Are These the Church's Biggest Problems?

Khen Lim



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In the recent decade, there has not been a moment when the church has not been under the microscope. In almost every crisis of a global scale, the church is a victim. An economic downturn affects the church just as significantly as a lack of religious freedom or the increasing socialism and Islamisation. This is not to mention the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions of which same-sex marriage and abortion have been upheld devastatingly against the church.

Far more problems now plague the church. Today we’re in greater strife than ever before. As the church enters its 1,985^th year of existence, here is a list of leading problems that perhaps some of you may be able to identify with:

10. Apathy

In other words, a lack of interest or concern. People just don’t care anymore and I don’t just mean the public. I mean churchgoers. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has a word for them – apatheists, people who are disinterested in issues relating to God and not surprisingly, they also exist in church. There is apathy in doctrinal understanding as much as in trying to understand Scriptural truths.

9. New Age Influences

New Age isn’t new but today, it’s becoming increasingly a worry. With the help of online media, New Age ideology is creeping into modern lifestyles with resurgent interests in ancient occult practices, secular humanism, cosmic influences, and animistic spiritualism and so on.

Growing coverage given to influential media figures like Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra will only worsen the issues for the church to deal with. When we see church members mixing Christianity with yoga and thinking nothing is wrong with Hindu-based exercises, then we have something seriously problematic on our hands.

8. Not in Step with Society

It’s obviously true that God doesn’t change and the Gospels don’t either but society has been shifting ground in the past many decades. And with that, ministerial demands will also have changed. Yet many churches have failed to take the necessary steps to keep abreast of these changes.

Thom Rainer (’13 Issues for Churches in 2013’) said, “I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if the numbers reach the 8,000 to 10,000 level.” Unfortunately he is referring to the total number of churches expecting to close their doors in America.

We may not have Malaysian statistics on hand but English-speaking churches aren’t at their healthiest in recent years. The decline has been palpable and it doesn’t look like it’ll improve. Some of us are also seeing this at the Malaysia Bible Seminary (MBS) where English Department students are outnumbered by Chinese-speaking ones to the order of ten to one.

7. One-Way Migration

The youth exodus has long been a problem at Hosanna EFC but as we’re discovering, it’s a problem that plagues many other EFC chapters as well as other denominations here and elsewhere. Studies Stateside reveal as high as 75% departure rate for youth for college.

At Hosanna EFC, most who leave for further studies don’t return to serve. The same trend appears to be afflicting many churches elsewhere in the world.

6. We’re Getting Less Intellectual

People are getting more cynical and less inclined to dig deep and ask questions. Many are taking things on face value. What they hear sticks in their mind whether or not true. Churches are having a torrid time facing untold untruths and not winning.

The horrific episode of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was undeniably telling. Many saw the movie and felt betrayed by their churches but they did not do any homework to ask if they were actually duped by the movie. Worse, many apparently left their churches disillusioned.

5. Gender Confusion

This actually dovetails very nicely with #10: Apathy. When people care less about delving deeply into the Bible to see God’s truths, then we’ll never be able to come to grips with who is correct – society or the Bible. One changes with modern lifestyle demands; the other remains inerrant and perfect through the ages.

Homosexuality has been plaguing the church for far longer than we think but same-sex marriage is a different issue – being of a recent occurrence – and with constitutional changes in support, the church will now be under greater pressure to bow to government demands to accept.

4. Lacking Apologetic Leaders

It’s not just Hollywood that we’re seeing this played out. In real life, atheistic bullies have been left unanswered because we do not have enough apologetically-trained church leaders to handle them.

And so many walk away leaving us drained and dumbfounded. If we’re less fortunate, we might still get to hold on to our flock; otherwise these atheistic bullies might even gain new adherents from us.

Part of this problem has been because we’re getting less interested in reading up (see #6) and therefore making ourselves defenceless. It is not surprising that people show little confidence in ministering to non-Christians – nobody wants to be within mowing distance of an outspoken unbeliever.

3. Liberal-mindedness

The modern lifestyle has more tentacles than we imagine. So-called open-mindedness – another word for liberal thinking – tries to tell us that churches must move “forward” and be “more accepting.” The pressure is on to challenge church dogma on the interpretation of love, tolerance in diversities, concept of marriage and the importance of material prosperity. Already we have seen the ravages of Darwinism undermining our understanding and acceptance of Creationism.

Liberal-mindedness have caused some churches to lose a lot of ground when youth abandons. Some churches embrace it vigorously, allowing changes to take place that would shame Christ. Others believe they’re doing the right thing and so we hear of Islamic imams preaching the Quran during Sunday Service.

It’s been downright horrendous. And if that isn’t enough, we’re also allowing modern biblical scholars and their revisionism to challenge canonised texts as well, and in some cases, undermining the authenticity of the Gospels including the Pauline epistles.

2. Religious Freedom

In the western world, all is not well. In the U.S., bodies like the A.C.L.U. (American Civil Liberties Union) and F.F.R.F. (Freedom From Religion Foundation) are persecuting not only churches but Christian-based organisations as well as schools and small businesses that wish to practise and uphold their faith.

Many of those who have resisted have been heavily fined – sometimes to bankruptcy – or even jailed simply because they were exercising their freedom of religious expression. It doesn’t take much to Google up and find this happening. With threats abound, there is fear and under duress, many succumb and give up the freedom to exercise their Christian faith.

This is also happening in Malaysia. We cannot have Bibles in the Malay language. We cannot have Bibles that use the word Allah as a language translation for God. We are also told that Muslims get confused when they walk past a church that has a cross on the outside of their building. So many of us cannot put up a cross.

None of these is likely to make life any easier or better or fairer for Christians.  

1. Religious Persecution

At no other time in recent history has the world church been so brutally challenged. Kenya, Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, Syria, Kurdistan, Iran, Nigeria, Sudan – Christians are suffering. Many have been murdered, massacred, beheaded and raped.

The church is facing the worst set of challenges for 2015 and beyond. While the western world are still trying to figure out whether Islam is or isn’t a threat and if the Islamic State (I.S.) is representative of this terrifying religious order, many parts of the rest of the world are crumbling.

People are dying as they are put to the sword, so to speak. Millions are uprooted and made homeless and are fleeing for their lives. Corrupt governments are funding their slaughter and channelling weapons so they can kill even more effectively. None of these looks like stopping anytime soon.

In such tumultuous times, however, there can still be comfort to be found. Christians have the answer but they must make the effort to look for it in the Scripture that God has given us through inspired patriarchs, prophets and apostles.

Somewhere in there we will find words that comfort and reassure us, words that help us to stay on the path of righteousness, words that reconfirm God’s promises to us.

It’s these – God is (still) in control (Joshua 1:9).

So, my friends, take heart. And be blessed.