What is the most important issue facing the Church today.

What is the most important issue facing the American Church today?

  • Total voters
    31
I

Icthus

Active Member
I think this might be a worth while discussion...

Vote and then tell us why.

No yelling or debating please....
 
I picked false teaching and standing up for Christian morals in society.

False teaching, the Bible often warns against, and I do not think it is anything new to our time.

Standing up for Christian morals, I am going to take two examples of this. Abortion and taking the Lords name in vain. I do not know the statistics, but I would be willing to bet the majority of Christians believe abortion is wrong. The problem I generally have with this is they are pretty accepting of the other side. I understand in politics it is good to be civil and accepting that others will not always agree with you, but abortion is different. With abortion, if you are pro-life, it is probably because you consider what is inside a pregnant woman is a child, so it is murder to stop it from living. Please do not get me wrong, I do not agree with those that burn down or vandalize abortion clinics, but we should not be so accepting of murdering a defenseless child.

Another moral problem I do not see Christians stand up for is taking the Lord's name in vain. Most Christians I see, I am ashamed to include myself, do not say anything to this. It is hard to find movies now without it, but most Christians still go. Using the Lord's name in vain is not even looked down upon in our society of over 70% Christians(I do not remember the number, but if I remember correctly it is in the 80 percentile). I would say it probably should be a pretty big deal considering it is part of the ten commandments.
 
I voted for Lack of Relevance. I've been reading You Lost Me by David Kinnaman (of The Barna Group). About dropouts, disconnects and how to get them reconnected. The Gospel is timeless and always relevant - the way churches present the Gospel are often neither timeless nor relevant, and they refuse to make any adjustments. As a result we see generations slipping away or never coming.

Good poll, Icthus.
 
I think I can sum it up in a single word: SIN.

Sin is the most important issue facing the American (and world) church today. As that was not an option, I didn't vote.
 
Themonkey thinks the most important issue facing the church in the western world is complacency of society in it's belief that God is not relevant in their lives. Western society has allowed a narcissistic view of itself to replace God.
 
Being in a slightly different type of church, The Salvation Army, I realize that many of these are related to each other, and have the same root cause, sin. Dealing with the incredible needs of people is very important to church growth, and continued health, hence the old motto of the S.A., "Heart to God, Hand to Man. But in order to meet those needs, and in turn meet people where they are, you must be relevant to those needs. And especially relevant to the newer generations, the young families struggling to make their way in a society that less and less pays attention to their needs. Yet relevant to the ageing population that is ignored and left behind, often living at or below poverty level. To put it more succintly I will borrow a phrase from a pastor of mine who has passed on. "In order to reach someone for Christ, you must first get involved in their messy little lives." That is relevancy.
 
At the risk of starting a debate, are there needs beyond food/water, shelter/clothing, and repentance? There are an incredible number of wants that people think are needs because society tells them this is so, but I think the church is often overtaxed trying to provide wants to people who think they are needs.

A good solid Bible believing/teaching church with loving folks who are doers of the Word and not just hearers, that is what ordinary folks need.
 
The root issue? Individuals' staunch rejection of an awareness of sin and consequent repentance.

The popular misconception of God regards him as a "Santa Claus in the sky," doling out favors to those who are "good, moral" people. The balance of Scripture speaks to God's wrath against those who deny Him the honor He deserves as well as speaking of the love He, in His great mercy, shows to offer even those rebels an opportunity to repent and stand in right relationship with Him.

Based on my answer, I selected False teaching (misrepresentation of God's character in local churches), Evangelism of this country and the world (calling people to repentance and salvation), consumerism (local churches catering to visitors seeking a rubber stamp of approval on general morality as a means of salvation), and Biblical inerrancy (a refusal to preach God's Word as an absolute, regardless of our preferences and emotional desires).
 
I actually only choose the camm option, which is the closest to what I want to choose. I think most of the selections in the poll are symptoms rather than root problems. And while I don't think that this is the sole root problem, I do believe that most of these symptoms can be fixed with a united Church.

This past semester learning about Church history has really opened my eyes to a fragmented and sectionalized Church. For no reason other than ignorance and misunderstandings. This division between Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox is grossly disturbing. I actually got very depressed when I learned that we Christians went from one united Church (Orthodox) to two fairly identical churches (Catholic and Orthodox) to three marginally different churches (Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox) to a seriously divided church (Baptist, Assemblies of God, Methodist, Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox, etc.) One of my biggest pet peeves is someone saying they aren't Catholic, they're Christian. While myself a Protestant, I am deeply troubled at how we are ostracizing our fellow brothers and sisters from being "Christian" just because they worship differently than we do. I'm willing to place my tuition dollars on the majority of Protestants not knowing that they first came from the Catholic church.

Furthermore, the divisions within the Protestant church is problematic as well. Why have we let ourselves get so division-ed? I completely understand and agree that we are all different parts of the Body, but that doesn't mean we are cut off from another? If we are all different parts of the same body, why do we not have collegiality between our churches? Why does my church have no idea what your church is doing? Why does my church have no MEANS of knowing what your church is doing? I know that some city's churches are starting to band together and I know that churches do unite in times of crises, but why does it take tragedy to bring us together? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to do away with denominations or change anyone's personal way of worship, but I do believe that this fragmented Church we have created is not as beneficial as the Church should be.

Think, with a united Church voice we can:
Voice our political opinions on abortion, gay marriage, etc. (Poll options 1, 2, and 7)
Ensure pastor's are teaching correct doctrine, ie. avoiding major heresies (Poll option 3, 8, and 9)
Change society, become relevant, dictate the world's future (poll option 4, 5, and 9)
Better support and equip each other (poll option 6 and 8)
Among other things.

Again, while I can't say that this is the sole reason why the Church has problems, I do believe we can solve a lot of problems if we actually became big C church.
 
Last edited:
Biblical Inerrancy, the truth just isnt being Preached and Taught anymore. People are looking for Pastors and Teachers to tickle their ears, not feed them the truth they need. Christians can't seem to accept the truth, and take it for what it's worth, they won't to be told they are doing it all right and they are as close to perfect as it gets, instead of being told the truth. Which is, they need to be on their hands and kness asking God for forgiveness and begging for his mercy, and thanking for for what he's done, what he's doing, and what he's going to do.
 
Rockofages said:
Biblical Inerrancy, the truth just isnt being Preached and Taught anymore. People are looking for Pastors and Teachers to tickle their ears, not feed them the truth they need. Christians can't seem to accept the truth, and take it for what it's worth, they won't to be told they are doing it all right and they are as close to perfect as it gets, instead of being told the truth. Which is, they need to be on their hands and kness asking God for forgiveness and begging for his mercy, and thanking for for what he's done, what he's doing, and what he's going to do.
Click to expand...
I agree with You on this if more people actually sat down and took everything in like they need too and not
leave or get offended about something i think we'd have a ton of adult mature Christians but right now we got a whole lot of baby ones, they need the meat of the Word. To get filled with the Word and Holy Spirit. :)
 
Rockofages said:
Biblical Inerrancy, the truth just isnt being Preached and Taught anymore.
Click to expand...

I certainly don't know what your personal experiences have been - but you need to be in a church that is preaching and teaching the truth of God's word. There are tons of churches that do that - find one. I'd be hesitant to condemn the church as a whole because you haven't found one that does.

ObsidianHealer said:
I agree with You on this if more people actually sat down and took everything in like they need too and not leave or get offended about something i think we'd have a ton of adult mature Christians but right now we got a whole lot of baby ones, they need the meat of the Word. To get filled with the Word and Holy Spirit. :)
Click to expand...

As a pastor I'm not sure I agree with this. I agree that it is a shame that people turn and run when confronted with the truth. BUT I disagree about immature Christians needing "the meat of the Word"...actually, and biblically, baby's don't need meat - they can't handle meat.

Paul says, Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready. 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (NLT)

The writer of Hebrews puts it pretty bluntly, There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Hebrews 5:11-14 (NLT)

In some ways, one of the biggest problems of the church is the number of Christians who refuse to grow up and move on to maturity, to solid food (kind of like the trend in our American culture, in general). People clamor for meat, "Meat. Meat. Give us meat!" and they still don't know how to handle milk or pablum, much less meat and potatoes. Interestingly, those who holler for meat the loudest are typically the least mature. (I'm talking about in the church, not anyone expressing their opinions in these forums)
 
Last edited:
This has been a very interesting exercise!

I do find it very interesting I was asking a question about a community and some of the responses are individualistic.

It is hard for us as Americans to not think individually. But, the Church is a community. Studies show us people behave differently in community.
 
Abba San said:
I certainly don't know what your personal experiences have been - but you need to be in a church that is preaching and teaching the truth of God's word. There are tons of churches that do that - find one. I'd be hesitant to condemn the church as a whole because you haven't found one that does.

I'm not condemning the Church as a whole, but what im saying is correct, I myself am a Preacher (not a Pastor yet), so i do know what im saying. Many people complain to me, and to others and i over hear it, the Truth just isnt being taught and drilled anymore. People are searching for the truth and have to go through leaps and bounds to find it, it IS out there, just RARE nowadays...thats all im saying, i never said EVERY Church is not doing, i just said that the Truth is hard to find.
Click to expand...
 
I chose Evangelism of the World since in my opinion, it's the only one on the list that Christ tasked us with doing. Therefore it is most important.

Oh, and I should have also chose Fighting among churches since it is also commanded by Christ -- "A new command I give you: Love one another."
 
As I see it it basically comes down to one problem: people don't know what Christianity is supposed to look like anymore. I mean, they generally get the sense that it's supposed to be pleasant. But beyond that it could be anything. And, frankly, people have let it become literally anything - from Unitarian Universalism to the Presbyterians to the Palmarian Catholic Church - they'd like it to be.

Now, gentlemen and ladies, you know I am a Catholic. I shan't pretend I am anything different. But, from an outsider perspective, it seems Protestantism would be doing itself a world of good if all these little congregations and associations could pin themselves down to one, non-contradictory interpretation of one key issue - who has the final word in interpreting Scripture. Or, more specifically, who has the authority when two or more interpretations contradict or disagree with each other.

If you can solve that problem, I think all of the other ones will fall into place.

Think of it as an argument between a bunch of people, one of whom is an undercover policeman. If you can't say who is the policeman, how can you say what the laws are he's supposed to enforce?
 
Last edited:
lol - no, but you were the first to say so. I didn't get the metaphor at all.

Sorry , Genghis, I'm just not sure what you are trying to say. Even final interpretation of Scripture is not a solely Protestant issue - there are different views within Catholicism as well.
 
Hmmm... how to put this...

Scripture does not interpret itself. If it did, all Protestants would be united in one giant, doctrinally monolithic faith, even more united and doctrinally certain than Catholicism.

But there are many divisions in Protestantism over how to interpret the Bible, some of them minor - like the question of whether immersion is the only valid form of baptism, or of whether the Eucharist is the genuine article or just a symbol - some of them major, like Calvinism as opposed to Lutheranism or Arminianism.

All of these divisions are caused by different interpretations of Scripture. Some Protestants and some Catholics are able to overlook some of these differences, not being certain what is dogmatic and what isn't. But some issues are simply irreconcilable. For example, baptism by pouring can't be both valid and invalid at the same time. It has to be one or the other.

So what do you do when two dogmas clash? What do you do when two people get into fisticuffs? You call out a policeman to settle the score until the trial.

But who is the policeman? Who is supposed to make the call when two groups hold opposing and contradictory dogmas - trivial or otherwise?

Or, as more often is the case, very often two sides both have an incomplete understanding of the Bible. Take Calvinism and Arminianism.

Who is to say one or the other is correct? Who can say with certainty neither is completely wrong and both have some correctness? That is, who has the authority to sort out contradictions, or apparent contradictions?

Policemen and judges sort out who is guilty or not guilty.
Who are, on Earth, our policemen and judges?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top