I had the privilege to preach the last two weeks at churches that are struggling. The term ‘struggling’ can refer to a number of different things for the church, from: decrease in attendance, financial woes, infighting, loss of pastor, or simply a dip in morale. For some churches, it is all of the above. There are plenty of articles that weigh the pragmatics of the issue, specifically the question: should we stay or should we go? I want to do something else; I want to encourage the struggling church.
There was a time when I believed in the mantra: if you aren’t growing, you’re dying. I was young and part of something on the upswing, so it was easy to look down on all those who just didn’t get it. I have come to love the struggling church. This doesn’t mean that I love the fact that the church is struggling, or that I love everything that comes with a struggling church (it is often very ugly). What I love about struggling churches is that they are made up of people, trying to figure out how to pursue a divine calling in a world of sin, just like me. While at times in this life you find yourself in the middle of something vibrant, other times you will struggle, and it may be in the same congregation of people. I have 5 things I want the people in the struggling church to remember:
#1 | THE WORLD DOES NOT DEFINE YOUR STRUGGLE
There is an idea of success and failure that come from a temporary view of time. In this, success means things are going well, failure means that your weaknesses are on display. Jesus pushed back against this, both in message (The Beatitudes), but also in His own life. He made it clear that as Christians, our identity and value are not connected to our performance, but His acceptance. As the church, we don’t prove ourselves through our success, we live in response to the fact that He has already overcome the world. This makes it clear that:
#2 | ALL CHURCHES ARE STRUGGLING
On the surface, some churches are experiencing growth and vitality, some can’t seem to get any positive momentum, but ALL are made up of people who are dealing with the dual realities of being children of God and sinful people in a sinful world. This acknowledgement helps churches who are in a time of prosperity to maintain humility, but should also be an encouragement to those who feel the struggle. Your difficult times do not put you outside of God’s work in the world. As a matter of fact, your exposed weaknesses give you a chance to reveal the glory of God.
#3 | DON’T WASTE YOUR STRUGGLE
At one of the churches, I preached from 2 Corinthians 4, which says:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (7)
While this applies to our deteriorating bodies, it also connects to everything that is temporary and fades. The implication here is that our weaknesses (jars of clay) reveal the power and majesty of God. The times when we are struggling are part of God’s message to the world. Our ‘failures’ should not be seen as the times when we are less useful, but the times when God is reminding us and those around us that He is the power at work. The story of how God uses what is weak in the world to shame the wise and powerful needs people who are willing to embrace the struggle.
#4 STRUGGLE WELL
Not wasting your struggle requires you to sit in the struggle. There are plenty of reasons to leave a church, but the fact that it is struggling is not one. You have been given a calling from God to be the people through who He shows His counter-cultural reality. Join those who have suffered, been persecuted, and have lost their lives; those of whom the world was not worthy, Hebrews 11 tells us. Christians through history have risked their lives to gather together, to get the Bible in the hands of the people, and to share the glory of the gospel. While death for the faith is not a threat we often deal with, we do have to navigate the unique difficulties of being the church in our affluent, individualistic, anti-institutional context.
#5 | THERE IS A TIME TO STRUGGLE
Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that there is a time and season for every matter under heaven. This includes struggling, thriving, being a church plant, and being a church that is closing its doors. It is sometimes difficult to know what time we are in; this is where the practical considerations come in. We should not fear any of these times. They are all in the hands of God. In the midst of struggle, you have to be able to see the bigger work of God and the greater efforts of His kingdom to ask yourself the hard questions of what God is doing in and through you. This list from Ecclesiastes is a good reminder that what you feel in a moment is not forever; it is also a reminder that nothing in this world will last. We have to be ready to let go when God tells us that it is time.
Faithfulness is not dependent on situation. The church is called to continue to love God and others IN SPITE of where we find ourselves. Keep fighting the good fight of the faith, despite how you feel the battle is going. Know that your standing before God and your witness to the world is NOT dependent on your ‘success.’ It is based on leaning on Jesus, and struggle is one of the many ways He draws us (and others) to Himself.