Why? What do we do now?

So why are some believers abandoning megachurches? Why are younger generations, generally 40 and under, not attracted to megachurches?

Here is my theory, and as I have mentioned, it is probably WAY oversimplified, but then again, so am I, soooo...here goes. As our information transfer technology has gotten better, and as transportation has gotten more uncomfortable and expensive (thank you OPEC!), workers and businesses have once again embraced a "work where you are" ethic. Millions of people "commute" digitally these days, and they are thus able to once again live in AND GET TO KNOW the community in which they live. No more leaving at "Oh dark thirty" and hoping to get home before the kids fall asleep so they remember their good night kiss.

Once again people are choosing where they live and, more importantly WHO they live with in community, based on values and not distance to work. This is creating more community in general, and more importantly, a greater desire for community, period. This is a death knell for most megachurches, because the one thing that is sadly missing at many of those churches is authentic community. Indeed, as a former church planter, I have had people leave our smaller community specifically because they wanted to "sit on the back row and not have anyone know when they didn't come to church." Another elderly saint said to me one time, "I just don't think I could go to a small church of 200 people. Everyone has to WORK at it all the time just to have church." To which my response was, silently (yes, I completely chickened out!), RIGHT!

And that is what more people are looking for, a contributing, cooperative, collegial community! Something in which they have ownership, a say in what happens, and a place to share life with like-minded, and maybe completely different, people. People genuinely Gospel driven, saints called by God and filled by the Holy Spirit, realize that receiving propositional truth in sermons and classes is, at best, only half of the equation. Incarnational truth, that truth learned and shared in the give and take of biblical community, is as important in living the Christian life. And it is the VERY special megachurch that has structured itself so that its people learn and live in close knit community.

Younger generations want to invest in relationships based in Christ's love, not in bricks and mortar that will fall down some day. Many of them drive by a large church and not even think about stopping, because they instinctively know that they will get lost there. This is a shame because many large churches offer wonderful teaching and community, but their efforts are obscured by the bias against large buildings. Many megachurches, however, richly deserve the bad name they have. I am familiar with one megachurch in which the pastor has no officers supporting him and ministering to the church. Everything the church does is staff-directed or run by ad hoc committees. The people are asked to simply sit and give. Is this a biblical picture of the church? I think not. And many people are finally waking up to that realization.

Next...the importance of covenant community and the "way back" for the church.

What do you think?