Purpose gives direction by taking responsibility to give meaning. The church is declining because Christians no longer feel a responsibility stemming from a purpose of making “Thy kingdom come on earth.” With no Christian church accepted purpose with the responsibility for that purpose there is no Christian meaning. Successful secular businesses know the importance of taking responsibility to know its purpose. It is usually stated in founding documents and often reviewed and updated annually. Purpose is the vision of the company. To paraphrase Proverbs, without vision there is no reason to have faith in God.

All our ancient catechisms, Protestant or Catholic, start like a sermon to those already attending the church. Their focus is as a source of information of what a Christian is, not what they do, their purpose. The purpose is left further down in the catechism like a fine print disclaimer instead of the purpose being the main topic. Polity, law keeping, religion, is seen as superior to purpose, spirit filling. The Christians meeting together is more important than Christians interacting in the world. The first statements are all focused on self; you fear God, you glorify God, you be devoted to his glory, you express gratitude and you yield entirely to God. Successful secular businesses do not fall into this error.

They are not first a self-centered company who makes widgets (stuff.) They are not a company having self-absorbed employees who make widgets for themselves. They state they are not just a widget company but will change the world by making widgets. The successful ones are the ones who are outward looking and want to take responsibility for everyone owning a widget. They want to capture a high percentage of the widget market and grow that market among a greater number of people. The really successful ones see themselves not just as a widget company but as an economic sector company, they want to lead other sectors. “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, Inc.

General Motors declared bankruptcy in 2009 after over one hundred years of being the world’s most successful automotive company. The signs of the impeding bankruptcy were unseen or ignored by almost everyone. General Motors management had continued for over a decade with falling sales of vehicles people didn’t want while at the same time their work force demanded better wages and benefits, especially retirement benefits, without concern for the falling sales revenue and profits. Product quality and worker satisfaction declined as cuts were purposely pursued to stabilize the balance sheet. In the bankruptcy management blamed the workers for taking too much and the workers blamed management for taking too much. Each continued to avoid responsibility. The purpose was lost, it became making cars instead of selling cars. The American church today is in the same bankruptcy cycle. Both church leadership and individual Christians are failing to take responsibility for the decline of Christianity. To stop this trend Christians, leadership and individuals both, need to take responsibility and re-envision what their Christian purpose is. …………..