Why the American church will never reach the world for Christ.

Why the American church will never reach the world for Christ.

First, let’s get the disclaimers out of the way.  The absolute term ‘never’ is understood with the caveat of “as it currently exists and without meaningful change.”  Before the American church will be able to reach the world, it will have to under go radical changes in a number of areas, but for the moment, I want to focus on just one:  Giving to foreign missions.

According to Dr. Pam Arlund, “nationally, less than 1% of total funds collected by US churches are used for ‘foreign missions’.  Less than 1% of those funds earmarked for ‘foreign missions” is targeted toward ‘unreached people groups’ (cultures with no Christian witness or presence).”  Dr. Arlund is referring to findings from the Joshua Project. 

In other words, if a church had collections of $100,000 in a given year, on average $1,000 would be given to foreign missions.  Of that $1,000 about $10 dollars would be directed toward efforts to reach people who have no Christian contact at all.  I tried to put this in a pie graph but the slice of the pie for unreached people groups was so small it could not be seen.  If the letters in this article were dollars, the amount dedicated to unreached people would be equal to one letter i.  We are talking in wide generalizations.  I know of some churches that give 10%, 20%, 50% or more to missions.  But as a whole, unreached people have not been a spending priority for the U.S. church.

As a nation, the United States has possessed a level of wealth that is without compare in history.  While being only 6% of the world’s population, we have come to possess almost half of the world’s good things.  The church has for many years enjoyed significant influence regarding that wealth.  That is not to say the church has possessed all that wealth, but for generations America was a nation with a Christian world-view.  The priorities of the church were to a greater or lesser extent the priorities of the individuals, families, and nation.  And of late, the priorities of the church were not reaching the unreached.

Many years ago I asked, “Has God made the American church so rich so that we could fund, support, and share with our impoverished fellow Christians around the world?”  As an idealistic ministry student in undergrad studies, I was met with patronizing and condescending comments that I would understand how church budgets worked when I was older.

Well, I am older know.  When asked my hair color, I have to answer gray.  I have arthritis in my fingers, ringing in my ears and can see squat without my glasses.  I have pastored churches, overseen budgets, worked in the private sector and watched, what I believe is, the decline of the American church.   I believe the answer to the question that youngster ask all those years ago is, “Yes, God has given us much so we can share with our underprivileged brothers and sisters.”

But we have not.  You may have heard of the mega church preacher that asked every one in his church to give $300 so he could buy a Gulfstream G650 private jet.  But it is not mega churches that pull these stunts.  I recently heard of a church of a couple of hundred attendees that spent $60,000 to create a Starbucks like coffee area in their fellowship hall, used only for church folks at church events.  This was in addition to the brand new kitchen in their new building.  Another church, at the direction of the senior egoist (I mean pastor) spent $40,000 on a state of the art lighting system for their stage area.  This was a congregation of a couple hundred; it has since decline dramatically.  May new lighting was not what the church really needed.

Jesus told this story about a rich man who gave three of his servants’ significant sums of money.  Two of the three used the money wisely and produced results that pleased their master.  The third hid the money.  It appears that he was hoping that something would happen to the master and he could keep the money as his own and use it as he wished.  The master brought swift, sure, and wrathful judgment on this selfish scoundrel.

Are we seeing our master’s judgment on the American church?  Maybe.  It would explain an awful lot.  Most churches (both congregation and denominations/fellowships) are in decline.  The influence of evil within and upon the church is growing.   The default rate of churches on their mortgages was recently at an all time high.   Conversion growth is near a stand still and what growth is occurring is, by and large, membership transfer growth. 

I don’t believe we can placate God by throwing dollars at any special project.  More than anything else our giving and spending patterns reflect our heart and convictions.  But I do believe it is time for all of us, individually and then collectively, to answer some questions about our spending patterns and priorities.  Perhaps we could take up this chant, “One more people group before one more coffee center.”

Side Bar: It is Easter week 2015 and we are only about half done in telling the world that good news of the Resurrected Lord.  Imagine, if you can, not having the hope and joy of the resurrection.  What would it be like to live not knowing the victory of the ever-living Christ?  According to the Joshua Project there are about 3 billion people who are part of some 4,000 people groups who are without hope.  This represents about 41% of all the people groups on earth.  I was very interested to learn that are 77 unreached people groups here in the U.S.  These groups range in population from 500, for Sherpa, to the 5 million Jewish people, of whom less that 2% are evangelical Christians.  I highly recommend you explore www.joshuaproject.net, and let it be a motivation to pray.