Wednesday, April 23, 2008
"MAINLINE" DENOMINATIONS:
CULTURAL DINOSAURS
As I watch the shenanigans being played by many of our denominational bureaucrats, I have become convinced that the Presbyterian Church (USA) is a dying institution.
We have strayed far from the authority of Holy Scripture and the centrality of Jesus Christ.
The signs of our demise are everywhere. For example, the PC (USA) continues to decline by tens of thousands of members every year; sadly, such has been the case for decades (yes, decades).
In the 1960s, mainline churches (i.e., theologically moderate to liberal denominational bodies made up of Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Congregationalists, and others) accounted for about 40 percent of all American Protestants. Today the number is closer to 12 percent, and shrinking fast.
Further evidence of the final gasps of a dying entity can be seen in the draconian measures our leaders employ to stop churches from exiting the denomination.
What is more, we mainliners (more appropriately, “sideliners”) embrace a governing structure that is locked in a 1950s time warp. I think here of American car manufacturers with their overpaid executives, plethora of middle level managers, and outdated manufacturing structures. The parallels to mainline/sideline Protestantism are striking.
Just like many corporate officials, 21st-century denominational bureaucrats are out of touch with their constituents and the times in which we live. Unwilling to respond to their “market audience” (grassroots Presbyterians), mainline institutionalists are also unwilling to exchange outdated “business” practices for more streamlined and effective ones.
Our rulebook, The Book of Order, grows more and more bloated and is cited and discussed ad nauseum at our presbytery, synod, and General Assembly "business" meetings. Scripture is largely ignored, and pressing issues such as evangelism, church growth, moral and spiritual revival, etc., are rarely addressed.
While conservative, Bible-believing churches continue to grow, the membership of mainline Protestantism continues to shrink. Amazingly, the number of ministers—at least in the liberal Presbyterian Church (USA)—is increasing!
Unless the Lord intervenes from on high, mainline Protestantism will continue to wither away … or sink deeper into the sea of irrelevancy … or go the way of dinosaurs … or, well, you pick your metaphor!
As long as mainline Protestantism steers its present course, with spiritual pirates at the helm, I am pessimistic about its survival. I am, however, extremely optimistic about the body of Christ, and regularly remind myself of Jesus’ words that the gates of Hades will not overcome His church. Mainline denominations will come and go, but the body of Christ will endure.
