How Did We Get In This Mess?

Why Are We In This Mess?

How did the church get to the state it is today?

One of the problems is a combination of the perfect storm of the times, instant knowledge and gratification, prosperity thinking and the church becoming a business/performance model instead of being a Bible teaching based model.

A few generations back, the church began to lose touch with its purpose. People started leaving, especially young people, because of perceived boredom, too many rules, it's my parents church, tired of supporting the pastor and never getting anything out to help me or us or our family, I can't afford the extravagant outfits, service was too long, the people in church were worse than the people who didn't go to church and a whole list of other reasons I've been told over the years.

The church model changed in an effort to keep the lights on, mortgage paid, and upkeep of the building, not to mention the salaries of the pastor and staff, incidental costs like conference fees, church material costs like Sunday School material, children's church material, paid musicians, tithe and offering envelop costs, administration costs to create and produce bulletins, choir robes, pastor vestments, communion supplies, flowers and building cleaning costs, and a whole list of other costs.

How to "fill the seats", which in turn will bring in offerings to cover the expenses?

Some churches answered this with, let’s make church more exciting and relevant. Appeal to the younger generation and build product/brand loyalty that will last for years.

Thus, the mega churches were born. Performance based services designed to appeal to the younger masses. Entertainment, relaxed dress codes, revamp or build larger campuses with bookstores and coffee shops, lounges. Make the church your new entertainment center.

Yet there was still a segment of church goers that were still disillusioned. Times were getting harder, and they couldn't afford church any longer. They had to make choices between paying tithes and paying rent. Conflicts were causing problems of holy guilt (my term), thoughts of I am not a good Christian because I chose paying rent over tithes, I chose feeding my family over contributing to the building fund, I chose the health of my immune compromised relative over church rules regarding attendance and money. And again, people started leaving churches.

So, the answer? Make bigger and more exciting performances. Find ways to have the people support the church and view God as being a being subservient to our individual will. Take a certain set of scriptures and use them to make the people think of God as having to answer to our whims and requests for health, money, cars, a big house and more, simply because "all we have to do is ask and believe." Thus, the prosperity gospel was born.

And of course, if you don't get the things it's because you are either not working hard enough, don't have enough faith, are too involved in worldly things and not focused on or believing God, you are not paying tithes or doing enough for your church or pastor. Now more holy guilt, and more people leave or don't even want to be a part of that kind of religion anyway.

So, a search begins by disillusioned church goers to find a church that won’t make the person feel guilty or that God doesn’t love them or even care about them because He keeps letting these bad things happen to them. A church that doesn’t say God is not blessing you because you don’t give enough of your money.

Everything in todays’ world is designed to make a person feel they are less than others because they are constantly being bombarded with that message from both the church and social media.

Adultery, child abuse, child trafficking, verbal abuse, elderly abuse, financial abuse, physical and mental abuse, shaming, and more are all being exposed among some church members and even church staff. That is current active Christian people in their own church, own marriages and own lives are or have participated in these acts until caught then are sorry and some gaslighting and blaming the victim for their actions, with sometimes even claiming that God approved of the action. And more people leave the church and others never want to join.

People see “Christians” in the media politicizing God. God supports our candidate. Join our church because God wants our political candidate to win, and they both will take care of you. We have a direct line to God and He only talks to us, and we know He hates these people or that group. God only loves us.

Personally, I’ve never seen more times where God supposedly told “famous” people His plans for politicians or other “famous” people and they spout it as prophecy and truth. The news is full of people killing other people, and according to them, they were doing Gods work. And more people turn away from God and leave the churches.

In May 2023, 31% of U.S. adults said they attended church in the past seven days, remaining below the 34% measured before the pandemic and the 40% measured in most years before 2013.

According to a 2021 article on Gallup.com

Church membership is strongly correlated with age, as 66% of traditionalists -- U.S. adults born before 1946 -- belong to a church, compared with 58% of baby boomers, 50% of those in Generation X and 36% of millennials. The limited data Gallup has on church membership among the portion of Generation Z that has reached adulthood are so far showing church membership rates similar to those for millennials.

The decline in church membership, then, appears largely tied to population change, with those in older generations who were likely to be church members being replaced in the U.S. adult population with people in younger generations who are less likely to belong. The change has become increasingly apparent in recent decades because millennials and Gen Z are further apart from traditionalists in their church membership rates (about 30 points lower) than baby boomers and Generation X are (eight and 16 points, respectively). Also, each year the younger generations are making up an increasingly larger part of the entire U.S. adult population.

Still, population replacement doesn't fully explain the decline in church membership, as adults in the older generations have shown roughly double-digit decreases from two decades ago. Church membership is down even more, 15 points, in the past decade among millennials.

Now that we’ve gone through all the rebirths of the church business models, and btw all of these reasons people either leave or never attend churches and more have been expressed to me by multiple people over time, we will look at the spiritual aspect.

There is a book, written a long time ago, between 475 and 221 B.C.E., called The Art of War. It was re-written years later by Machiavelli, but the same premise in short is, to effectively destroy something, attack it from the inside out. Chip away at its core, weaken its foundation and eventually it will fall.

So, why does God, if He is so good, allow bad things to happen?

In short, you do not understand who, how and what type of authority Satan is and has over the earth.

In the beginning, God gave authority over all creation to humans when he said, 'Fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth' (Genesis 1:28). The same humans turned over that authority to Satan when they succumbed to his temptation and obeyed the devil instead of God in Genesis Chapter 3.

Power by Permission

But notice the words of Luke 4:6. Satan is not the ultimate authority in the world because, in Luke 4:6, he admits this to Jesus when trying to tempt Him: “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me.” (Emphasis mine)

By whom? God. In His sovereignty, God considered it wise, as part of His curse on the world after the fall of Adam and Eve, to give Satan a huge power in this world.

But he doesn’t have ultimate power. We’re not dualists. One of the problems is people are no longer taught basic Bible scripture truths. God and Satan are not duking it out for power in the universe. God is God, not Satan. Satan’s not God. All Satan’s power is by permission. He has no autonomy to do anything God does not permit for infinitely wise purposes.

We see Satan given permission to afflict Job, right? This is the same kind of paradigm. The Lord said to Satan in Job 1:12, “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.” All his acts of opposition to God and God’s people are part of God’s plan as he gives Satan permission to exercise tremendous power in this world.

Now hang in there with me, we’ll answer the question in full, that is just the first part of why God allows bad things to happen.

Satan’s sway in this world is terrible and vast. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:1–2)

The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Jesus says in His last night, I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. (John 14:30)

The note that is struck in the New Testament is that in Christ’s death and resurrection, the decisive blow against Satan has been struck. As Satan comes against Jesus in his final hours, Jesus says, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). In John 16:11, he says, “The ruler of this world is judged.”

Here’s Luke 22:53. Jesus says — I love this phrase; he’s just so sovereign — “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

Jesus basically says, “You know, you get an hour. You get one hour. I know when it starts. I know what it ends. That’s your hour. It’s all by sovereign permission that you can do your dastardly deed in Judas and in me tomorrow morning.”

To put it in today’s vernacular, it’s the Divine, “Come at Me, Bruh, and give it your best shot. Because when you are beat you will have no excuses.”

Now here’s the part that fully answers that question. Humans turned over the authority that was given to us. Satan has already been defeated (Colossians 2:13–15) by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus on the cross. It could have ended right there and none of this happening today would be here including me teaching this lesson.

But in 2 Peter 3:9 it says, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Here is where most people stop paying attention, thinking that it is unfair to ask that of a human. He should give us some time or some other options.

In a Bible teaching church, if you delve into Bible Study the correct way, (that’s another whole lesson), you would know that this is not the only chance we’ve ever been given.

The Bible tells us, He had offerings, He did a Divine reset with a global flood, we humans continued with the animal sacrifices as a method to ask for God’s forgiveness, He gave us priests to intervene in asking for forgiveness, He gave Moses laws for humans to follow, and all of which we failed miserably in trying to keep because we thought they all were unfair.

So, He gave the life of His Son, a part of Himself and made it so easy, you don’t have to do anything but believe it, and live to the best of your ability by the instructions of the Bible.

So Satan, remember him? In the meantime, he is still roaming around down here on earth trying to kill as many people, dreams, Bible teaching truth telling churches, children before they can get to know God, hope, love, peace and anything he can kill, steal your blessings, peace, hope, love, compassion for others, knowledge of God, and destroy any and everything that will let people know the truth. (John 10:10)

Bring down his enemy from the inside out, if he can get the churches to break off into a million denominations over interpretation of the Bible, force their rules (not Biblical principles) and beliefs on people, have people try to understand the Bible without proper understanding so they interpret meanings based on what “they believe” it means or try to sound holier than the next by claiming God is telling them the meaning or accepting the meaning of the church leaders around them or worse yet friends, family and strangers, then the foundation weakens.

Satan tries to change the focus, blame God for his actions. It’s amazing how we can see it in the world, when an unfavorable news story is about to hit, a sudden attention diverter comes up and it’s all forgotten except the blame later. And again, he has effectively taken out a portion of believers and potential believers who fall for the charade.

The rest of the verse says, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Here’s where the prosperity doctrine comes in. Any scripture that talks about abundance has some churches convincing people that God is like a big Santa Claus in the sky.

He is here only to serve you and make your life more. He’ll give you more money, more fame, more material possessions, you don’t have to do anything when it comes to life responsibilities because He will take care of it all. He will instantly heal everyone. Buy everyone houses and cars. Make husbands and wives commit adultery and force them to love and respect one another. It is amazing how many serial cheaters try to guilt the other party into accepting their actions by claiming the other is not a Christian because they will not forgive them.

And if change doesn’t automatically happen and the offender is caught again, a disillusionment happens, and the person is made to feel like they didn’t give enough to the church or they didn’t work hard enough or they didn’t have enough faith or worse yet blame someone outside of themselves for God’s actions toward them or someone else.

God let so and so die because others didn’t have faith or because I wasn’t good enough or because someone trying to control the other person gaslights them with the same falsehoods claiming it is what God told them based on the Bible. And eventually, more people leave the church believing that God would not stop the other person from sin due to some shortcoming on their part.

So how do we combat this strategy from the devil?

We get to know Jesus Christ personally. How? We study. Now with almost every Bible, (be careful not all translations are reliable), every commentary, every Christian book available in digital format it is easier than ever.

Instead of leaning on your own understanding, especially if you are a new Christian, or relying on someone’s word for what the scripture means or thinking that God is showing you a meaning and it may or may not in fact be God (Satan is amazing at imitating God or else why would so many seminary trained “spirit filled” pastors believe that God has told them something that is outside of His will or scripture?) pick up books in the following categories that will help you correctly understand the Word of God.

In the past, this knowledge was gatekept. Only ministers, seminary students, pastors and clergy was given access to this knowledge but as with everything man touches and tries to control, it became either a conscious or subconscious method to divide with denominational beliefs.

Get books on Apologetics, Hermeneutics, Exegesis, Archeology of the Bible, History of Israel, History of the Bible, and begin studying. Get an amplified Bible, a Bible with the original Hebrew and Greek words. Books that will help you understand the original meanings of the Hebrew and Greek words.

You are going to want a good couple commentaries. Do not be afraid of commentaries of old authors. Some of the best understandings are from people who were in the 1800 and early 1900’s. Get a notebook and your Bible and start. Understand the history of the church and the authors of the books you are using.

It sounds like a lot of work but it is the most important work you will ever do. Your whole life depends on you understanding the Word of God.

It is important when understanding the Bible to understand who is talking, who are they addressing, in what manner are they addressing them (letter, verbally in person, through another person talking), where the speaker is at, where is their physical location, where did they just come from and where were they heading? Remember they didn’t have Uber or cars, so when they said they were going somewhere they had to mostly walk or ride animals. Where are the recipients of the Word? When in time and where in location. What were the customs during that time? Was the command to not eat pork a religious command because of Kosher laws or was it because there was no way to keep pork fresh at the time?

When is all this happening? What were the historical happenings or how did the Bible stories link? Did Luke know Jesus personally? Did he walk with him? Was the David who killed Goliath the same David that had to soothe Saul with the harp to keep him from killing him? Was that the same David who became king and who killed Bathsheba’s husband? Was he the same David who danced naked in public or the same one that God called a man after his own heart after he did so many sinful things? When did all these things happen? What happened in between these years? What else was going on in the country and culture at the time?

Why were these things happening? Why did God have to send Jonah to Nineveh? Why did God have to strike Saul of the New Testament blind on the road to Damascus? Why did Jesus say, if you love me feed my sheep? What did He mean? Did he have animals or were sheep a metaphor for something? Feed them what? When?

Now if you notice, I did not try to tell you anything you may believe or have been taught is wrong. I’m not here to bash other specific churches, denominations, or pastors. But I am asking you to do a couple of things.

Stop blindly trusting everything you hear, no matter who is telling you, including me. Study and research for yourself. If you are stuck on a meaning or if something you come across conflicts with what your church or pastor is teaching, then pray first, ask your pastor for clarification. If what they say is NOT FOUND IN THE WORD OF GOD, then ask God for direction.

Just keep in mind that Satan has already been defeated and his whole game plan is to take as many souls with him when it all comes to an end. Satan is the father of lies. Everything he says is a lie. (John 8:44) So if something you are taught is not in the Word or goes against the Word, you will know who and why you are being told it. And how do you know if it is what the Word means? Study and don’t lean to your own understanding.

All of these questions I’ve been asked over the years will be addressed one by one in this teaching series, Why Are We In This Mess?

Power of the Cross

The most important passage on Satan’s defeat in the cross of Christ is: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.” “This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

“Satan’s one damning weapon against God’s elect is taken out of his hand. There is no unforgiven sin anymore.”

So, in dying for your sins, in nailing your record of debt to the cross, Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. He disarmed them by nailing our record of debt to the cross, because Satan’s power is that he’s a great accuser.

If you’ve accepted His free gift and accepted that He loves you and died for you then we’re forgiven. So what’s he going to condemn? Nothing.

God Is Greater

Now in every battle with the devil, we can have total confidence of final victory. This is why Romans 8:38–89 says what it says: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers [satanic power included], nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” He has been decisively defeated.

If you haven’t yet made the decision to follow Christ then you can pray this simple prayer, believe that His gift of eternal life is not based on what you’ve done or will do, but on His love for you and His desire that no one perish. Find a good Bible teaching church, get baptized, study the Word and live your life for Christ accordingly.

Pray this simple prayer:

Right now, I believe that my sins are forgiven, I’m justified by your blood. I saved by your Grace and I am free from the power of sin to serve the living God. Thank you Jesus for receiving me, thank you for restoring me. Thank you Jesus for saving me.

Hope Hills is a Christian Ministry. We do not have a brick-and-mortar church. We’ve been in operation in multiple Christian Ministry fields from helping various communities, church planting, teaching, sponsoring programs like J.D. Perkins Senior Resource Network, which is a branch dedicated to helping seniors and their adult children navigate aging in America, to outreach programs. Everything we do from out outreach ministries to our work with individuals is all self-financed by proceeds from our founder, Author Kate Y. Perkins book sales. Be Blessed and have a great week in Christ.