The Frog in the Kettle
By George Barna
Excerpts Prepared by Dr. Neil Chadwick
TO A CHANGING WORLD For the Christian community, the '90s will be a time of unprecedented challenge - and opportunity. While many of the changes that will occur could threaten the stability and capacity of the Church to make an impact on our society, other changes are opening the doors for new forms of ministry. Clearly, the Christian Body cannot hope to have much of an impact if we respond in the same ways we have in the past. These are new challenges, demanding creative, unique responses. The solutions that worked ten or even five years ago will fail in the coming decade. We are being confronted with a new wave of obstacles and opportunities. After careful study of our options, and discerning the mind of God, we must tailor new strategies to address this new environment. In the process of facing the future, however, the Christian Church must identify a series of goals that it wishes to satisfy during the coming decade. From the secular business world we can learn that organizations and movements which do not have clearly defined goals which result in measurable outcomes are unlikely to make the progress desired. We must create an agenda for action, mobilize our resources and move toward the fulfillment of our goals. 2. Raise Bible Knowledge
3. Equip the Christian Body
Part of the failure of today's church to reach the nation is the poor training we have provided for the Body of believers. Within the coming decade, we must seek to have every believer regularly involved in a time of meaningful worship. We must encourage every believer to pray, and redefine "prayer ministry" to be a major underpinning of every individual and congregation. We need to turn around our churches, so that more money is given for outreach (domestic and international), and the focus of church ministry is not solely on the congregation, but on the community as well. And we must reintroduce the concept of spiritual accountability, ingraining discipling relationships among the majority of believers.
4. Establish Christian Community
A glaring weakness within today's Church is the lack of widespread relationships within, and the divisions between churches, denominations and parachurch ministries. While there may be significant theological and methodological hurdles preventing the development of an ecumenical movement, the '90s must be a time when all people and organizations who love Jesus Christ and wish to serve Him put aside their differences, find their areas of commonality, and develop an agenda for powerful cooperative ministry within America. By 2000, perhaps we can create a unified movement of churches, organizations and individuals dedicated to restoring the Christian character of American society.
5. Renew Christian Behavior
To the average nonbeliever, Christians act no differently than anyone else. Our faith appears to be simply a theoretical construct, an emotional decision that does not have the power to transform who we are and how we behave. During the '90s, we must forcefully demonstrate, through our actions, that what we believe dictates what we do. We might strive to raise church attendance form the current 40 percent to 60 percent. We could seek to increase involvement in church leadership and volunteer activity to incorporate at least 25 percent of our people. Christians should be discernible as people of integrity and love. We must stand out as the people who sacrifice time and money to help the needy. Our decision-making should be overtly different because we are seeking to make choices that coincide with our faith.
6. Enhance the Image of the Local Church
People turn their back on the Church because they do
not believe it is relevant, that it is personal, that the
people of the Body care about outsiders or that it is concerned
about
the world. During the next decade, we have a great opportunity to reposition the Church and enhance that image. By acknowledging the state of the nation, and becoming involved in that within our own communities we sometimes become hopelessly snared in the theological implications of these issues. If nothing else, however, we can elevate the discussion within the Church to the point at which Christians seriously attempt to apply their f
In an era of change and turbulence, as the '90s will be, there is little hope that the Church of Jesus Christ will make a difference unless each of us initiates an unbreakable covenant with God that we will serve Him with all of our heart, mind and soul, for His glory.
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