{"id":694938,"date":"2019-09-18T06:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomrainer.com\/?p=694938"},"modified":"2020-02-07T14:56:06","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T20:56:06","slug":"ten-fears-for-the-american-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/ten-fears-for-the-american-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Fears for the American Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chuck Lawless<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I spend a lot of time on the mission field working with missionaries. I LOVE the local church wherever it is, but I fear more for the American church every time I go overseas. Here are some of my fears:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I fear we go through the motions without really experiencing God\u2019s presence.<\/strong> Seldom have I experienced in America what I\u2019ve seen in some places around the world.<\/li>\n
  2. I fear we get way too hung up on things that don\u2019t matter nearly as much as we think.<\/strong> That\u2019s the way I feel about things like service times, worship styles, and building colors.<\/li>\n
  3. I fear we think too lightly about persecution.<\/strong> We think we\u2019re being persecuted when we can\u2019t erect the church sign we want, but believers around the world are facing much more than that.<\/li>\n
  4. I fear we think we\u2019re the most important church people in the world.<\/strong> No question that the American church is influential, but most of the world has never heard of most of us \u2013 including those among us who are the best known.<\/li>\n
  5. I fear we think too little about Bible study and scripture memorization.<\/strong> I wonder how our ministries would change if the only Bible we had was what we\u2019ve already stored in our head and heart. Some believers live under that restriction.<\/li>\n
  6. I fear we have little idea what power there is in prayer.<\/strong> Our \u201cprayer meetings\u201d hardly compare to some of the long, gut-wrenching, heart-rending prayer times I\u2019ve spent with missionaries and nationals.<\/li>\n
  7. I fear we tolerate sin far too much.<\/strong> I\u2019ve been with international believers who go too far the other way into legalism, but at least they\u2019re talking about holiness.<\/li>\n
  8. I fear we\u2019re not providing enough practical training for young ministers and missionaries.<\/strong> \u00a0We send them out with our blessing, but not with our practical and personal DNA in their blood.<\/li>\n
  9. I fear we sometimes get in the way of missionaries on our short-term trips.<\/strong> That happens when we plan trips without even briefly engaging those who live on the ground and who best understand local needs and culture.<\/li>\n
  10. I fear we don\u2019t pray enough for missionaries.<\/strong> In fact, I\u2019m sure about this one. I know we don\u2019t pray enough for them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Just my thoughts today. If you agree with any of these, pick one and work on it. Strengthen the American church by beginning with your congregation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I spend a lot of time on the mission field working with missionaries. I LOVE the local church wherever it is, but I fear more for the American church every time I go overseas. Here are some of my fears:","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":694939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,186,176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-694938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-health-and-metrics","category-revitalize"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTen Fears for the American Church | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I spend a lot of time on the mission field working with missionaries. 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