What hinders the church in the West?
Roger at “SimpleChurch Journal” recently asked a question and, in a post called “Organizing Your Thoughts on What Hinders the Western Church,” reports on the fascinating responses that he received.
Two weeks ago, Roger asked his readers to “help in identifying the key hindrances in the Western church.” Somehow, I missed his post, but I did not miss his current post, in which he summarizes the responses that he received.
This is what he reports:
Key Hindrances:
1. Our relationship with God
- Lack of intimacy with God
- Not listening
- We don’t know Him as He is
- We don’t know His word and/or we are lackadaisical about it
2. Our involvement in religious traditions and legalism
- Religious attitudes
- Man-made traditions
- Religion and pride
- Comfort-seeking in our church life
- Me-centered in our church life
- Consumer mentality as a Christian
3. Our followership (our walk as disciples)
- Lack of obedience to Jesus alone
- Lack of obedience to all of Jesus’ commands
- Not making disciples
- Not surrendered wholly
- No passion for the lost
- Compromise
Interestingly, while Roger writes about “simple church,” I do not think the things listed are limited to either simple (or non-simple) church structures and organization.
What do you think? Are these the “key hindrances”? Have you recognized these hindrances in your own life or in the life of the Christians around you?
Back around the turn of the last century a London newspaper challenged its readership to answer a simple question along the line of “What’s wrong with Christianity (or the Church)”. One of the respondents was well known author and apologist G.K. Chesterton. “What’s wrong with the Church?”, he queried. “I am”, he responded. Sincerely, G.K. Chesterton. I would offer a similar simple answer to your question “What hinders the Church in the West?”: We do. You do. I do. Everything else is excuse making and blame laying. Sincerely, Maurice Smith
Alan,
I agree with Maurice. I am reminded of the cartoon character, Pogo, who said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us!”
here’s a quote from a blog I submitted on the 1-11-2009:
“…J.C. Philpot from a sermon preached at North Street Chapel, Stamford, on March 6,1859:
‘I have ever found myself to be my greatest enemy. I never had a foe that troubled me so much as my own heart; nor has any one ever wrought me half the mischief or given me half the plague that I have felt and known within. And it is a daily sense of this which makes me dread myself more than anybody that walks upon the face of the earth!
‘Keep a watchful eye upon every inward foe; and if you fight, fight against the enemy that lurks and works in your own breast!’ “
Maurice and Aussie John,
I agree with both of you.
-Alan
Some of us in the Body are on fire but still hidden. Mantles are falling. Pillars of the faith have died. Their replacements are stepping up. Revival is always around the corner and will come like a thief in the night to some. For others it happens daily as they simply surrender.
ToscaSac,
Thanks for the comment. What kind of changes are you seeing?
-Alan