Chapter 2
Slow Erosion
I had not been home in years. My mom died in 1997, and she was the last surviving member of our family to live in our hometown. Because I had no immediate family there, I really had no reason to return.
But I did return more than a decade later. I was stunned. The level of deterioration surpassed my worst imagination.
From my perspective, my small hometown was looking more like a ghost town. Several businesses on the main street were closed and vacant. You could see the faint outline of paint on the glass that once told the name of the store. I walked store by store. My childhood memories came alive.
Now to be sure, the town was never a bustle of activity. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, most people called the town “quaint.” It was kind of Mayberry-like, for all you Andy Griffith fans. It seemed to be a good place to grow up, though the amenities were few.
I looked in the display windows of the closed stores. Dust and more dust were all I could see on the floor and the bare display shelves. Each store brought back a vivid memory. Each step took me back to another time, a better time for this town.
But the overall state of the town was sad, very sad. I knew the place was not what it was in my childhood years, but it was much worse than I expected. I decided to go to one of two fast-food places of my childhood. It too was closed. It looked like it had not been occupied in a decade.
Later that day, I spoke with an acquaintance who had lived there all his life. He was in his mid-sixties. I tend to be straightforward in my conversations, so I bluntly asked him what happened to our hometown. His perplexed look and simple question said it all: “What do you mean?”
He did not notice the deterioration. He did not see the ghost town that I saw. His perspective was day-by-day. You don’t see much change in a day. You don’t see the accumulation of dust in hours. For him, it was still largely the same town of a half-century earlier. For him, not much had changed.
The Slow Erosion of Churches
It is rare for a long-term church member to see erosion in his or her church. Growth may come rapidly, but decline is usually slow, imperceptibly slow. This slow erosion is the worst type of decline for churches, because the members have no sense of urgency to change. They see the church on a regular basis; they don’t see the gradual decline that is taking place before their eyes.
Often the decline is in the physical facilities, but it is much more than that. The decline is in the vibrant ministries that once existed. The decline is in the prayer lives of the members who remain. The decline is in the outward focus of the church. The decline is in the connection with the community. The decline is in the hopes and dreams of those who remain.
Decline is everywhere in the church, but many don’t see it.
Decline Back in Time
Go back in time with me to 520 BC. I know, that’s a long time ago. But the story is still relevant. It’s told in the Old Testament book of Haggai.
A ragtag remnant of Jews had returned to Jerusalem after a long exile. They returned to a devastated town, but they began to rebuild. Their first order of business was to build the temple, the house of God. They began by laying the foundation. But they stopped working on the temple and began working on their own homes for their own comfort. For a decade they did no work on the house of God.
Imagine the temple. Imagine the house of God. See the dirt accumulating on the foundation. See the vines and overgrowth beginning to cover it. See the decline.
Then God speaks.
He wants to know why the Jews did not notice the decline. God wants to know why they stopped building the temple.
“The Lord of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt. . . . Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (Hag. 1:2–4)
God was angry. His house must be built. It cannot lie in ruins.
“‘. . . When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why?’ This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts: ‘Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.’” (Hag. 1:9)
Wow.
Over 2,500 years ago, the people of God had neglected building the house of God. It seems as if slow erosion was a problem with them too.
God didn’t like it then.
He still doesn’t.
Prayerful Commitment 2
God, please let me be part of the solution and not the problem. Show me what I need to see. Open my eyes to Your reality. And give me the courage to move forward in the directions You desire.
Questions for Further Thought
1. What was your church like twenty years ago versus today? Talk with others to get an honest assessment. Do you see any signs of gradual erosion?
2. How is the neglect of building the temple described in Haggai 1 like gradual erosion today?
3. What do you think God meant in Haggai 1:9 by the phrase “while each of you is busy with his own house”?