July/August 2006

We have talked a lot in the association, within the last year, of developing communities of missionaries and we have said this involves church transformation and a mission passion. Within this context I want to share some exerpts from a new book being written by Bill Easum, a consultant to church leaders. Easum's stated vision for his ministry is "Guiding Christian leaders for ancient mission in the contemporary world." This book, titled, "The Second Resurrection," is still being developed and is not yet in print. In it, Easum has some strong words for us about the mission of the church that I want to share with you. I believe they are very appropriate for us as we consider transform in our churches.
Under the heading, "Revitalization Is Not the Answer," he begins, "For much of the past three decades denominational officials have been promoting seminars and programs aimed at revitalizing the church. I know because I have been the speaker or consultant to many of these groups. For many of these leaders, their goal was to breathe new life into churches experiencing declining memberships and lack of commitment. Yet after years of trying to revitalize these churches the vast majority of them are still declining. What gives?"

Having raised that question, Easum offers an answer: "Based on the conversations and actions of the thousands of Protestant leaders with whom I worked over the years, I have concluded that most of them are spiritually dead and their institutions have ceased being the church. They have the form but not the substance of what it means to be the Church. What do I mean by "spiritually dead?" Spiritually dead churches

•  Have lost their sense of mission;
•  Exist only to provide fellowship for the "members of the club;"
Easum goes on to say, "The only solution for spiritually dead congregations is resurrection. They cannot be turned around through revitalization; they must be brought to life again! And that is resurrection. Revitalization is a waste of time. You can't breathe life into a corpse. Only God can do that and that is resurrection. And if resurrection happens our behavior will change;
•  Jesus, not the institution will become the object of our affection.
•  The Great Commandment will become our mandate and we will measure everything we do by how many new converts we make rather than whether we have a black bottom line."

I concur. If we are to see God do what He wants and what we say we want, we will need to be spiritually alive to finding ways to spread the Good News to those outside the church.

Wayne

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