Church Revitalization With a Better Motivation



Church revitalization sounds like legalism on a church-wide scale.

Legalism says, "Do this, and God will love you. If you don't do this, God won't love you."

Most church revitalization training that I've heard sounds like this: 

  • Your church will die. 
  • Your church should die.
  • You are not healthy.
  • You must change.
  • Your church can be good, healthy, thriving, etc. if you follow the list of rules.
  • Be a good church, and you will be valuable.

None of that sounds like New Testament prescriptions for the church. Even Jesus' harsh words in Revelation 3 have an invitation for people to come to him in v. 20: "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." The Biblical pattern is Law-Gospel-Change. Much or most church revitalization has the pattern Law-Effort-Change.

I wonder what church revitalization with gospel motivations might produce. J.C. Ryle said, 

All want to see among Christians more good works, more self-denial, more practical obedience to Christ's commands. But what will produce these things? Nothing, nothing but love. There never will be more done for Christ till there is more heart love to Christ Himself. The fear of punishment, the desire of reward, the sense of duty, are all useful arguments in their way to persuade people to holiness. But they are all weak and powerless until someone loves Christ (174, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke Vol. 1).

Imagine what might happen if we said to a struggling, sinful, dying church, "Your savior set his heart on you when you were still sinners and bought you at great price.  He rejoices over you with singing just as you are now. He does not need you to do anything for him to love you. He loves you. He wants to wash you with the water of his word and make you beautiful." Imagine what kind of worship that might produce. Imagine the repentance that might flow. Imagine the zeal that might grow from reminding God's people of this precious truth. 

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About Me

I'm a husband and father. Pastor of Manchester Baptist Church in Manchester, IL. I graduated from Bryan College and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I grew up in Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, and Georgia. I write about my personal and professional interests here on my website. I'm a former personal trainer and have stayed interested in fitness. You'll see a mix of things I'm interested in. Topics might include fitness, gardening, coffee, ice cream, church leadership, theology, tech, reviews, etc. This website is my social media. I deleted all of my accounts except for LinkedIn. That is why you won't find me in any of those places. * This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. You can email me at joe[...
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