Set it and Forget it Christians

I first used the term "set it and forget it Christians" back in the late 1960's when I was preaching regularly. I don’t know what specific incident, if any, precipitated the use of the phrase. I hadn’t heard it from someone else, nor have I heard anyone else use it since, so I guess I’ll take credit for it. At the time there was a womens’ hair care product on the market (I don’t even remember which one) whose slogan was something like "just set it and forget it". I coined the phrase to refer to what was happening in churches at the time. We would get people to make decisions to accept Jesus Christ, and join our churches, then just kind of leave them to fend for themselves after that.

My thinking was challenged in this direction once again recently as I was researching for one of the chapters in my book. I had previously read an article about Church dropouts when I was a subscriber to "Charisma" magazine. I couldn’t find my copy (I probably gave it away) so I got a reprint off of their website. As I reread the article, I found the following quotation:

"What distresses both sides of the issue is that, for the most part, churches
are more concerned about getting new people through the front doors than finding
out why, once inside, many are leaving through the rear exit."

The "set it and forget it Christian" is still alive. They exist in the form of the Church dropout that this article talks about, and also in the form of the spiritual "children" that populate so may of our Churches. These are the folks that are still in the congregations, but are not growing as they should spiritually. Paul talked about these in I Corinthians 3:1-4.

I am especially concerned about the Church dropouts because I used to be one of them. Many of those who are full time RVers out here on the road are in this category as well. I know that the Bible tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but many of us left Church before they gave that lesson.

I don’t fully blame the dropouts. I don’t think it is asking too much for Church to be a meaningful experience that enriches the life of every believer, and helps to make us understand the relevance of our faith to our daily life.

If you want to read the article by Andy Butcher to which I am referring, go to the "Charisma" website, www.charismamag.com and type "church dropouts" in the search box in the upper right corner. The article appeared in the February, 2005 issue.

The Great Commission tells us to "[enroll] disciples of all nations" and to "teach them to observe all things" (Matthew 28:19-20). Winning the lost is a vital part of the mission of the Church, but winning the "saved" needs to become a prominent part of our mission if we ever expect to be what Jesus intended us to be.

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.