“We’re losing our members!” is the cry of many religious groups these days. Certainly the Lord’s church is not immune to this problem, either. In Paul’s day, Demas deserted him due to being in love with the present world (2 Timothy 4:10). John speaks of those who went out from them (1 John 2:19), not really being of them. It is always a cause of concern when those who were part of the body of Christ are no longer faithful, no longer part of the work and worship, who seemingly are forfeiting the spiritual and eternal.
I recently heard George Barna discuss this issue on a talk radio program. While his research was conducted primarily among teens, I believe it applies to all age groups, including adults, who choose to leave the church. While it isn’t the only factor, it is a major one that should be of concern to us. In his study, he discovered many teens attend church services, not from a conviction about God and Christ, or a commitment to the Lord’s work, but as a place for social networking, to interact with others and to be involved with interpersonal relationships. The church was viewed as one of many places to connect with others. Especially when the school years ended, and their circle of friends went their various ways, church attendance declined and for many ceased, as church no longer provided the social connections it once did.
In other words, it wasn’t primarily a love for God that brought them to the work and worship of the church, or a commitment to the truth, but relationships with others. When those relationships ended, they moved on to other places where they could connect with other people. On hearing this, I wondered about how we in the Lord’s church sometime attract and maintain people. Specifically, I remember comments made by those who spoke with me about being in a congregation they believe no longer teaches the truth of the Gospel. When asked why they continue to stay there, the answer is almost always the same: “All our friends still attend here.”
While programs can help us reach out to the lost, or encourage those in the body, we must not convert people to programs. While fellowship is genuinely important, when we fail to commit to a relationship with God and Christ first of all, we fail to commit to what is most important of all. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). Using very strong illustrations, Jesus wants us to understand no relationship can come before our relationship with Him. Or, as is recorded in Matthew, “The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37).
What brings us to the body of Christ, and keeps us in the body of Christ? Before anything else, our motives must be focused in the love of God and our relationship with Him through His Son. Our fellowship with each other comes from walking in the light (1 John 1:7), from having fellowship “with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). We must instill God’s love, truth and lifestyle in one another, if we will are to remain faithful in the Lord’s church (Colossians 3:4). We must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). To love our neighbors as ourselves, we must first “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37-39).
Not even in the first century, even with the inspired apostles, could one guarantee 100% fidelity to the Gospel and the kingdom. However, perhaps we can improve the odds if we make sure others, and we ourselves, have come to Christ first and foremost of all. “And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11).
