The Advance09 conference, hosted by Desiring God, Vintage 21, Act 29 Network, and others, was a focused look at advancing the church of God through reviving the boneyard of dead and dieing churches. So many churches have lost their focus, which should be centered on Christ and His gospel, and are now swirling with doctrinal divisions and religious traditions. This has created a toxic, unholy culture within the church and has left it irrelevant to the modern world around us. This problem is particularly obvious in the South where you can find a church on every corner, and an ages and rapidly shrinking congregation within.
Part of the problem is that there is an assumption that people already know the gospel and the nature of God, and so the focus of the preaching within these churches is on the practical issues of living out a christian life. This damns people to a religious pride of "being good" so that they are either blind to or not bothered by their habitual sin. It may also lead to a sense of unfullfillment that results in a disenchantment with the church and a despair in their inability to follow the set of rules. A religious attitude is our default mode and will become the mark of our churches unless there is a continual culture of repentance maintained. When there is not repentance, there is idolatry and heresy.
We are all unceasing worshipers and we get our identity from, and define ourselves by, the things we worship. Idolatry is worshiping anything other than God. Idols are usually a good thing that gets elevate to the level of God in our life, and that makes it a sinful thing. Idols serve as functional saviors and God becomes the means to our idol, in other words, the idol is our reason for our walk with God. An idol is something you are willing to make undue sacrifices for such as money, family, sex, drugs, alcohol, food, morality, people, ministry, and religion just to name a few.
Another reason for the decline of the American church is the fear of the culture and the tendency to "circle the wagons" as the "gates of hell" press in. This is due to the the loss of a broader visions for fulfilling the Great Commission of missions and a preoccupation with local concerns. Missions is the means to worship, just as worship is the fuel of missions. The goal of missions is to spread the glory of God as seen through Jesus Christ to as many people as possible. It is only through the hearing of the Word, the power of pray, and the work of the Holy Spirit that people are saved. God's desire is for His people to see His glory, the pinnacle of which was the act of love and grace on the cross. Missions is how we show God's glory to others, and the church advances.
Online messages from Advance09 conference:
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