The 21st Century Church

Churches face the continual challenge of remaining culturally relevant while not compromising biblical principles. What will the 21st century church look like? We must examine the current condition of the church, our changing culture, and possible church structures. We have moved from the agrarian age through the industrial age to the information age, and each era has affected how we have accomplished our mission. The church has changed a great deal over the centuries. It has become very complex and business like. Today it is a massive organization with denominations, commissions, committees, councils, boards and programs. It quite often functions like a business rather than a body, a factory rather than a family and a corporation rather than community. Churches have become entertainment centres giving mere performance to thousands of passive, unproductive churchgoers. Most of all the devices are geared to get people into the church, but not to teach them solid truth once they come. As we try and take all of this in and carefully, fairly and honestly evaluate and critique what is being said, we will find an element of truth in each perspective. Every one of them is saying something we need to hear, and is challenging us to consider issues we dare not ignore. This challenge is two-fold, if we are to emerge from all of this and find the way forward The first challenge is balance. How do we keep our equilibrium in the midst of these swirling movements? Second, and even more crucial, what is our source of authority for determining who the church is and what the church does? What we need, what we must have is a rigorous and clear 1st century vision for the 21st Century Church. We must take off our cultural blinders and rid ourselves of our personal and theological pet peeves, and work our way to the bedrock basics of Scripture. Here we will catch a vision of the Church as God intends it to be. As we move ahead in the early years of the 21st century we have some very important decisions to make. The church is at a crossroads, it faces a moment of decision.