Fellowship of Churches
“The inheritance of the Simeonites was taken from the share of Judah, because Judah’s portion was more than they needed. So the Simeonites received their inheritance within the territory of Judah.”
Today’s Text: Joshua 19:1-23 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
Despite the clans of Joseph wanting a larger allotment, there was no sense of territorialism among the tribes of Israel. Judah had more than enough, so they freely gave part of their inheritance to Simeon.
Maybe churches today could learn something from their example. On the one hand, I don’t quite get why large churches just want to get larger and larger. And by “large,” I mean anything over 300 faithfully attending adults—hopefully a good mix of young adults to seniors. Obviously, different people have different ideas about what constitutes a “large” church.
Of course, if people choose to keep coming because of the strength of the ministry of a church, who can stop them? But people have a tendency to “follow the crowd.” And so a church that freely and enthusiastically receives people who are leaving other churches in the city should repent of that practice.
Churches struggle for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes churches struggle because of sin in the leadership. When that is the case, the leadership needs to be held accountable by the members. The members should be encouraged to take a stronger stand to redeem and restore the church.
Sometimes churches struggle because of a lack of vision. In that situation too, the members should be encouraged to take a stronger stand and partner with the leadership to pray for a vision for the church.
Quite often, though, when churches struggle, those who were never taught about the importance of the local church will find the first opportunity to just stop attending church. For those who are culturally Christian, consumerism may kick in, and they will start eying other churches. Their eyes are inevitably drawn to the church-du-jour, the popular church of the day.
Those are the people that the churches-du-jour should not receive.
If a church closes its doors, for whatever reason, we ought to receive those people who are looking for a church home with open arms and with wisdom.
But more than anything, I would hope that the churches in the city would do everything possible to support and encourage struggling churches. That is not as straightforward as it may sound. Churches that are struggling need to have the hunger to survive and the humility to seek and receive help from their neighbors.
I would venture to guess, though, that struggling churches struggle precisely because they do NOT have a hunger to survive, nor do they have the humility to seek and receive help.
Father, You are sovereign over Your church. You are sovereign over our church. Give us a hunger to seek and to save the lost, not a hunger to just become a big church. Use us also, as a resource, for churches who seek help. Thank You for the fellowship that we have with other churches. Use us to renew the hope of Christ and His church here in the South Bay. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
