Dear Editor,
Eric Barger’s article ‘Churches in Jeopardy’ (en December 2017) was timely and important. We certainly need to be aware of some of the unscriptural ideas seeping into the church, and be warned about their potential detrimental impact. However, I don’t share Eric’s pessimistic view of the future of the church, where ‘error will be the norm … and orthodoxy will be the oddity.’ I don’t buy into the scenario of inevitable decline, which can easily discourage faithful people.
Firstly, we need to look at the church on a world scale, not just the situation in the West. There is tremendous growth in China and other parts of Asia, and also in parts of Africa and South America. This growth will continue, since the Bible says that in heaven there will be a ‘great multitude … from every nation, tribe, people and language.’ (Revelation 7.9).
Secondly, there are encouraging signs in our own nation. You reported in the same issue the recent AiG ‘Mega Conference: Inspiring a Genesis Reformation’, which was attended by over 1,600 people. I attended, and was most encouraged by the high percentage of young people present. This suggests that many younger Christians are waking up to the foundational importance of Genesis and the immense harm that evolution has done to the cause of the gospel. If the church would understand this, we could well see revival.
Thirdly, there are encouraging signs within some of the mainstream denominations. Many evangelical Anglican churches are growing, and within the Methodist Church, of which I am a member, the group Methodist Evangelicals Together (MET) is the largest independent group within the denomination. MET has a growing membership, including around 18% of Methodist ministers. The current President is a MET member and the evangelical voice is stronger than it has been since the 19th century.
Rather than believing all is lost for the church in this country, I think we should believe that the spiritual tide can turn again. Things have been even worse in the past. I suggest we should pray in Habakkuk’s words: ‘LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.’ (Habakkuk 3.2)
Yours sincerely,
