Churches on the Brink

Not a month goes by that I don't hear about another church on the verge of collapse. Somewhere between 3000-4500 churches die every year and many more are struggling and not very healthy. Most interesting to me is that when churches arrive at crisis they go to many sources for a fix and very rarely will go to the Bible first.

In the book of Titus, Paul instructs Titus how to fix a broken church. First, deal with the leadership or what scripture calls the elders/pastors of the church. Paul doesn't say to find the sharpest businessmen to come in and administrate the church, he says that the elders/pastors (those who really should be leading the church) should be doctrinally sound and above reproach. In other words they need to know their Bible and live their Bible. It is a both/and not either/or. Many pastors don't know their Bible and many pastors don't live their Bible. This is the main reason why churches and the American church at large is on the brink. Fixing a broken church starts with the elders/pastors repenting of their sins of unsound doctrine and unsound practice. It does not start by hiring a consultant for thousands of dollars to tell you everything is alright. More on what Titus says it takes to have a healthy church later...