OBSERVATIONS

I Was Just Thinking About – OBSERVATIONS.

Earlier this morning, I shared the following on Facebook: “I, personally, needed this reminder... admonition... encouragement... to stay focused on that which is vital and most important...Psalm 31:23-24, "Love the Lord, all His saints. The Lord preserves the faithful....Be strong and courageous, all you who hope in the Lord."

Shortly thereafter, I read the Daily Devotional of Charles R. Swindoll who wrote (01/26/19) on “Encouragement.” He stated: “When you stop to analyze the concept, ‘encourage’ takes on new meaning. It's the act of inspiring others with renewed courage, spirit, or hope. When we encourage others we spur them on, we stimulate and affirm them. All of us need encouragement - somebody to believe in us. To reassure and reinforce us. To help us pick up the pieces and go on. To provide us with increased determination in spite of the odds. Even when we don't earn the right to be appreciated we can still be encouraged and affirmed. Encourage someone today! Even the secure, mature person needs massive doses of encouragement as we slug it out in the trenches."

After I retired from full-time Pastoral Ministry 15 years ago, I have had the joy of visiting some of the smaller churches that dot our rural landscape. In most instances, I have found appreciative, joyful and grateful people who love the Lord and the church they attend. One of their major concerns is the decline in attendance. Attrition and Demographics are two issues that need to be addressed in terms of ministry strategy. Is the local and/or rural church willing to adapt to their changing landscape? It is obvious that rural churches (and some city churches) have allowed themselves to devolve to a maintenance type of ministry versus an outreach commitment. If they made such a transition within their demographic, they might find that they can and will grow where they are planted.

Thom Rainer, founder of the Church Consultation ministry stated: “Most church members don’t see their churches clearly...Rainer has found that church members perceive their church to be friendly. But as he surveyed guests, he found that the guests typically saw church members as unfriendly. The perception chasm existed because the members were indeed friendly to one another. The guests felt like they crashed a private party.” Personally, I am always a bit uncomfortable when entering a worship service and most of the members of the church are sitting in the back rows in small groups. They appear to be ‘official observers’ and detached from other “observers’. It is 'their place' and dynamite could not make them change location in a worship area. It must be a frustration for the one who is Pastor or visiting Minister. What should the local and rural church be committed to doing on a regular basis?

I am impressed and challenged by the words in First Thessalonians 5:11, we are to – “encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” Is the local and rural church fulfilling the phrase: “just as you are doing”? Why is encouragement vital and necessary? In Hebrews 3:13 is the instruction, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” In some translations, the word for encourage is stated as exhort one another. In either usage, it is forceful requirement of what the genuine/authentic follower of Jesus Christ must be doing. Are you faithful in the opportunity afforded you to encourage others?

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.