Every Christian is being discipled by the world around him or her. That is why Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). In certain ways, I fear we have been Cannanized. God has much to say about how we spend our time, how we function in the home, what we set before our eyes, when and to whom we submit, how we spend our money, and how we raise our children. If we drift from God’s Word on these topics, and others, we are in real danger.

I recently saw that doom’s day bunkers are on the rise. I’m not really a retreat underground with canned goods kind of guy. But, I’m growing in my appreciation for those who can identify real threats and take measures to guard against them. Any threat assessment of the church runs the risk of sounding universal and hopeless. So, qualification one and two: (1) These threats are shared from a very limited vantage point. (2) God can obliterate these threats with a flick of His wrist. Here are four practical threats on my radar:

We face a threat of not meeting regularly enough as a church.

If I were the devil, I would get Christians separated. I would convince them that one hour a week is plenty of time for them to spend together. When I was young, I had the privilege of growing up in a church where I was taught the Bible multiple times a week. Between Sunday mornings/evenings and Wednesday nights, I tally up at least 8 hours a week spent with the people of God, much of which included hearing biblical truth. I have no idea how many sorrows I’ve been spared and how many blessings I’ve received from the common means of grace as common people served me God’s Word. Many Christians today only sporadically gather with God’s people on Sunday morning. No organization, school, army, or church can survive scanty assembling.

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