The State of the Church
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Matt. 4:18 - 22; Matt. 28:16 - 20
January 08, 2012
David C. Wright

          Early each year the President addresses Congress and the nation with his “State of the Union” message.  In it, he talks about the challenges facing us as a nation as well as his plans to address those challenges.  So, this morning, I thought I would give you my “State of the Church” message, outlining the challenges confronting us and our plans to address them.  However, there’s one custom associated with the State of the Union address that we won’t be doing.  No matter how tempted you may be to do so, I ask that you refrain from the frequent standing ovations that are characteristic of those “State of the Union” speeches!  It might be distracting!
          Several recent newspaper articles remind us of the challenges we face as a church in the 21st century.  Here’s one from the Washington Post entitled, “Smaller and grayer.”  It cites a large study showing that the average age of church members is growing older and there are fewer of them in worship.  In the last ten years, the average church in America saw a decrease in worship attendance of 17%.  In mainline Protestant churches like ours, less than 10% of our members are young adults- those between the ages of 18 and 34, and the median age is over 60. (Just look around you.)  Compounding the problem is the fact that a lower percentage of people in our country are attending any church at all.
          Our Visioning and Planning Task Force studied these trends and noted that GPC is beginning to mirror them.  Our worship attendance and membership have been flat or slightly declining over the last ten years and we are definitely aging.  They were also concerned with the fact that we live in a community that is also aging, with few people moving here, and very few younger people moving in.  That’s significant because historically we’ve drawn most of our new members from people moving into the community.  These trends represent significant challenges for us as a church.
          So what do we do?  The Task Force, after studying the Scriptures and Book of Order, has called us to focus our efforts on making disciples, fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission to his followers in Matt. 28.  Besides being the biblical mission of the church, we believe that a focus on disciple-making gives us the best chance to respond to the challenges we are facing.  Listen as I read our marching orders, given to Jesus’ followers just after his resurrection and just before he ascended to heaven.
          16  Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
          17  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
          18  And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
          19  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
          20  and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt. 28:16-20)
          “Go and make disciples,” is what Jesus commands us to do.  What does that mean?  What is a disciple and how do you make one?  A disciple is a devoted follower.  The first thing Jesus does in Matthew’s gospel is to call some disciples.  And when he invited them to be his disciples, what he actually said was, “Follow me.”  That’s what a disciple does- he or she follows Jesus Christ.  Professor Bob Tuttle, Jr. from Asbury Theological Seminary describes discipleship as “the process of exchanging a world where I am at the center for a world where Jesus is at the center.”  That’s very different from a common form of Christianity described by Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio Journal.  He talks about how Christianity is often used as a form of therapy- something to make us feel good when we’re in trouble- a religion that asks for God’s blessing as we pursue what the world tells us will make us happy.  To which Myers replies, “It is possible to do that, but it is not the message of the Bible.  I’m not saying that the gospel is not a message of hope, nor am I suggesting that it’s improper to look to Christ for comfort.  What I am saying is that we are not faithful disciples if we assume that we can order our lives any way we want to, knowing that Jesus will be there to encourage and lift us up when we feel down.  Jesus is not there just to help us with our projects; he is the one who tells us what projects we should be pursuing.”  A disciple is a devoted follower of Jesus.
          But how do we make disciples?  Well, there is an outreach part to making disciples as well as an “inreach” part.  The outreach part involves sharing the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ with those who do not know him.  The research I cited earlier in the sermon indicates that this is a real challenge for us, for many people today are not coming to us here in church, so they never hear what we have to say about following Jesus.  Many have grown up in homes where church-going rarely or never occurred.  Others have had negative experiences with church in the past.  These folks are not going to come to us.  As Reggie McNeil says, “It’s not as though people are waking up each morning saying, if only there was a really good church around, then I’d go!”  Going to church is just not on many people’s radar at all!
          So we need to go to them.  You need to go to them!  God has placed you in your neighborhood, in your apartment building, in your school, in your place of work, in your club- as his witness in that place!  You are not there by accident.  Through your deeds and your words, you are to be Christ’s representatives in that place.  Part of our responsibility as a church is to equip our members to share their faith in winsome ways wherever they are.  We started that with a course on sharing your faith this Fall.  And we’ll be doing more to help you succeed at the outreach part of making disciples.
          But there is another part of making disciples.  How do we, the family of GPC, become better followers of Jesus?  How do we allow Jesus to shape our attitudes, beliefs, time management, even our money management?  Well, there is a cognitive component to growing as disciples- there are things to learn about being faithful followers of Jesus.  We need to learn what the Bible teaches, about other religions, about church history, and how our faith impacts contemporary issues.  Our Christian Education Committee provides lots of great classes for Christian growth, mostly on Sunday morning, and we will continue to offer those kinds of opportunities.  But there is more to being a disciple than just knowledge.  The Pharisees had a tremendous amount of knowledge regarding God and the Scripture, but Jesus certainly didn’t see them as godly people.  In the movie, “The Matrix,” Morpheus says to Neo, “there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”
          So, how do we help people walk the path?  Many people, including myself, have found that being part of a small group is a tremendous help for growing in discipleship.  Bonnie and I have been in small groups most of our married life, and it has been one of the most enriching experiences we have found.  Most churches that are growing today have extensive small group ministries.  Now perhaps you think of spiritual growth as an individual thing, but biblically, the deepening of discipleship usually took place in groups!  Think of Jesus and his 12 disciples (a small group), or the early church in the book of Acts, which met in homes- in small groups!  While there is a cognitive, learning component of a small group, a small group can provide much more than a class.  In a small group, we share our joys and concerns with one another.  We ask our hard questions.  As we get to know one another better, we feel free to share more deeply, even about our spiritual struggles.  And we take time to pray for one another and support one another in practical ways.
          In 1985 product developers at the Matsushita Electric Company in Japan were trying to develop a home bread-making machine.  But they were having trouble getting the machine to knead the dough correctly.  The crust of the bread often came out hard as a rock, while the inside was hardly done at all.  Finally, a software developer proposed a creative solution.  She volunteered to train with the head baker at the Osaka International Hotel, which made the best bread in the city, to learn his kneading technique.  And she did!
          She learned that the baker had a distinctive way of stretching the dough.  To imitate that, the engineers added special ribs inside the machine and developed a unique ‘twist dough’ method.  And it worked.  In the first year on the market, their bread-making machine set a record for sales of a new kitchen appliance!
          Some things can’t be learned in a lab or in a class or book.  Some things can only be learned by spending time with another human being.
          Our new Adult Discipleship Committee, headed by Linda Thompson, will focus on creating new small groups this year, where we spend time with other human beings who also want to grow as disciples.  We hope you’ll give one a try.  You may also find your spiritual life deepened by attending retreats, working with a spiritual mentor, having a prayer partner, trying different forms of worship, or participating in high commitment classes (like Bethel).  Many of us have found participating in a mission trip helps broaden our understanding of what it means to be a disciple, and deepens our commitment to Jesus.  Local mission opportunities can have the same effect.
          In an episode of a reality show about a Las Vegas pawn shop, a man brought in a violin and asked for an appraisal.  He had recently purchased a piece of property that included a barn and house.  In the barn, he found an old chest with a violin safely tucked inside.  As he dusted off the near-perfect instrument, he found the word “Stradivarius” clearly inscribed on the violin.  He was confident that his “Stradivarius” was valuable- perhaps worth millions of dollars.
          However, after the pawn shop consulted with an expert, they told the man that his violin wasn’t a genuine Stradivarius.  Instead, it was a cheap imitation produced in the early part of the 1900’s, worth a couple hundred dollars.  The appraiser told the crestfallen violin owner, “Just because something has a label doesn’t mean it’s real.”  (repeat) When we focus on discipleship, we’re trying to help our label- “Christian”- match who we really are!
          There is no doubt we in the church are facing challenging times as we begin 2012.  The trends are ominous.  Times have changed and our methods must change along with them if we are to be effective in our core calling of making disciples.  But God is still in control of the church.  And, God is still in control of your life and mine!  Remember Jesus’ words at the end of the Great Commission.  “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

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