Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Local Church Commitment

I've been thinking and praying alot lately about 'the local church'.  What is my role in the local church?  And what happens to the local church when I don't fulfill my role?

It is imperative that this generation renew its commitment to the local church.   When I look around at my own church, for the most part it is the 'older' people that financially support the church;  it is the 'older' people that make up the sound leadership;  it is the 'older' people that are present at Wednesday night prayer meetings;  and the list goes on.   In other words, the 'older' people are the pillars of the church.  The younger generations appear to be just along for the ride.     And as the oldest of the older people graduate to heaven, no one is filling in the gaps.   I've been a part of several churches over the years and I'd bet this not unique to one or two churches.

If this younger crowd (myself included) doesn't fully commit itself to the local church... then the doors will close, the ministries will cease, and she will die.   It will be a slow and painful death, but when she has died we will all look around and wonder what happened.  It will be too late then.  We need to rise up now and show ourselves faithful.  If my community is going to be reached 20-30 years from now, my local church needs not only to exist, but to be thriving.   The only way it will have vitality in those future years is for the Facebook and iPod generation to log off the computer and pull out the earplugs and get busy in our local churches.  We need to pick up our Bibles and fall on our knees and see where God would have us to serve in our local churches.   We need to break open our wallets and get generous.   If we don't do these things, disaster awaits our churches in the future.

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