Has the Church forgotten its hope in Christ?

By Rev Stephen Ndoria

I have been following discussions from various walls about Christians, the institutional church, her leaders and her ministers. In many places today, Christianity appears increasingly shaped by the language, fears, anxieties and philosophies of the world rather than by Scripture, prayer and historic Christian creeds and discipleship. Where believers once sought biblical wisdom, pastoral care and spiritual discernment, many now instinctively turn first to motivational culture, secular therapeutic models or self-help ideologies. Even ministers of the gospel sometimes appear more emotionally fragile, insecure and approval-driven than secular leaders managing corporations and institutions under immense pressure.

The confession, “The Lord is my shepherd” (Psalm 23), has been traditionally expressed as a statement of radical trust in God’s providence, sovereignty and sustaining grace. Yet in some contexts, it now risks becoming merely a comforting slogan or personal preference rather than a deep theological conviction that shapes suffering, endurance, courage, holiness and identity for God’s people.

The Church I grew in and was trained to serve in was taught to grieve differently, suffer differently, hope differently and even speak differently because we belonged to another kingdom (1 Thessalonians 4:13; Romans 12:2). Today, however, many Christians seem indistinguishable from the surrounding culture in speech, ambition, emotional responses, morality and worldview.

Maybe we, as Christians need to ask ourselves some crucial questions:

1. 𝑰𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏?

2. Are 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔?

3. 𝑯𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆?

4. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 “𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆” 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆?

5. 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈?

6. 𝑯𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆?

7. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 “𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇”, “𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 “𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕” 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑?

8. 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂, 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉?

9. 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚? 𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕 or does one have to replace the other?

10. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆?

The question is not whether psychology, leadership insights or modern knowledge have any value. Rather, the deeper concern is this: Has the Church, and the church ceased believing that Scripture, the Holy Spirit, Christian community, prayer and pastoral ministry are sufficient to form spiritually mature and resilient believers? Do we still consider human depravity as the cause of human sin and social challenges, or do we wholesomely agree with psychology that humans beings are good and it is conditions that make them ‘bad’?

If the church speaks exactly like the world, fears exactly like the world, hopes exactly like the world and heals exactly like the world, then what distinct witness remains?

𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

Having observed the drift, where the Church increasingly mirrors the world’s anxieties, therapeutic vocabularies and emotional fragility, a deeper question emerges: What does the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints mean in such a time? If many professing believers look indistinguishable from the culture in grief, ambition, speech and resilience, does this nullify God’s promise to preserve His own or does it expose a painful sifting?

The perseverance of the saints is not a sentimental assurance that every Christian will endure. It is the biblical confidence that those whom God has truly called, justified and sanctified by His Spirit will be kept by His power until the end (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:38-39; Philippians 1:6; 1 Peter 1:5). It is God’s faithfulness, not our flawless performance that keeps us to the end. Yet this doctrine must never become a cloak for complacency. True perseverance is evidenced by continuing in the faith, holding fast to sound doctrine, and bearing fruit in season and out of season, even, and especially, in suffering (Colossians 1:21-23; Hebrews 3:14).

But what we are witnessing is a visible weakening marked by ministers and Christian leaders burning out at rates comparable to corporate executives, congregations medicating grief with secular platitudes rather than Gospel hope, and discipleship replaced by self-optimization baptized in Jesus language. Where previous generations of believers endured colonialism, poverty, ridicule, persecution and political upheaval with prayers, hymns and Scripture on their lips, most today crumble under social media criticism, institutional questioning or mild cultural disapproval.  Funerals that in Christian tradition are supposed to proclaim the resurrection with solemn triumph now resemble display concerts or motivational send-offs.

Jesus Himself warned that in the last days, the love of many would grow cold (Matthew 24:12). Paul spoke of a form of godliness that denies its power (2 Timothy 3:5). The perseverance of the saints does not promise that the institutional church in every locality will remain strong or influential. History shows periods of darkness where the true lampstand is removed (Revelation 2:5), while a faithful remnant is preserved.

Christian saints persevere not by becoming emotionally invulnerable, but by suffering with hope that is anchored in realities the world cannot see. Those who persevere do not deny pain, anxiety or weakness; they bring them to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). They reject the world’s narrative that humans are basically good and only damaged by circumstances, while still affirming the dignity of the image of God. They affirm total depravity and the sufficiency of Scripture for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞:

1. Theological recovery: Returning to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, human sinfulness, the cross and future glory. This produces resilience because our hope is not in improved conditions but in a faithful God who works all things for the good of those who love Him.

2. Distinct mourning and speech: Christian funerals that weep and mourn honestly yet proclaim, “Oh Death, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15). Speech seasoned with grace, not mirroring the outrage or therapeutic jargon of the age.

3. Biblical formation over hybrid counseling: Pastoral care that integrates wisdom from general revelation where helpful, but never allows psychology to redefine sin, repentance or the sufficiency of Christ. Human problems are fundamentally heart problems before they are trauma or conditioning problems.

4. Suffering as discipleship: Embracing that the servant is not above his Master. Perseverance is forged in trials, not avoided through better boundaries or self-care types of gospels.

5. Ekklesia community and discipline: Genuine church membership with accountability, not consumer Christianity. The saints persevere together.

Ministers of the Gospel and Christian leaders especially must examine themselves. Insecurity that drives into people-pleasing, fear of man or constant validation-seeking may indicate we are feeding on the world’s approval rather than God’s “well done, good and faithful servant”.

The antidote is not more leadership or mental health podcasts, but secret prayer, meditation on Scripture and a fresh vision of the majesty of Christ.

To every weary but continuing saint: Hold fast. The same God who kept the church in Smyrna in poverty and tribulation, who sustained believers under Roman persecution and here in Africa under colonial aggression is able to keep you. Perseverance is not stoicism; it is Spirit-wrought endurance that says with Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

The Church may appear weaker than the world in influence, emotional stability or cultural power. But the gates of hell shall not prevail against the true Church that Christ builds (Matthew 16:18). The decisive question is: Will you, and I, be among the persevering saints? Not by our strength, but by clinging to the Shepherd who never loses any that the Father has given Him…

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Rev Stephen Ndoria is a minister in the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in Kenya. This article was first published on Facebook under the series: “𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝? You can read more of Rev Stephen Ndoria on Facebook under the page bearing the same name.