Ask anyone over the age of 50 and they will tell you that everyone used to go to church. You didn’t ask people if they went to church, you asked them which one they went to. It was as simple as that. If you didn’t go then there was something wrong with you. It’s fair to ask why? Why doesn’t anyone go to church anymore? A very large church recently put out the question and got some feedback. I have posted the photos below:
I do find it somewhat ironic that most of the posters get a little “judgey” about how “judgmental” they believe Christians are. I don’t know if they see the contradiction in their reasoning, but even if they don’t, I don’t think they are telling the whole truth anyways.
In this post I am going to answer the question Biblically. My source, besides scripture, is a nice video put out by Lutheran Satire. I will be presenting most of the same passages that they did. Their video is linked at the bottom if you want to watch it.
The real reason people don’t go to church anymore stems from original sin, they simply hate Jesus. Nothing has really changed over the past generations. The only thing we have lost is the social pressure that used to exist for people to go to church. Not only is that gone but it’s actually starting to swing the other way. Right now we are just seeing more clearly what has always been there.
“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” John 15:18-19 NASB
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18 NASB
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11-12 NASB
“Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.” John 10:25-26 NASB
“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds” Colossians 1:21 NASB
The unbeliever is hostile to God in their very mind. They don’t want to be around the body of Christ. Why would they? They hate him. Why would one want to spend more time with someone they hate?
An unbeliever doesn’t need you to change your worship style to make them happy. The only thing that is going to make them happy is if you throw out Jesus altogether. Not so coincidentally this is what the “seeker sensitive” crowd actually does. When you do this though you end up entertaining goats instead of converting people though. It solves the problem of low attendance, but it does it in ways that quite simply just aren’t relevant to why you want higher attendance in the first place.
We need pastors that preach the word in and out every week. People need to be condemned by the law and risen by the gospel. That way no matter if there is 10 people in your service or 1000 they are at least believers.
“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” Matthew 13:23 NASB
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,” Ephesians 1:13 NASB
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17 NASB
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 NASB
Below is the video I promised along with another that I think is relevant. Both are short and fun to watch.
Armchair Theologian 
Pingback: Why doesn’t anyone go to church anymore? | Armchair Theologian « Reformed faith salsa style
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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I find it hard to go to church.
Almost all churches I have been to teach feminism
Telling been to servant lead by supporting their wife’s career.
Telling single men that the desire to provide is sinful and that we need to engage girls to lead.
I don’t think this is biblical and almost all churches teach that.
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Finding a church that proclaims the gospel instead of law, and in this case unbiblical law, can be difficult.
I’ll try to blog on finding a good church.
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A good place to start: lutheran liturgy.org
The site isn’t maintained properly these days (I can’t get them to change my church’s web address), but what’s there is a start. This is the first place I look when going out of town. The second place to look would be for a WELS church, which is both good and bad (and speaks volumes about the current state of the LCMS).
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Thank you for sharing this here
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@jonathan – yes, spot on.
Much more here: http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=14-01-026-f
And related: The destruction of the traditional family unit, specifically, the destruction of Fatherhood. Again, some must-reading here:
http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=16-05-024-v
Here’s the point: The word “father” occurs over 1,100 times in the Bible [NIV]. That’s twice as often as love [686], three times more than mother [320]. Fatherhood is an essential idea. Abram’s name “Exalted Father” was an embarrassment. He had no children. God promised to make him “Father of Many,” and by God’s grace he had sons with Sarah. 3,000 years later the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish peoples still identify themselves with father Abraham. Matthew even tracks Jesus’ lineage to Abraham to prove Christ’s legitimacy as king of Israel.
Jesus also used fatherhood to bring home this spiritual reality: Scripture says we come into this world by the desire of our earthly fathers, but we’re adopted by our Heavenly Father through Christ. Jesus says you are set free from something when you are adopted by God. He told the Jewish leaders, “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” [John Ch. 8] There is a supernatural change from being the child of an earthly father – ultimately Adam – to being God’s child.
This is crucial because so many people struggle with their relationship with God because they didn’t have a great father. Many had great relationships with your dads, but not everyone. Some don’t even know their father. But that doesn’t mean fatherhood is meaningless.
If I were the devil, I would dismantle the whole notion of fatherhood, so people would find it impossible to understand what it really means to be adopted into God’s family, with God as their Father. They would find the Church and fellowship useless. That’s basically what the Church has allowed to happen in the past 50 years.
Don Bosch,
Naples, Italy
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Name a church that isn’t following the false gospel of Peter and is following the true gospel of Jesus Christ given to us through Paul whom is still alive today as testimony to the power of the gospel
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Peter didn’t preach a fake gospel and Paul was executed in the first century. However there are many denominations that preach the gospel.
I dont know which ones do in your town. I recommend poking around. Listen to the pastor preach. If he starts adding works of man to salvation then that’s the wrong one.
If you have one in town, look up the LCMS Lutheran church. Their liturgy helps keep the pastor from straying. I ended up Lutheran myself.
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