Dallas pastor, Liberty dean answer ‘Why Churches Die’

“Church would be a whole lot easier if it were not for the members.” That honest assessment introduces a new book titled “Why Churches Die: Diagnosing Lethal Poisons in the Body of Christ.” Co-authors Mac Brunson and Ergun Caner admit to being surprised when they heard a leading evangelical pastor make the comment as he admitted that he hated pastoring.

“Perhaps this statement is a bit strong,” they add. “Perhaps it is better said that he loved the calling, but the tangential bureaucracy of modern church life drove him crazy,” Brunson and Caner write. They offer common examples of things that wear down pastors:

4the spat over bulletins,

4the arguments over the color of choir robes,

4the quarrels concerning parking lots, and

4the disputes over committees, deacons and sermon length.

“You get the point,” Brunson and Caner tell readers. “It is a sad secret that many pastors secretly resign every Monday. They lie in bed, debating internally whether to get up or hide under the mattress.”

With a combined experience of 50 years of pastoring, the two men recognize that many church members go through the same internal war. “They faithfully attend church but quietly rue getting up on Sunday. ?The silliness and sinfulness that consumes many churches drive Christians to survive church,” the authors write.

Brunson, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, served as president of the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference and president of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. Caner began his ministry as a youth minister in Vincennes, Ind., and later pastored in North Carolina. He now serves as dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Va.

Both men have been successful writers. Brunson’s two books, “The God You’ve Been Searching For” and “The Miracle You’ve Been Searching For” were released last year and Caner’s award-winning “Unveiling Islam: An Insider’s Look at Muslim Life and Belief” was co-authored with brother Emir Caner. He’s written 10 other books.

In this new release from Broadman & Holman, the authors “identify the diseases that besiege local churches, tell how to excise the poisons and bring church back to the biblical model?joyous and encouraging.”

The authors offer a New Testament survey of specific actions members are called to take. “Looking over that list, one could easily become depressed,” the authors concede. “So many people attend church to be seen, to make connections or to attack one another. Often it seems that the majority of people who profess to be Christians do not act as Christians.”

Using the list of the ‘Holy Dozen’ as a scriptural standard for church life, Brunson and Caner diagnose the most debilitating diseases in the body of Christ. “Consider this an autopsy of churches that have died and a biopsy of churches that are seriously ill,” they tell the readers.

Both men admit that ministers often swap tales at conventions and meetings, “relaying stories of horrific business meetings, contentious committees and brutal fellowships.” And yet, the biblical description of the churches does not include any of the wars, fights and furies, they respond. Instead, the 77 references they studied reveal “an empowered people of God, left as ambassadors to the world and family to one another.”

With so many local churches that die or are paralyzed or terminally ill, Brunson and Caner propose a spiritual autopsy to examine the root causes of such untimely deaths. “Why do Christians, many of whom have been raised and trained in godly churches and under biblical preaching, end up acting like pagans?in the church?” they ask.