Understand the Times

George Barna delivers a wake-up slap for all leaders and churches in America; I am convinced that the typical church as we know it today has a rapidly expiring shelf life.

Our cultural norms, our personal expectations and the condition of the Christian community at large have produced a dizzying-array of challenges to churches. Across the nation, ministries of all sizes and shapes have responded with a frenzy of religious activity, producing more programs, buildings, events and resources than would have been imaginable at the turn of the century.

Yet as we prepare to enter into a new century of ministry, we must address an inescapable conclusion. Despite the activity emanating from thousands of congregations, the church in America is losing influence and adherents faster than any other institution in the nation. Unless a radical solution for the revival of the Christian Church in the United States is adopted and implemented soon, the spiritual hunger of Americans will either go unmet or be satisfied by other faith groups. No longer can we just minister to our kind and stay within our comfort zones.

These are important words because they tell us that these men from Issachar realized that changes were taking place in their nation and they needed to respond to those changes. They were also the kind of men who could make the right decisions. Like the men of Issachar, we need to be aware of the cultural changes and be prepared to meet the challenge of reaching an ever-changing culture with the Gospel message.

The men of Issachar not only understood what God was doing but they knew how to respond to what God was doing. They had a plan. We can understand and even understand what the Bible says the times but it means nothing unless we can then act upon that information. We must have the ability to respond and apply the truth in a way that the world around us can understand. So often the world sees the church as irrelevant, not because they do not have the truth but because they have failed to communicate it in an understandable way to the world around it.

Elton Trueblood wrote, "It used to be that Christianity was a revolutionary faith that turned the world upside down. But today Christians sit in Sunday morning church services looking at their watches, wondering what time dinner will be served, or thinking about the kickoff. And we hope that church won’t interfere with the things we would really rather be doing."

God is doing a new thing in the world today. The world is changing, and while these changes bring many challenges they also provide opportunities to witness like never before.

Some years ago a terrible railroad accident occurred, killing many people. A commuter train had stalled on the tracks just a few minutes before a fast freight was due to arrive. A conductor was quickly sent to flag down the approaching "flier." Being assured that all was well, the passengers relaxed. Suddenly, however, the speeding freight came bearing down upon them. The crash left a ghastly scene of horror. The engineer of the second train, who escaped death by jumping from the cab, was called into court to explain why he hadn’t stopped. "I saw a man waving a warning flag," he said, "but it was yellow, so I thought he just wanted me to slow down." When the flag was examined, the mystery was explained. It had been red, but because of long exposure to the sun and weather it had become a dirty yellow. Have we become yellow over time?

Has the urgency of the situation faded in the sunlight of this world and we are waving a yellow faded flag of redemption while our neighbors, family and coworkers and those who live around us sit idly by as the destruction of a Godless eternity come rushing toward them? We need to see where and how the Lord is moving today and to embrace the fresh movements happening all around the world. It is time to get right.

We need to make sure that we are biblically driven and not measure ministry by past successes or denominational culture. We need to get out and get going because there is a world that desperately needs to hear the good news about Jesus. It is time to reveal God, don’t try to explain it demonstrate it, don’t try to formulate it experience it, don’t try to live up to our heritage, lets make our own.