Saying Yes to Jesus

We can be on the lookout for structures and viewpoints that limit the work of the Spirit of God. A Church is not an exclusive club, it's not solely some sort of civic organization - the Church is the body of Christ, a living organism through which God can work. Paul challenged the church at Galatia in Galatians chapter 3:
2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have you suffered so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain?
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?...

Good works are an outgrowth of the obedience we have to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Programs and overzealous authority structures, which ideally can be used to facilitate the work of the Spirit can, if we're not careful, restrict what God can do in the midst of a body. We have to be open, humble, teachable, willing to allow the Lord to move in our midst in the way He desires, not in the way that we think He should. 

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In Luke 4, we can read about how Jesus went into the synagogue, read the Scripture, and made a bold declaration:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

What if, during a year's time, no one attending your church made a decision to follow Jesus Christ?  Well, according to an organization that monitors church trends, the Unstuck Group:

Unfortunately, many churches focus more on “doing church” than “being the church.” As a result, ten percent of the churches that responded to this quarter’s survey had no decisions to follow Jesus in the last 12 months. No salvations. No baptisms. No one saying “yes” to Jesus.

That is based on a survey conducted during the first quarter of this year encompassing over 350 churches of varying sizes. 

Tony Morgan of the organization wrote this:

I decided to compare the churches that see a higher percentage of people making decisions to follow Jesus with those that see a smaller percentage. In the first group, I included churches that saw more than 10% of their average weekly attendance cross the line of faith in the last 12 months. In the second group, I included the churches that had 5% or less of their average weekly attendance make decisions to follow Jesus in the last year.

Though the churches were, on average, similar in size and both groups included churches ranging from less than 100 people in attendance to more than 10,000, there were also some significant differences.

This can certainly be instructive as churches seek to do more effective ministry. 

Here are some of Morgan's observations:

• Churches with fewer faith decisions had more complex governance structures, including bigger boards and more committees. Giving more people a vote in ministry decisions does not help the church experience more health and growth.

• The churches with more people making faith decisions were reaching younger families with a higher percentage of kids and students. Very likely, the kids and students made many of those faith decisions.

• The churches with fewer faith decisions had 40% more staff and spent more of their budget on paid employees.

Based on his analysis, churches exhibiting more faith decisions tended to be non-denominational, and a greater likelihood of being multisite congregations.  Those that had a greater online presence had a greater return on decisions for Christ.  

But, the good news is that, while there is certainly a growth trend in multisite, non-denominational churches with an online presence, that doesn't mean that's the only model in which God is moving. The fact is that we have to be open to the movement of the Spirit of God and exhibit a vibrancy in the Lord that draws people to Him.  Certainly, there is a tendency to create man-made experiences and top-heavy leadership structures that attempt to sustain a Church, and we have to be careful not to "program" out that movement of the Spirit.  But, as we submit to the Lord and place ourselves in a position to see the increase, we can rejoice at how He responds.  

So, it's not the structure, it's not the denomination - it's the obedience and the positioning.  Are we allowing the Spirit of the Lord to use us to radiate the light of Christ?  And, are people experiencing the presence of the Lord when they are in the midst of God's people? 

I have heard the phrase, "putting God in a box."  As if we could.  But, if the programs or the authority structure are choking out the life of Christ, then we should consider not placing limitations and attempting to dictate how God is supposed to act.