The Biggest Obstacle in the American Church
by Tim Hunter
Coronavirus, the political landscape, famous Christian leaders publicly falling, bad doctrine.
How’s your blood pressure?
Let me continue: poverty, pornography, abortion, broken families, crime, racial tension, sexual revolution, and oppression of religious freedoms.
What's the biggest issue?
What’s the biggest obstacle that the American church faces today? I could scratch that list and write a whole new one. Is the biggest obstacle somewhere on there or did I leave it off? Is it even possible to identify one - I mean what are the metrics for that?
Allow me to try. I do not believe that the biggest obstacle that our churches face is on the above list. And trust me, I understand that there are some intense and pressing issues listed. However, I operate on a working assumption that our biggest obstacle is not something outside of us, but something inside of us. If the church is going to be destroyed it will be from the inside out, not from the outside in. Both history and scripture shout this proclamation. I cite Jesus - “the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” Obstacles and enemies outside the church are daunting but they cannot decisively beat the church.
Let me name what I believe the biggest obstacle in the church is today.
You ready?
Lack of attention. Ok, fair enough that is a bit of a let-down, but bear with me for a moment. Here’s what I mean by that. We live in a surrounding culture of chaos and noise. Our minds, bodies, and souls are bombarded by technology constantly. The world around us clamors for our attention. At what cost? We have lost our attention to God. In a world of notifications, social media, blue-light, and streaming could it be that our attention is in a million places but not in the one place it matters?
Here is why this matters: Attention determines affection. We cannot expect to be in love with God if our attention to Him is lacking. We cannot expect to obey Him if we do not love Him. And We cannot expect to live on mission for God if we do not obey Him. We cannot expect to fulfill our purpose to God if we do not live on mission. It is a chain link. Many of us may look around and wonder: where did it all go wrong?? We may point to a lack of disciples being made or a lack of holiness and obedience in the church. Those are good and valid concerns. Or we may point to a lack of love for God or a lack of purpose amongst the younger generation. But if we boil it all down to the bottom I believe we will find a staggering lack of attention to God.
Let me say it this way: lack of attention to God leads to losing out on the abundant life that Jesus came to give.
There are many obstacles to the church today but I am convinced that our biggest obstacle is a lack of attention to God.
We don’t know Him. So, we can’t love him. Be like him. Share him. Go to battle empowered by Him.
Our biggest obstacle is our abundance of attention on all the things that don’t matter, and our lack of attention to the one person who matters more than anything else.
“Be still and know that I am God” - Psalms 46:10
Faithful devotion happens through fixed attention on God. We must know him. We need a generation who will step back from the swimming noise of a thousand voices, and be still.. and know… God. When is the last time that you were still before God - the creator of galaxies, mountains, atoms, oceans, and sunsets. When is the last time that you turned off your notifications and gave your full undivided attention to God? There is a power source that can be tapped into and it isn’t in the news cycle, scrolling social media, endless TV, or Netflix binging. It is in giving our attention to the One who can save us from the noise and chaos.
Many obstacles face us in 2021. We know what they are. But here’s one that you can control:
Where’s your attention?