I came across the following statistics recently which show that although a large Evangelical denomination claims 16,287,494 members, on average, but only 6,024,289 people show up for the church’s primary worship meeting. Think of it, that is a number equal to only 37% of the membership number. In other words they may have 500 to 600 on the membership roll but they will only have 200 in attendance on Sunday morning.
But this may not be unusual for the church overall in America here in the 21st Century. This is probably the norm for many evangelical churches in the United States. In other words, it might well be said of the church today what our Lord said of the Church in Sardis, “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” Revelation 3:1
Bluntly speaking the church that claims to be a living witness for Christ may be more like a corpse than a living body of God’s elect. The evangelical church today indeed has a name that it is alive. And it is alive with ritual, programs, and activities etc. etc, but is it dead spiritually? As such I fear the church is anything but that light of the world that God has purposed the church to be.
If ever the church needed revival it is today. How the church needs to respond to our Lord’s instruction to the church at Sardis. “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” (Rev 3:2-3)
We must ever be mindful that if the candle stick is removed, the light is extinguished and the witness before the world is lost.
I am thankful as the pastor here at Grace Reformed Church in Northwest Arkansas that we have more on a Sunday morning in worship than we have on our rolls. But we must never be complacent and ever be most carefully to hear the instruction of our Lord to His church and ever be watchful, ever strengthening the things that remain. Always keeping in mind we are to hold fast those truths that we have received and must always be ready to repent and be revived by our Lord that we might continue to be a living witness for our Lord in a darkened sin cursed world.
Pastor Wes Brice