How do you talk about spiritual decline without sounding negative? This is some­thing I've thought about a lot. But to find a solution we first need to lay bare the prob­lem. I've been a pastor in the Reformed Christian community for over 25 years, and so I'll look at where we are at and perhaps, by bringing the problem to light, that will help find a solution — a positive solution to spiritual decline.

Where Are We At?⤒🔗

To begin with, the church in our culture has lost its identity. We do not know who we are. And that loss may also be related to our historical and theological amnesia. I'll use my denomination as an example, but I believe it's easy to translate these failings across denominational lines.

The Christian Reformed Church, at least on paper, is confessionally Reformed. In practice? We blur the lines. We talk about "kingdom vision," but can we articulate what it means? The same is true for covenant theology. If I ask pew sitters the difference between infant baptism and the infant dedication most would say, "It's that we use water and they don't." And to complicate things we no longer have hermeneutical consensus within our denomination. That means we don't use the same prin­ciples for interpreting the Bible. So, when it comes to tackling the tough questions facing our church today we find ourselves at odds with our Christian brothers and sisters. It's hard to talk to each other when our ways of reading the Bible have moved in opposite directions.

How Did this Happen?←⤒🔗

To grasp why we seem to have lost our sense of self, let's look at four key problems that plague my church today.

My Christian family no longer has church at its centre. At the risk of sounding like everything was better in the past, one thing I do know is that for my parents and grandparents, church was the central activity in their week. They looked forward to it to the extent that Saturdays were used to prepare the family for the next day. My mother spent hours getting our clothes, our car, our food and our house in order so that on Sun­day we could worship. Today we have no qualms about missing services for sports, family events, camping — or, if necessary, work. Christian Reformed churches used to teach doctrine during the second service. Today, few churches have a second service, leaving pastors precious little time to communicate the basics of the Reformed faith. It seems to follow that when we attend church less we think less of church. For those of us who went to church regularly in the past but now attend occasionally, church may very well continue to "feel" like the center. Decades of experience has made it part of our collective memory. But this is not the experience of our youth. For them, church feels optional.

Another contributing factor to our loss of identi­ty is the decline of biblical literacy. We simply aren't reading our Bibles, let alone anything of theological substance. The statistics are clear: Most of us do not practice regular personal devotions.

And then there's the family. If we aren't doing personal devotions, it's a safe bet we rarely take time for reg­ular family devotions. Our schedules are demanding and family time has taken a hit. In fact, fewer families even sit down to eat dinner together — even the media decries the decline of the family meal. But it's a double whammy for the church. We neglect time to be with family to eat, and family devotions fall by the wayside as well. More, we sacrifice the opportunity to talk with our kids about faith, church, and the things of God. We know that faith doesn't get passed on by osmosis, but there just doesn't seem to be time to talk anymore.

Finally, from the outside it's difficult to distin­guish us from our unchurched neighbours. The world encroaches. We are as equally affluent, material­istic, and enamoured with things, leisure and entertain­ment, as they are. Our thumbs rarely stop scrolling the internet and we hate to miss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. We like pointing to the waywardness of our youth, but many of our seniors wile away their time of retirement in Florida, becoming largely unavailable for their home church, while enjoying their own little world. It seems worldliness is affecting all of us.

The Tally←⤒🔗

Let's do the math: Our church attendance is sporadic, as is our devotional life. We don't take time to talk about spiritual things in our homes, and worse, our lives aren't all that different from the world around us. What is the net result? Why are we wondering why our churches seem to be in decline? We ask ourselves, Why are our young people leaving the church? Maybe it is because they see what we ignore: Shallow, mediocre faith at home that's equally reflected in the life of the church.

I'm not saying that this is the same trend in every home. Neither am I saying that there are no dedicated people in the church, working hard and living their faith. But I'm convinced that many of our attempts to increase spirituality are not in fact confronting our core issues. Too often we get caught up in trivial debates about changing worship styles or moving the church furniture in hopes it will fix the problems

Moving Forward←⤒🔗

We are in spiritual decline and I think most of us know it. So, how do we move forward? How can we reform the Reformed community? To me, while many things may be helpful, the following four things are non-negotiable.

First, we need to put the church back in the cen­tre. We need to revitalize a strong doctrine of the church. The church is the "powerhouse" of the kingdom. It's the hub of the wheel. If the church does not turn properly, the rest won't either. What this means is that church attendance and membership are not optional. We hear it often: "I don't need to go to church to be a Christian." While God is the ultimate judge, the Bible plainly says otherwise. Living faith assumes living membership in the body of Christ. Article 28 of the Belgic Confession is clear on this: There is no salvation outside the church.

Along the same lines we require a renewed appreciation for the marks of the church: preaching, sacraments and discipline. Take preaching. Doesn't God build his church first and foremost through the word preached? We des­perately need sermons that announce the full council of God along with the promises, demands — and the warn­ings of the covenant. There is no room for lazy faith. God expects nothing less than committed faith in the Savior Jesus Christ. This message needs to be front and centre.

Second, we need to read more. When is the last time you opened your Bible, just for your own spiritual growth? This is a non-negotiable. We can't expect refor­mation unless we return to active, regular, personal de­votions. And then we should also engage other Christian literature as well: Christian magazines, blogs, devotional and historical material, but also theology. It is not enough to know our Bible stories. We need to know how the Bi­ble holds together. How does the Old Testament unfold into the New? How does the covenant structure impact our faith? How does the coming kingdom shape our lives? We cannot stop spiritual decline unless we know our stuff, grounded in the Bible.

Third, we need to revitalize healthy family life. Faith will not get passed on to our kids without effort on our part. True religion must be consciously taught at home. Didn't you make that very promise at your child's baptism? Maybe we need to reread that form again. Home is where covenant starts. Parents must create an environment where family members can openly talk. At the dinner table we need to show interest in the lives of our children. We need to listen to what they say. And when they ask questions about God or faith, we need to be honest. We must be authentic and willing to show vulnerability. More, we need to admit our failures and doubts. Let's talk about our temptations. Let's share what tough lessons we have learned from life. From day one, we need to create space where it is safe to talk. Kids need to hear their parents talk about feelings, tempta­tions, dating and moral ethics, at age appropriate levels.

Nothing should be off limits: Sex, self-esteem, anxiety, peer pressure, alcohol and drugs, technology, pornogra­phy, church attendance, witnessing, sorrow and hope. These things should always be discussed in the context of faith. Parents must model the faith and teach it to their children. Renewal can't happen without this!

Fourth, we need to develop a proper relationship with the world. This starts with a biblical understand­ing of our identity. Peter calls us aliens and strangers (1 Peter 2: 11). Christ's Kingdom is here, but his rule in this world has not been fully manifested yet, and so we should feel like outsiders from a far-away land. If our life is in Christ and our standard is the Bible then we should feel out of sorts with the culture around us. If the opposite is true and we feel right at home in our world, we need to ask ourselves: What is wrong with us?

"Everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving," says Paul in 1 Timothy 4: 4. This includes the pleasures of food, golf, hockey, vacations, and even alcohol, with a few caveats. But all things require limits. Without boundaries we quickly turn God's good gifts into idols. God wants to be our centre! Nothing in our world should threaten the role of church, devotions and family time in our lives.

Living in this world also means we have an urgent calling to promote Christ's Lordship. Not only in the church, our personal lives and family, but also in poli­tics, labor, and education. Christ is King and his King­dom is coming. To that end, let's not give up one inch of support for Christian education. We need to ensure that our youth and young adults are educated and taught to think from a Christian perspective. That's what this world needs: More Christians who can think "Christian" so that God's kingdom may be advanced in our very broken and dying world.

A Final Word←⤒🔗

Many books have been written about how to revitalize the Church. Many offer good and useful suggestions. But nothing is gained if we ignore the bare-bone essen­tials. There is no reformation if we don't go to church, read our Bibles and engage our families in the things of the Lord, and if we look and behave just like the world.

We've got some work to do. I know my own denom­ination needs help. Who can deny that we are strug­gling? But we're not alone. Other Reformed denomi­nations are beginning to struggle with the exact same things. I'm thinking that we need each other. Despite our differences, we hold more in common. As Reformed denominations we share the same heritage, Confessions, covenant theology, and kingdom vision. I think the day is coming when we will no longer have the luxury to hide in our different compartments, separate from one another. When the storm clouds come and persecution finally strikes we will need all the "family" we can get.

Please don't misread me. I'm no pessimist. God holds the future firmly in his hands. By way of repentance, faith and prayer, God will bless our efforts. My con­fidence is that the Lord reigns! If this were not true, I would not be a preacher. God is good! Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ is coming again! He will pre­serve his church and he has power to bring reformation to the church he loves. I know he is able to do it. May he do so by his grace.

Come back quickly, Lord Jesus! Make all things new — including your church!