“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” (Matthew 18:20 NASB)
Three consecutive days last week I received postcards in the mail from new churches opening up near the proximity of the church that I pastor. Driving to the store and/or to our west side location. I noticed what seems like a plethora of new ministries opening in the places we refer to as store fronts. I used to joke about vacant buildings, making the remark, “Another church will soon occupy that space.” Actually, that’s not a laughing matter, but it should be a matter to be loved, for we cannot have too many churches.
In addition to what I have already said, Saturday, as I was leaving the church, heading toward my car, and I was approached by a young, excited and extremely kind pastor, out evangelizing with his family, going door to door. He noticed I was parking in the space that says, “Reserved for the Pastor’s Wife.” Side note: I don’t have a reserved space, nor require one. My wife is probably saying, “You don’t really have a car. That was my car.” True! True Smile! Just joking!! Nevertheless, I digressed for a moment. Back to the story. The young pastor asked me a few questions about our ministry, before heading across the street. He handed me his business card, that revealed his location was just a few blocks from our church. Incidentally, the back of the card had a scriptural outline on the way to be saved, more specifically what we call “The Romans Road.” Look that up if by chance you don’t know to what I am referring.
After all those observations and the experiences that I described, initially I said to myself, “Do we really need another church in the area?” As I thought about what I was thinking, I had a sudden revelation, an epiphany, “There are still more unchurched and unsaved people than there are churches.” I looked at a Pew Research survey. The survey says, “Currently, about three-in-ten U.S. adults (29%) are religious “nones” – people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious identity.” That’s sad. However, it is also a sign that there is some saving work to be done. With more churches, this should mean more conversion work will be done reaching our diverse populations that are in our specific spaces and places. As you can guess, my negative thought was negated. More churches, churches that teach the truth of the Bible, is a good thing.
Are you not convinced or convicted yet? Well a Barna Survey says, “ The percentage of adults that is unchurched – defined as not having attended a Christian church service, other than for a holiday service, such as Christmas or Easter, or for special events such as a wedding or funeral, at any time in the past six months – has risen from 21% in 1991 to 34% today.”
Friend, let us pray for all the new churches that are popping up, that their kingdom building work, regardless of their size will be a blessing for those who need the Lord or who need to come to a place where they feel comfortable, completely accepted, and Christ-led. Pray for those who have fallen away from the fellowship of believers that they may come back, not merely to be helped, but to help others as servants of the Living God.
I just wanted to share the above with you this morning. Hopefully, my intentions will be impactful. May God smile on all the churches and specifically on you. Be blessed!
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:13 NIV)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King