The Unresponsive Church Pt.4
In our present series of posts, seasoned pastor (and long-time pastor of pastors) John Benton steers us through what unresponsiveness is, what causes it and how we can handle it if we are serving the Saviour in the local church. Having painstakingly diagnosed the problem in previous articles, Dr Benton now begins to prescribe some ways in which we can address this issue:
If our diagnosis is correct, then what is required to cure the unresponsive congregation is not just encouragement or motivation (good as those things may be in their place and we will get back to them) – but repentance. There must be a forsaking of the idolatry that is the root of the endemic spiritual deadness and deafness from which the church is suffering.
Repentance, of course, is Christ’s great and constant call to the five wayward churches of Revelation: ‘Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent I will come and remove your lampstand from its place‘ (Revelation 2:5).
Something has to be removed if there is going to be a thorough cure. We need therefore to call congregations to repentance but, of course, that is precisely the problem! People are dull and deaf and sleepy and cynical. How will they ever hear the call to repentance? Ears have been made deaf to the word of God. That is the essence of what an unresponsive congregation is about. Idolatry has put up barriers to fend off what God is saying.
We get an insight into the kind of thing that goes on from the Lord Jesus after one of the ‘He who has ears’ sayings. Jesus says:
‘To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds. (Matthew 11.16-18)
Dr Benton has graciously allowed us to share materials on this theme which originally appeared in booklet form on his Pasta Pastor website.
The people have lost the ability to respond appropriately – to dance or to mourn (yet they expect others to do so at their call!). They can always explain things away or cynically turn things on their head in order to avoid the challenge to themselves. ‘We can ignore John because he was obviously deranged with his constant fasting. We can ignore Jesus because he doesn’t do what John did!’ That’s what idols do. They give us specious arguments to make us resistant or even impervious to God’s word.
So what are pastors meant to do when faced with an unresponsive congregation? How do you preach effectively to people you know don’t really want to hear? Thankfully the Bible gives us help. We are not the first people to be called to serve and minister to people who don’t really want to listen! I want to suggest five lines of attack on this problem, but will major on different approaches to preaching, given we are preaching to hard hearts. The first four of these lines of attack will be dealt with in this article, and the subject of preaching will be taken up in following articles.
Intensity in Prayer
The unresponsive congregation is actually a church in crisis. It may not look like it. On the surface it may not seem like that – but it is. Sardis had a reputation for being alive, but they were dead (Revelation 3:1). And they weren’t aware of their situation. They were asleep. The church in Laodicea was neither hot nor cold and Christ was on the point of spitting them out of his mouth – and they didn’t realize. They thought they were rich when they were poor, blind and naked. In Scripture, when God’s people are in crisis, leaders respond with intense prayer.
There is a realization by the pastor that what is required is not simply maintenance of the status quo but a breakthrough – an intervention of God. Certainly, facing a crisis we find leaders fasting. As Daniel sees the 70 years exile are up and the status quo of exile must be broken – he fasts and prays (Daniel 9:3).
After the return, Nehemiah hears that the walls of Jerusalem are broken down. This can’t continue, he feels. God’s people are disgraced and unprotected (Nehemiah 1:4). We find a similar reaction later when Ezra returns to Jerusalem only to find a people resistant to God’s word – still Sabbath breaking, still marrying outside God’s people. Fasting means something like: Lord our desire for you to act supersedes even our need for food!’
Petition
He calls for the Lord’s intervention. There is need for both wisdom and power to see a real breakthrough. He humbles himself, confessing that all his labours, all his preaching will be useless without God. Using the picture of the vine and the branches Jesus tells us that without him we can do nothing (John 15:5).
Idolatry brings deadness and only God can raise the dead.
Pleading
A pastor uses arguments with the Lord to underline his requests. Isaac Watts, in his A Guide to Prayer, mentions the following:
- The greatness of our wants and the dangers of our sorrows (apostasy)
- God’s nature of mercy and loving kindness to be shown
- God is our Maker and Father – why should we be forgotten?
- God’s promises
Persistence
The seriousness of our requests will be shown by not giving up in prayer for the end we desire: in Luke 18 the persistent widow gets justice. Arguments are used to ‘reason’ with God, fasting and persistence underline our seriousness. It is intense. If your church leadership is good, involve them. Involve your wife if she is a good helper. Prayer is the place we have to start. Idolatry brings deadness and only God can raise the dead.