Perhaps you saw the social media meme that suggested “If Paul could see the church in America today, we’d be getting a letter.” If Paul wrote such a letter to the contemporary church, it would probably either be very short, “Stop it!” or it would be very long beginning with “I’ve got a lot to say to you.” That thought may be what prompted Eric Metaxas to write his recent book Letter to the American Church. It is described as “a bucket of cold water thrown into the face of a sleeping church.” Another reviewer called it “A prophetic trumpet blast warning of the parallels between the darkness of a previous era (Germany in the 1930s) and the coming darkness of our own.” His book is a call for the church to be and do what God has called us to be and do to bless the world that God loves and wants to redeem to Himself.
These contemporary voices are not the first to ponder what Paul would say to the contemporary church. On November 4, 1956, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached a sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama entitled “Paul’s Letter to American Christians”. It was an imaginary letter from the Apostle Paul based on the book of Romans to be read to the assembled church and shared with other churches.
Here is how Dr. King’s sermon began:
“For many years I have longed to be able to come to see you. I have heard so much of you and of what you are doing. . . . You can do so many things in your day that I could not do in the Greco-Roman world of my day. . . . You have made tremendous strides in the area of scientific and technological development (He mentions subways and skyscrapers, air travel and medical advances). . . . It seems to me that your moral progress lags behind your scientific progress. . . . You have allowed the material means by which you live to outdistance the spiritual ends for which you live. You have allowed your mentality to outrun your morality. You have allowed your civilization to outdistance your culture. Through your scientific genius you have made of the world a neighborhood, but through your moral and spiritual genius you have failed to make of it a brotherhood. So, America, I would urge you to keep your moral advances abreast with your scientific advances.”
Was that 70 year-old message prophetic or what? What follows in Dr. King’s message is a call for the Church to live as Christians in an unChristian culture in unity and with liberty and justice for all.
The condition of the contemporary church in America in many ways mirrors our culture—divided, distracted, and in many places declining. While the church is currently growing in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the church in America is in decline.
According to the Pew Research Center the American church is experiencing a "perfect storm" of decline, with church membership dropping below 50% and roughly 54% of congregations in decline. The median church in America has about 60 to 70 regular attendees in its weekly worship service. Approximately 4,000 to 4,500 churches close each year in the U.S. That means on any given Sunday in America 80 churches will gather for the last time, sing their last songs together, hear their last sermon together, pray their last prayer together, and close their doors for the last time for their buildings to be placed on the real estate market.
We have witnessed the rise of the "nones" (not nuns wearing black habits but the unaffiliated who check no religious preference) and the "dones" (those finished with church). Now according to a recent Christianity Today article entitled “The Rise of Umms” we see a growing demographic of Christians who are "disoriented, demotivated, discouraged, and disembodied" from church. The Umms still value their faith but are unsure how, or if, they will return to regular, in-person church attendance.
That reflects a common sentiment expressed by many—“I could follow Christ but I have no interest in the Church.” Why is that? Mahatma Gandhi supposedly said, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
In a blog by Bobby Harrington of Discipleship.org entitled, “7 Reflections on the State of the Evangelical Church” he observed that the American church is undergoing a painful transformation from a central cultural institution to a more marginalized, yet specialized, role, with significant focus needed on intentional disciple-making rather than just Sunday attendance. That gives me hope for the future but it is still a painful transformation.
Have you ever considered that every epistle in the New Testament, whether it was written by Paul or Peter or James or John or Jude was written to a troubled church.
Paul wrote Romans to address a problem that faces many churches: the problem of religious, cultural and ethnic division.
In addition to addressing the problem of division and disunity, 1 Corinthians was written for a church plagued with moral and theological confusion where members were treating the church, as one author put it, “much like a Greco-Roman social club.”
In 2 Corinthians Paul confronts competing visions of spiritual authority.
Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians all address the need for unity grounded in the theological reality of Christian identity.
Colossians confronts the threat of false teaching and the accompanying practices that prevail.
Paul’s letters written to the Thessalonians center on confusion about the end times—specifically questions about the certainty and the timing of Christ’s return.
Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus focus on the church’s mission and providing guidance for these leaders in their ministries.
Are you seeing the trend—these were churches suffering from doctrinal confusion, moral decay, spiritual decline, mission drift? It is enough to cause one to wonder if there is any hope and healing for the church.
Just when I am questioning if the church is unsalvageable, I remember the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 16:18. I remind you these words follow Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus as the long-awaited Christ, the much-anticipated Messiah, the Son of the Living God: And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (Matthew 16:18, CSB).
In spite of all that is happening in small and struggling, as well as unhealthy and ineffective churches in America, the Church (capital C) is not unsalvageable; it is undefeatable, unconquerable, unyielding. That is the message Peter delivers in a letter to the scattered, suffering church in his day that has profound application for the church of our day. I call it Peter’s commentary on what Jesus meant when He talked about building His Church on the Rock. This is the letter I believe the church today needs to receive and read from 1 Peter 2:4-12:
4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame. (1 Peter 2:4–6, CSB)
7 So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected—this one has become the cornerstone, 8 and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this. (1 Peter 2:7-8, CSB)
9 But you are a chosen race,,, a royal priesthood,, a holy nation,, a people for his possession,, so that you may proclaim the praises,, of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10, CSB)
11 Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul. 12 Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits. (1 Peter 2:11–12, CSB)
Here is the hope and healing that a resurrected, reigning, returning Lord wants to bring to His ready and waiting Bride, the Church. It is found in a much-needed reminder of our identity (who we are—what we are called to be) and our mission (why we are here—what we are called to do) that Peter brings to his readers.
Did you notice Peter, whose name means “rock”, understood who the real Rock is and how the church is built on Him? The Big Rock—the Living Stone, the Cornerstone, the Capstone, the Stone that causes men to stumble is Jesus. We are just little chips off the Big Rock. It is interesting that in this letter Peter never uses the word “church” (“called out ones”). The closest he comes is in verse 9—"called you out.” But there is no doubt the letter is written to the church and is all about being the church.
Look again at this text where Peter reminds the church of his day and the church today who we are. This is Who We Are:
• 1 Peter 2:5 “living stones, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood”
• 1 Peter 2:11 “strangers and exiles”
• 1 Peter 2:9 “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession” (Logos users would know that in these verses there are no less than 20 Old Testament references. All of these terms are steeped in Old Testament significance once used to refer to Israel). As the Church we are the New Israel; we are God’s people; we are His prized possession.
Here is the implication--No matter what we may face or endure there should be no confusion about who we are or whose we are. This letter speaks to any semblance of an identity crisis that may be plaguing the contemporary church at the hands of a godless culture. Hear this message Church: You are important! You matter to God!
Peter also reminds the church of his day and today not only who we are but also why we are here. Regardless of what has changed or what may change or what may remain the same in the future, here is Why We Are Here:
• 1 Peter 2:5 “to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”
• 1 Peter 2:9 “that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out”
• 1 Peter 2:11 “to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul”
• 1 Peter 2:12 “Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles”
Again, the application is obvious—there should be no lack of clarity about our reason for being called out of the world and sent back into the world. Peter’s letter speaks to any hint of mission drift. God is still worthy of our spiritual sacrifices and He alone deserves to have His praise proclaimed through lives lived honorably. There is no one else here to do that—no civic club, no community organization, no government agency, no educational institution. No one else is here to do what the church is called to do. That is why our worship before an audience of One and our witness before a watching world matter.
Some of you are old enough to remember the ABC News anchor Ted Koppel. Years ago in a speech to the International Radio and Television Society he offered a brilliant assessment of our culture when he observed, “What is largely missing in American life today is a sense of context—of saying or doing anything that is expected or even intended to live beyond the moment. There is no culture more obsessed with immediacy than our culture. That is why in journalism the trivial displaces the momentous; because we tend to measure the importance of events by how recently they happened. We have become so obsessed with facts that we have lost all touch with truth.” I am not sure what he meant by that but I say Amen!
If that is true of our culture (which explains why we have a 24-hour news cycle), how much more is it true of the church. What we are here to say and do is not new news; it is old news; but it is still good news. It is expected to live not only beyond the moment but to last for eternity. We dare not neglect our mission. So how do you explain the subtle shifts?
Perhaps what happens is that in our meetings and conversations we get distracted so that the immediate displaces the important; the urgent displaces the ultimate; and the trivial displaces the eternal. That’s lethal! Several years ago, when I was consulting with a church in the area (sworn to secrecy), I made a similar statement when an elder said “I think I get your point.” When I asked what he thought my point was he told me about the time that the elders spent 30 minutes discussing if they should put soft cushioned seats on the toilets. Then he said “Your point is while we were talking about toilet seats, the world was going to hell.” That’s true!
Or perhaps we are too busy like firemen polishing the equipment and never putting out the fire or nurses charting the condition of the patient and never caring for the patient. That’s foolish! But too many churches are fine-tuning unevaluated church programs and services that are often not serving or reaching the community they are called to serve and reach.
Or perhaps the problem is spiritual amnesia, that is we have been Christians so long we have forgotten the reality of 1 Peter 2:10 “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” That’s all too common! So, as we live in the “here and now” waiting for the “not yet” of eternity, let’s never forget who we once were and what it was like before we met Jesus. That must be our constant motivation!