Notice the word Christians is in quotes and not capitalized. I’ve thought about this a long time… there are many non-believers among God’s people in churches, and it shows! The stress, contention, divisions, and fussing within the church is evidence of Satan’s presence because God is not the source of confusion (1 Cor 14:33). Supposedly “christians” are leaving in droves…

I’m of the opinion that the best thing that could happen to local churches in America is for the marginal pseudo believers to either quit attending OR leave the fellowship. Then the fellowship (Hopefully) would be culled down to those who are genuine believers. Then those left would rightly treat those who left and disassociated themselves with the Church as real prospects for conversion.

This is not a new thought. Jesus made it very difficult to follow him. He set high standards to be one of his disciples and did not chase after those who chose to leave. Examples? The Rich Young Ruler (Mk 10:17-23), “Eating” Jesus’ flesh (Jn 6:51-59, 66-68), Jesus pressed selflessness to the extreme of death (Lk 9:23), homelessness (Mt 8:20) and leaving family behind (Lk 14:26-27). When God determined to show His power in battle he reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 301 (Judges 7:2-8, 22-23)!

God does not need large numbers to accomplish His will (Salvation of the lost). In fact, He will prune down the numbers of people who genuinely call Him their savior SO THAT more fruit is produced than if the reduction had not taken place (Jn 15:1-2)!

In my own denomination (Southern Baptist) half the members cannot be found. In every church I’ve served there was a 30% attendance to membership attendance ratio (70% didn’t attend… ever. That is not a good thing!). When I attempted to address the situation in three local settings (East Central Alabama, North West Alabama, and Birmingham), people had a fit and refused to try and restore the wayward sheep to the fold. Why? They wrongly believed what the denomination told them (The “Growth Spiral” Philosophy). The more you had as members (Attending or not, saved or not {Sunday School}) would translate into more members who believed. They didn’t consider that philosophy would also lead to false assurance and false conversions (Mt 7:21-23).

Is God culling the church Himself? If so… GOOD! The best thing that could happen to a local congregations is for the chaff to be winnowed away. Then those who are left… though they be few in number… would HAVE TO rely on God through prayer and holy living. If people don’t want to hear the Gospel truth preached and leave… sadly, let them go. Pray for them. Ask God to reveal Himself to them so that they might be saved.