Losing Influence: The Diminishing Reputation of The Church
In the marketplace, outstanding quality and excellent customer service build good reputations. Take either of these two components away, and a good reputation won't be achieved. This is also true for churches. If a church genuinely cares for people [excellent customer service] it's going to be known as a loving and caring church, but only if excellence [possessing outstanding quality] is the operating standard, will they build a good reputation.
A good name [earned by honorable behavior, godly wisdom, moral courage, and personal integrity] is more desirable than great riches; And favor is better than silver and gold. Proverb 22:1
Reputation matters! How people view The Church [Bride of Christ] is crucial to the gospel's mission and message. So how does the culture of our day see The Church? A recent Gallup study revealed that the percent of Americans who have "a great deal" or "quite a lot of confidence" in The Church or organized religion is at an all-time low. Just 36% of Americans have a high level of confidence; a far cry from the 68% in 1975.
We can blame it on politics, education, the breakdown of family values, or any number of reasons. But we would be wrong to do so. A more helpful approach, if we ever hope to reverse this trend, is for The Church to be honest about its condition. These trends reveal something The Church cannot ignore, the reality that many people no longer see it as having a good reputation. It is no longer seen as the light of the world or that shiny city on a hill.
Reputation is about trust.
When a company has a good reputation, it is so because people trust it. People believe the company will consistently do what it promises it will do. Of course, the opposite is also true. A company that doesn't deliver on its promises will lose trust and gain a bad reputation in time. If Americans believe The Church has a bad reputation, it must be that it has failed to do what it's expected to do; it has not kept its promises.
In The Church, we are held to the highest of moral standards, and we should be, considering we are meant to reflect God and His character into the world. We have the Bible, God's written word, as the foundation for our values, beliefs, and principles of behavior, and we're expected to live by that standard, not just preach about it.
Have we been saying one thing but doing something else?
Is the result of our diminished reputation warranted, even deserved?
Jesus was brutally critical toward the Pharisees of his day. On more than one occasion, He called them hypocrites because although they taught God's word accurately, they consistently failed to obey and live by its teachings. There's no greater opposition to unbelievers accepting the message of salvation than seeing hypocrisy in those who preach it.
The Bible warns that "one's life doesn't consist in the abundance of his possessions." As Christians, we are commanded against coveting or pursuing the things of this world. Our standard of living should be contrary to the world's standard. But when looking at our society, it's nearly impossible to distinguish between Christians and non-Christians. Christians like non-Christians carry an unhealthy amount of debt, live paycheck to paycheck, are preoccupied with increasing their comfort, and acquiring more possessions. We preach the gospel yet refuse to live by the standard it demands.
A good name [earned by honorable behavior, godly wisdom, moral courage, and personal integrity] is more desirable than great riches; And favor is better than silver and gold. Proverb 22:1
I wonder if most Christians were put on trial for what they claim to believe, would there be enough evidence to convict them?
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