Dead Church

A paramedic was asked on a local TV talk-show program: “What was your most unusual and challenging 911 call?”

“Recently we got a call from a church,” the paramedic said. “A frantic usher was concerned that during the sermon an elderly man passed out in a pew and appeared to be dead. The usher couldn’t find a pulse and there was no noticeable breathing.”

“What was so unusual about that?” the interviewer asked.

“Well, we carried out four guys before we found the one who was dead.”

Sadly, that is the state of many churches. I fear that a lot of people attend church out of obligation, habit, or because they think they are earning religious points with God. Many have become tired of the boredom and wasted time and energy it took to go to church and have given up attending altogether, except maybe on Christmas and Easter. Honestly, too many churches aren’t worth going to. Too many strayed from their purpose generations ago and exist now only to perpetuate their own existence. The influence and power of God’s Spirit having long departed, lives are no longer changed, people are rarely challenged, and the church accomplishes little.

And that could happen here, as well. We are now enjoying the work of the Holy Spirit. We are seeing people’s lives changed as they receive Christ and then grow in their relationship with him. All of this is exciting and refreshing, especially if you’ve ever been part of a church described above. But it is up to us to keep it that way. Things are wonderful at church now because God is at work. But the moment we lose our awe of Him, dependence on Him, and appreciation for what he is doing, is the moment we will begin to decline.

We’ve had to call the paramedics. But thankfully, they haven’t had to take the pulse of several people to find out who was alive or dead. Let’s enjoy the life we’ve been given, and trust God to keep us moving forward for generations to come!