The story goes that two people were riding a bike built for two up a steep hill. They finally made it up the hill with great difficulty. After catching his wind, the person on the front finally spoke up, “Whew! That was surely a steep hill!” Then the person on the back responded, “Yea, if I hadn’t kept my foot on the brake we might have rolled down backwards.” In regard to your church life, are you one of those who are peddling desparately or are you one of those who are putting on the brakes?”
Many are peddling desparately these days. Recently there have been some alarming statistics released about the future of the church. The Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention published on their website these sobering seven facts, “Special Report: The American Church in Crisis” (www.namb.net). Here's a synopsis:
- Less that 20% of America's regularly attend church
- American church attendance is steadily declining.
- Only in one state is church attendance more than population growth---Hawaii.
- Mid-size churches are shriking, but the smallest churches and largest churches still show growth.
- Established churches---40 to 190 years old---are on average, declining.
- The birth of new churches is only 1/4th of what it needs to be to keep up population growth.
- By 2050, the percentage of the U.S. population attending church will be half of what was in 1990.
What will be the future of the church in America? This is what many people are wondering, including me and it should be you. But it’s not a time for any kind of blame game, but it is a time for understanding and a time for action. It could be that whole future of the church rests upon on a single comma in the Bible. This comma is not in the original Greek, but is specifically found in the King James Bible. But before I get to the "missing comma", let's observe the apostle Paul "begging" the church to understand what it means to live the Christian life.
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called..” (NKJV, Ephesians 4:1).
Although Baptists have made much about the issue of calling for pastors and ministers, what Paul is referring to here is the calling of every Christian. So, let me ask you. Do you consider yourself to be a “called” Christian? From my observation of 30 years of pastoral ministry, very few American Christians understand the Christian life this way. Many understand the Christian life as a choice or an option. Others understand it as a way of salvation or a hope. Some think of their faith as a heritage or a tradition, but very few consider it a “calling” or “vocation”. But this is exactly what Paul is suggesting, isn’t it?
On NBC’s Evening News with Brian Williams, Wednesday July 29th, 2009, they had another of their regular special reports on people who were “Making a Difference” in these days of economic downturn. In this spot, those who were seen “making a difference” where Indiana couple, Monty and Susan Scales, who walked away from their well paying jobs, leaving their lives behind, and for the last 4 years have lived in a 240 square foot camper to live and work rebuilding homes in the Gulf Coast region. When asked why, Susan responded, “After she saw the devastation on the news, she went back to work and felt useless.” They moved from Mississippi, to Louisiana, and now to Texas, to help victims of Hurricane Ike. As Monty says, “especially to help those who fall between the cracks”. And they are not rebuilding houses one at a time, but they are currently working on a dozen houses at a time, living on the donations from supporters back home.
When asked about the greatest sacrifice, Susan says it is “not seeing her grandchildren grow up.” “This is a killer,” she said, as she held back tears. Of course, Americans are known for their volunteerism, but what I noticed during the entire interview was the United Methodist “Cross and Flame” displayed on the utility trailer located right behind them. Nothing was ever said about their faith or the church during the interview. Nothing really needed to be said. The symbol was there in plain sight for the world to see. This was not just volunteerism. This was not just two generous, caring people. These were two people who were living lives “worthy of calling to which they had been called.”
Watching that segment made me feel close to Susan and Monty Scales, though I have never met them. I felt close, because I recognized their hearts and also because I felt a “unity of the Spirit” with them. I felt Paul’s words about, “one body, one Spirit…one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…. I felt all that while watching how Susan and Monty Scales answered the call. Isn’t it interesting, how “calling” brings unity?
With this introduction to the Christian calling, we are ready to consider the case of the missing comma. In the King James Version of the Bible of Ephesians 4: 11-12 (from a Greek translations in 1611) the text reads this way: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, (comma) for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
Now consider another reading from the New King James version (based on a more recent Greek translation): “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” Did you catch the very different reading? In the older King James reading, Christ gives apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers to do the work of the ministry. But interestingly, as scholars have gained knowledge of the Greek, the more accurate translation is updated in the New King James version that Christ has given pastor and teachers to equip all the "saints" to do the "work of the ministry,” which in turn, builds up the body of Christ. Do you see the difference? The church that is built up and edified is the one where “everyone” is called, gifted and being equipped to do ministry!
Has the church missed this? It is the part of the church that fails to realize its giftedness and refuses to be equipped for ministry the part of the church that is dying? I recall hearing one of my professors at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, tell a story of a a student pastor who was being interviewed for a possible call to become the pastor of a church located not too far from the seminary.
As the student came for the interview, he noticed that the church building was in disrepair. But the people talked about how much they loved that old building and mentioned how much history and heritage was there. Finally they turned to the potential pastoral candidate and asked him: “If you were to become pastor here, what’s the first thing you’d do?” After a moment of reflection, the young seminary student looked the pastor search committee in directly in the eyes and answered: “If you want my honest assessment, I’ll give it to you. If I were to become pastor here, the first thing I'd do is tear down this building!”
The story goes, that although the committee were rather shocked by his goal, they came to realize it was exactly what they needed to do, and they called him as pastor and the ministry began to grow.
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