The Great Rescue: Why reviving sick churches is just as important as planting new ones

By Jeff Baker

Sit back, grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable while I tell you a story from 3,000-plus years ago that resembles the current state of the American church. This story starts shortly after Saul became king of Israel and is found in 1 Samuel 11. Before you continue with this article, take a moment and read verses one through nine to grasp the picture I want to paint for you.

It was a typical day in the town of Jabesh. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the people were happy and carefree. Suddenly, their worst nightmare approached like a cloud of darkness, and they found themselves surrounded by the army of Nahash the Ammonite. He was a vicious enemy with brutal techniques of oppression and slavery. His signature act was to gouge out the right eye of his victims to demoralize, disgrace and leave them defenseless as slaves in his ever-growing evil expansion.

Why would he gouge out the right eye? In those days, armies would fight face-to-face with swords and shields. Warriors were predominantly right-handed, so shields were held in their left hands, protecting their hearts, lungs and bowels, while their right hands were free to strike with the sword. If a warrior didn’t have a right eye, then he would be forced to slide the shield to the left, exposing his vitals and leaving him vulnerable to a severe wound that could end his life. The army whose soldiers weren’t able to defend their vitals would be the army that fell victim to defeat.

So Nahash was removing the ability of his victims to protect themselves and fight back. He was taking away their will to dream and relegating them to complete submission to him. He offered to spare their lives, but from then on, they would live demoralized and powerless.

The people of Jabesh negotiated with the enemy and begged for mercy. They asked if they could send for help and see if anyone would come to their rescue. Nahash, being prideful and arrogant, agreed. Some of the messengers traveled to Gibeah, where King Saul lived. They shared their plight, and the people fell to the ground, weeping in fear and turmoil.

“The enemy has surrounded us and is threatening to take the right eye of every man, woman and child,” you can almost hear the messengers from Jabesh say. “There is no hope; run for your lives. He’s coming for you next.”

When King Saul returned from the fields with his oxen and heard this desperate and hopeless message, a wave of righteous anger came over him, and he said, “Not on my watch!” He took his sword and violently cut his oxen into small pieces as a sacrifice for the cause. He then gave those pieces to new messengers and sent them into the surrounding towns to gather all the fighting men.

Saul realized that if this was the message that had come to his village, then it had also gone to other towns. If this were the case, the people of Jabesh were stranded, defenseless and at the enemy’s mercy. So, he was saying to neighboring villages, “If you don’t join me in battle, I will come to your town and cut up your oxen like I sacrificed my own!”

A few days later, 330,000 fighting men gathered for battle to save the people of Jabesh. Saul sent the old messengers back to the people of Jabesh with a new message: “We will rescue you by noon tomorrow.” As can be expected, the response on the part of Jabesh was “great joy in the city.”

Let me explain how this story corresponds to the local church in America today. I have always felt like the town of Jabesh represents the local church, surrounded by the enemy. This has taken place over an extended period of time, during which we have let our guard down, stopped preparing for spiritual battle and grown comfortable in our so-called Christian nation.

When you’re surrounded, there is no life going in and no life coming out. We see this in America: fewer than 10% of churches are growing numerically. Somewhere, we let our guard down, we got comfortable and we forgot there is an enemy who wants to kill, steal and destroy.

We have an enemy like Nahash who desires to gouge out the right eye of the local church and take away its spiritual fight, leaving it powerless to offer a message of hope and good news. We are watching this happen in America during our lifetime as more churches close than are opening—to the tune of nearly 200 every week. It would seem the right eye of many churches has been gouged out.

The message of the local church has been diminished and is becoming irrelevant, offering no hope—the one thing that attracts the lost to the good news. Meanwhile, 3,500 people are walking away from practicing faith daily in America. The local church is in trouble.

But there is still hope!

Just like King Saul, we are called by Jesus to step up and sacrifice what we have, with righteous anger, and say, “Not on my watch!” We are called to rally healthy churches to empower, coach and resource churches that are ready to close their doors because they are stuck, defeated and demoralized. There is a spiritual war against an enemy who doesn’t want to see local churches thrive and give their communities hope. He surrounds many churches to the point at which no salvations are coming in, and no life-giving hope is going out.

I say enough is enough! It’s time for spiritual leaders who love Jesus and believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to stand up and once again speak with boldness as Saul did, “By noon tomorrow, we will rescue you!” It’s time for life-giving church leaders to join forces and rescue the American church before it’s too late. It’s time to push back the enemy and restore life to the struggling church.

These are the facts: in many places, crime is at an all-time high and murder has skyrocketed. Hate has saturated our nation, and division seems insurmountable. Divorce taints generations, and Americans see little to no value in the message of Jesus. If we’re honest, we’ll realize that we have allowed this to happen.

Every time a church closes, America gets darker. All the while, the local church is God’s answer for sharing the light of the good news. When the local church closes its doors, the light stops shining, and people are left to chase their desires. Does this sound familiar? Does this sound like the world in which we are currently living?

There is a better way. There is a solution. Yes, we need to plant more life-giving churches, but we also need to double down on rescuing the churches we have before their light goes out.

I recently had the privilege to come alongside a pastor who moved his family from Florida to Willard, Ohio, after being elected to a small rural church with only 15 people. Pastor Mike knew he needed help—someone farther down the road of ministry to share what he had. I had one simple agenda: to see Mike get the support and resources he needed to keep the church from closing and see it become a shining beacon of light in the community once again.

It is rewarding to say that, after some coaching, support, friendship and resources, the church Mike leads is thriving! They are seeing new people walk through the doors to find Jesus and get baptized. Mike now has the support and relationships needed to be a healthy pastor and the tools needed to dream a big vision for the community. Willard, Ohio, is getting a little brighter each and every Sunday. Joy is coming back to the city!

America has thousands of churches like Mike’s church in Willard, Ohio—and one is near you. To save our nation, we need spiritual leaders who will step up with righteous anger and declare in their hearts, “Not on my watch!” America can be saved, and the answer is in the local church.

Like King Saul, catch God’s heart for the struggling church and step into the solution. Everyone has something to give. Sacrifice your experience, talents, resources and time to see the bride of Christ, the local church, shine bright all over our nation. When the church is rescued, people are rescued. Let’s save America, one rescued church at a time!

Jeff Baker is the executive director of Church Boom, a ministry focused on rescuing churches and coaching pastors. He also serves as the lead pastor of New Life Church in Nebraska. New Life is a growing church consisting of five campuses. Jeff has traveled to over 50 countries, speaking to pastors and sharing the good news of Jesus. He’s been married to his wife, Kim, for 37 years. They have four children and 11 grandchildren. He’s a pilot and a thrill seeker who loves playing ice hockey, flying his airplane, hiking mountains and drinking espresso.