How Spiritual Is The Modern Church?

Many years ago I had a Church Leader pull me to the side because his Church was dealing with an issue of immorality. He wanted to know what the Churches authority was with members in this precarious situation. I began rambling off the different texts in the New Testament and then turned to him and said, "but you know what these verses say concerning this issue!" His response amazed me! He said "I really don't know what the Bible has to say about this issue!" When I asked him if he had ever been through the New Testament he just looked to the ground with a look of shame and told me that he had never read the New Testament.

I wish I could tell you that this was an isolated incident, but it was not. Through the years I have noticed that many Church Leaders and many Christians in the Church just don't have a good overall Biblical knowledge like they use too. Being a Pastor this not only breaks my heart, but it frustrates me to no end. We have greater opportunities than most people in the world when it comes to growth and development of our relationship with Christ. We are squandering it away because we are lazy in the American Church. Maybe part of our problem is that we come to Church with an expectation that growth should only happen within the walls of a building instead of being a continual process that we are to go through.

Every Church needs to make sure that its leaders know the Word of God and that they are promoting growth among its members. When we are not growing spiritually we are nothing more than a club or organization that meets once a week because we believe in something. The Christian life was promised to be a dynamic relationship with God. Do you feel that your spiritual life is dynamic? If it is not then can you say that it is the fault of your Church? While it does matter that you are getting solid Biblical teaching from the body that you belong too you also have a huge responsibility for yourself. We are forgetting that there is a lifestyle involved with the Christian life. Being a Christian is not a label, it is a name given to those who follow Jesus with passion and persevere with Him no matter what is happening in their lives. Pick up the Word and start growing and don't just rely on your Church to move you forward with God.