The Challenge Churches Don’t Want to Address

By Adam Faughn       Churches face a lot of challenges. Of course, there is no challenge so great that it cannot be overcome with God’s help. If we follow Him, there is nothing that can hold a congregation back.     I have noticed that there are a lot of enemies and challenges that churches will regularly address, and will do so with great fervor. They will clearly address sins that are bearing down on society and that are in the regular news cycle. The whole array of LGBTQ issues comes to mind. Certainly, these need to be addressed and the truth of God’s Word needs to be presented boldly.     It is also easy to talk about challenges that our local community might face that could stunt church growth. Maybe the congregation is willing to talk about how factories have moved out or other factors have played a role in the local community shrinking in size. Again, it would be foolish not to be realistic about the current setting.     But there is one challenge that many congregations do not want to address, and it becomes very clear why that is the case when it is named. What is it? Being comfortable.     Let me quickly say that there should be a certain level of comfort in the Church. After all, these are the best people on earth! And there should be some “normalcy” in how certain things are done. There is no reason to upend everything just to be relevant or just to try to make a point.     What I am talking about in this article is when a congregation is unwilling to evaluate anything simply because it might upset somebody. We cannot change Scripture; that is absolutely true. But are we willing to consider how we do things like Bible classes? Are we willing to change the emphasis of some events–or, perish the thought, even just stop them because they are not being effective?     Maybe the hardest question: are we willing to stop doing everything just “for us” and start really doing things to reach the lost, even if those things are harder and (sometimes) more frustrating?     We like what we like. And, over time, it becomes easier and easier to just do things and put things on the calendar to make us feel better. To be honest, that’s comfortable.     But Scripture does not tell us to be comfortable until death. We are commanded to be faithful until death (Revelation 2:10). And faithfulness rarely equals constant comfort.

- Adam Faughn preaches for the Central Church of Christ in Paducah KY. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.centralchurchofchrist.org Visit the Faughn Family blog, A Legacy of Faith