One of the most wonderful things about my home is my backyard. It is full of beauty -- flowers, birds...a true refuge. I can honestly say I don't ever take that beauty for granted.
This summer, after traveling for a couple of weeks, I noticed that my backyard bird feeder didn't need refilling. That was strange. As I watched the next couple of days, I noticed that birds were not flocking to the feeder like they usually do. (It is, after all, the only bird feeder in my yard that the squirrels can't get into.)
The reason wasn't apparent from a distance. So I took a closer look.
When I made a careful, close look, I saw the reason that the birds were not coming to the birdfeeder. Moisture had gotten into the feeder and the seed had gotten clumped up and hardened. The bird feeder was full of bird seed but birdseed was blocked. The birds weren't coming because they couldn't get anything out.
I emptied the feeder, cleaned out the bird feeder, let it dry, re-filled it and my birds are coming back.
I've been thinking about that bird feeder. I think the church these days is a lot like the bird feeder: looks like it has lots of nourishment, but, upon close examination, there are things that block the nourishment from getting out. And, like the birds, when people don't get nourished, they stop coming. Like the birdfeeder, cleaning out the clogs and hardened places takes patience and hard work. But the results are well worth it.
And the truth is that too many people look at the church like I first looked at my clogged bird feeder. Looks like there is plenty of food. What's wrong with the birds? Too many people don't take the up close look to find the hardened obstacles to the feeding...deny that anything needs to be done. Too many aren't willing to deal with the clogs.
The reality is that people are not going to come to church if they aren't being fed. Conflicts, cliques, resistance to changes, complaining unhealthy practices, unhealthy leaders -- all those things keep the life-giving power of the gospel from coming through. Those things need to go. The church may look fine from the outside. But the love and power God intends gets blocked and hardened.
Anyone who loves the church needs to take a closer look whenever there's a decline in attendance. Even in this culture where there is tremendous competition for time, people are starving for the deep love that Christ can provide. When the people aren't coming, take a look at why and be willing to clean out anything blocking the free flow of God's love.
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