denominational preferences than the unchurched, but the top reason churched people attend a particular church is because someone invited them. The church and unchurched alike attend a particular congregation primarily because someone invited them.” This is one principle that has basically remained almost unchanged for many years. In the Church Answers survey, 41% stated that they attended because someone invited them. Have you invited anyone lately?

      There is normally one conversion for every seven members in a new church plant. After five years, the conversion ratio is 25:1. Once a church is 15 years or older, the conversion ratio is 90:1. What is your church’s conversion ratio? Sam Rainer continued, “One way of determining evangelistic health is through a metric called conversion ratio. This ratio tells you how many people in your church it takes to win one person to Christ. A healthy church will have a conversion ratio of 20:1. A somewhat healthy church is 21:1 to 50:1; a somewhat unhealthy church is 51:1 to 80:1; and 81:1 or more is unhealthy.”

      Rainer went on, “Sadly, most churches in North America are unhealthy. In fact, the average conversion ratio among churches in the United States is 85:1. Less than 4% of churches meet the criteria for being healthy. There is a dangerous lack of evangelistic activity. It’s time to stir the stagnant waters.” What has happened? Many Christians and churches have become distracted by activities and busyness. God has always used His people, conversations and experiences to move other people toward a defining moment with Him. That requires an ongoing step-by-step process of staying connected with unbelievers.

      Distraction causes us to overly focus on good things, while simultaneously neglecting the best things. The biblical mandate of “making” disciples is a command that you are either obeying, disobeying or ignoring. Have you become so busy with other things that there is no time to focus on the main thing? Are you attempting to have spiritual conversations with those who desperately need Jesus on a regular basis? Here is one definition: “Evangelism takes place every time a misperception is clarified or a rejection reconsidered.” We have tried to make it an event when it is much more of an ongoing journey.

      Have we fallen asleep to the passion we once had for a lost and dying world? Think of how many times the Scriptures challenge us to wake up and be alert. In the Garden of Gethsemane (meaning “olive press”), Jesus instructed Peter, James and John to watch and pray. Paul told the church in Colossae to “continue in prayer and watch.” Then, to the church in Thessalonica, Paul told them not to sleep, but instead, they were called to watch and be sober. Those believers, as well as all believers today, were challenged not to become distracted by the activities of this world and then be caught off guard when He returns.

      Now, back to the church in Sardis, whose people had become so distracted from walking with Christ that they were “like the walking dead amidst their church activities.” R.C.H. Lenski states, “Sardis is like a leaking, sinking ship, in which captain and crew are sunk in full lethargy. They must wake up to the situation and thus must take measures to save the ship.” May our next steps be the same — we wake up, repent, and return to the fields white unto harvest.