A half dozen positive trends we’re witnessing …

In my last post, I shared with you 12 troubling trends we’re witnessing, but I finished the post by noting although some trends may be “troubling” in nature, the sky isn’t falling – there’s always some things we need to be aware of and concerned about.

And there’s always some good news out there, too!

So let’s take a quick look at a half dozen positive trends we’re witnessing:

1. Revitalizing dying churches. For many years, the church had largely given up on dying churches, choosing to put its attention on planting new churches. So we were just letting dying churches die! Fortunately, there’s growing interest AND action in working toward revitalizing dying churches. We’ve had a lot of bad excuses for just letting a church die, including some “church leaders” making unbiblical arguments that death of a congregation is even part of a local church cycle. I don’t buy the argument that God wants any local church body to die! Repent, yes, die, no! We’re now seeing some key church leaders stepping out not only to argue for church revitalization, but also to lead new efforts toward that end.

2. Challenging a lack of evangelism in church planting. I’m an enthusiastic proponent of church planting (I’ve planted a church and have helped with other plants), but not “church redistribution” which is something you can get when you have too many church planters who aren’t interested in evangelism and just want to “grow” a new church from an attractional model. The result is too many church plants coming into being by moving Christians from existing churches to these start-ups without being committed to making new disciples through evangelism. We’re seeing more church leaders pointing to this as a problem and stressing the need for church plants to be committed to evangelism.

3. Millennials “get it” when some churches don’t. If we’re honest, we’d probably have to admit we’ve overly picked on some of the “silliness” we’ve seen from some Millennials — although some have made it easy to do! But I’ve found it interesting how so many churches, who claim to being wildly concerned about Millennials leaving the church, have completely missed the message provided directly from Millennials as to what they’re really looking for from and in the church. A bevy of surveys and research looking into what Millennials really want report things like a place to belong that has more of a “spiritual” or even somewhat “religious” feel about it than being like a concert venue — they’re unimpressed with lazers and fog machines and are hungry for more liturgy. Schtick and hypocrisy are a turn-off to Millennials. Many churches are paying little attention to such points because they’ve been “doing church” that way for too long. They want Millennials back, but not at the cost of change – at least, so far. I find it a positive trend that Millennials sometimes “get” what the church should be like better than some of the churches who say they want Millennials to return to the church.

4. Great outcomes for mental health. Research overwhelming shows that modern clinical therapy has progressed to the point that most people suffering from a mental illness can be helped by, or overcome, their mental illness with competent clinical care. Now the key is removing barriers such as cost and access so people who need clinical services can get the help they need (something Scott Free Clinic specifically focuses on).

5. It’s becoming harder to “play church.” The more “post-Christian” America becomes, the harder it is to play church. As more and more people without a real relationship with Christ leave the church and no longer claim a religious status, it’s harder to pretend to be a Christian with fewer people to hide behind.

6. Contributions from technology. Continuing advances in technology continues to expand the reach and opportunities of the church, from connecting with people all over the world online, to providing materials, teaching, and training that can be delivered for less cost, faster, and more efficiently. More churches are beginning to embrace the idea that technology offers tools for communicating the Gospel that multiply opportunities for reaching the lost as well as for discipling and equipping believers.

Scotty