Plant New Churches or Revive Dying Ones: Who Cares?

What is wrong with the church today? 
Is is worth it to revive dying churches or plant new ones? 

Does anyone really care? The unbelieving world does not. Do we the supposed church (visible and invisible)? If we don't we will become one of the statistics that we said we would never be. These are going to be the primary questions I hope to answer briefly and come back to with a more in depth analysis later. The reason for this desire to get at the heart of the issues is because I recently was having a pint with some friends and this question was asked of me. "Why plant churches, aren't there enough and what's wrong with the ones we have? I thought that if it is a question from one, I also know it to be a question from many. Further, the question is not asked by the unbelieving world, but only from the modern church and de-churched perspective. Which is interesting, but crucial for understanding the debate. I know I already bit off more than I can chew, but lets look at those questions one by one and try to make sense of this.

What is wrong with the church today? 
Jesus told Peter in the Gospel of Matthew 16:18 that "He [I] will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it." The entire book of Acts is about God establishing His church (the first 30 years of the church) and as Ephesians 3:10 states, "that it is through the church that the manifold wisdom of God is being revealed." Which helps us clarify perhaps one thing: Do we believe that Jesus is in control or not. If God is sovereign then how He builds and when he chooses to rebuild is something we must trust Him in and continually striving to be faithful to Him despite our personal interests whether we believe the church to be fine or on the downward spiral. I would simply say and know I will be probably getting a fair amount of push back, but the there is nothing wrong with the current church and nearly everything. How's that for a postmodern answer. When I say nothing is wrong, I simply mean that God is still on His throne doing what He will and directing His people particularly to Him and how that looks in every context must be under constant review. Secondly, when I say everything, I simply mean that since we are inclined to sin and run from Jesus rather than to Him, we tend to think everything is alright and don't want to mess with it or change because after all 97.5 percent of people hate change. This means that we are actively trying to keep things the way they are rather than changing them. The problem is that many churches have kept doing what they have done since 1960 or even 1990. The church has been trying to stay relevant by following the trends of culture once it sees itself as irrelevant, rather than set the trends like the early church and reformation. This is why churches all of a sudden show up with candles and new services by changing the package, but once people open up the repackaged gift, they find it to be an old pair of shoes, socks, or outdated record. It does not make them grateful, but pissed off. There is the desire to secretly or even perhaps without even knowing it, trying to make make everyone good moralists but not Jesus followers. If we leave the Gospel or "good news" we ultimately might as well close our doors, for we are no longer a church on mission, seeking and saving the lost. We tend to think that there is nothing or everything wrong. If we think nothing is wrong, we have already become irrelevant and fundamentalist yet if we think everything is wrong then we are borderline seeking syncretism.  I believe the middle ground is Jesus' way. This brings us to our next question.

Is is worth it to revive dying churches or plant new ones? 
I have seen a few and far between folks going into existing churches that are considered to be dying and change them by re-altering their current center back to that of Jesus. Like I said, these are exceptions and not the rule. Once we slide down the slippery slope it is hard to stop the momentum as Charles Spurgeon puts it. I am not opposed to reviving a dying church, but it is much harder (much harder) than planting a new one, for although it becomes a mission field in itself, it it a mission field where the culture that has been created was in 1910 or 1930 or 1950 or 1970. The problem is there are many people who feel no need for change and kind of like the community they have in comfort and legacy. Living in the days of yesteryear. They don't even realize they and their message is completely irrelevant. The other part of this is that they tend to be the leaders and main pioneers who fight change and will fight the new agent of change, You. I have been in these environments, the revive the dying that is, and all I will say is that it was definitely up hill, slanderous and constant battle with many deep seeded sins with no desire to repent, mostly the blind leading the blind (leadership) with no idea about the people who live across the street or knowing what kind of culture we actually live in, what the Gospel and crucial importance of living by God's Word is, and the fact that they were dying and still in desperate need of a savior. They had become the frog in the kettle that dies as the heat is slowly turned up. The sad truth is many of these churches who have plateaued or are in decline unfortunately won't die fast enough, repent, or even let Jesus lead them. They have become everything they aid they would not. Which brings me to the second part of the question. Why church plant?

Over 3,000 churches in America die every year with nearly 70 percent at plateau or in decline. Our cultural landscape has changed as well from a churched culture to a large amount of unchurched people. Our population has grown significantly and yet the church has actually gotten smaller. If you don't believe me, drive your neighborhood and try some walking into one or some of the churches on a Sunday morning. Also, look at the current census and city, state, and national statistics. We could be planting thousands of churches each year and still not keep up with population. With this said, the Statistics are also extremely skewed in that of the churches that exist and what people actually say on the census is only part true. Many people when asked about their religious convictions state that since they are not a Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or atheist, then they must be Christian. This makes our nation seem like a Christian nation which I believe to be a myth. We need need churches planted in your city, my city and all over the world pointing people to the hope that we have, not because we are just about conquering souls, but because we are also commanded to by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20. Which also means we must understand the Missio Dei or the mission of God and how we can join Him in it. This ultimately shapes our Christology (view of Jesus), Ecclesiology (view of Church), and eventual missiology (view of mission and how affects our context). May we get back to the plan of Jesus...building the church not simply being happy with the existing church in it's outdated and irrelevant forms and understand the true function. May we look to Jesus the author and perfector of our faith. May we role up our sleeves loving the lost and redeeming the found. May we plant churches that all look, sound, and appear different in each context with the exact same undercurrent: The true Gospel of Jesus Christ. May we all be missionaries in our context following Jesus whether we are called to revive dying churches or plant new ones. To God be the Glory forever and ever.