I have been asked many times, “What is the leading cause of church deaths?” Every time, it seems the inquirer wants a diagnosis of one central thing that kills a church, a silver bullet, so to speak, that no church could survive when fired. I have never witnessed a single event, attack or bad trait that is guaranteed to sink a church. What kills one church might not even faze the next.
I have done a few post-mortem church autopsies in my time. I have talked with the last pastor, the last members and even the next-door neighbors about what finally put the church down. It has been my experience that the cause of death for churches is as varied as the causes of death in humanity.
Much like us, an inactive church with ample resources will soon become overweight. This inactivity leaves them out-of-breath and lethargic. With money in the bank and no need to reach the lost, the church ceases to grow numerically and only grows older. Unless the money dries up or the zeal returns, they become increasingly crippled. Ultimately, they die from any number of ailments related to that obesity.
We often classify the next cause of death as an accident. We might say they died in a car crash, but leave out the fact that they were drunk and driving 120 mph. Many churches die from making foolish decisions. They went way over budget on the new building and couldn’t afford it. They made the mistake of hiring a famous preacher who was a failure as a pastor. Foolish decisions sink churches every year, and most of them involve debt.
Believe it or not, some churches starve to death. It takes time to die from a lack of spiritual nutrition. The pastor uses the Bible less and less to be more “relatable” in his preaching. The Sunday school becomes a social club as the lessons are neglected in favor of gossip. The Wednesday night Bible study becomes pizza and a movie with the youth group. Starved sheep begin to seek greener pastures elsewhere. As the church shrinks, they seek a new pastor who can reach new people, young people, (fill-in-the-blank) people. People don’t seek God. God seeks them, and He seeks them through His Word. When the Bible is absent, the Lord does not add sheep, existing sheep weaken and goats soon rule the barn. With the goats in charge, the church ceases to look like a church, and her candle soon goes out.
I have seen a church assassinated. Satan may knock off the pastor through immorality. He may split her in a financial scandal. Churches can fall victim to lawsuits from their own members. There is a plethora of sudden attacks that have stopped a church’s pulse in an instant.
The church may succumb to a cancerous tumor. The cancer of greed is common. One person wants to control the church. They gain a family, then two more families join the cause as the cancer spreads. Bitterness can start small and soon metastasize to the whole body. Honestly, most churches are currently receiving cancer treatments of some kind to keep these tumors in remission.
The poison of false doctrine still claims its fair share of churches across the country. These poisons are too numerous to name, but equally dangerous. It usually starts with a new pastor, but I have seen it enter through a small group or youth leader as well. The first signs are dismissed as a misunderstanding, and before you know it, a large part of the body is infected. This may leave the church crippled to die later, or it may flip the church, killing her gospel witness entirely.
The saddest part of church deaths is when they drag on for years. I am certain we have all witnessed the old soul who lies unconscious, possibly on life support for weeks, months or years — a body that has circulating blood and takes breaths but is unable to respond, communicate or even lift a hand to help. This is the state of many churches today. They are simply going through the motions, waiting to die.
I don’t want to end this article in the church morgue or spiritual rest home. I want to remind you that I have never seen or even heard of a healthy church dying. The church that functions like a New Testament church is not obese, foolish, starved or eaten up with cancer. She can survive every assassination attempt by the devil. My Bible still has the latter part of Mark 16, and I believe if she swallowed some poison, it would not harm her.
You and I may simply die of “old age,” as they say, if we live long enough. The church will never die from old age. Her age is irrelevant as long as she is continually in the Lord’s service. As one generation dies, another rises in its place. Healthy churches are growing churches with older folks training younger folks, who will also train others.
How is your church doing? You don’t have to schedule a physical or see a specialist to assess your church’s health. You just need to be honest. If the church is a little under the weather or even near death, simply cry out to God, who loves to revive His people. Gather the church, fall on your knees, open your Bible and see if God will not heal His people. Keep calling on God as your church takes the necessary steps to get back on its feet and back in the field.
