The sun was beating down on Highway 90 in Mississippi, that long stretch of asphalt that cuts through the heart of the Bible Belt. It was a Sunday morning, the kind of day where the air is thick with humidity and the smell of the Gulf salt hangs heavy. Joseph and I were in the car, heading toward Ocean Springs for an art festival, our minds buzzing with plans to interview people about their faith. But before we ever reached the crowds, we saw her.
She was sixty-eight years old, a small figure against the vastness of the highway, walking at a pace that couldn't have been more than half a mile an hour. She was pulling a small rolling suitcase, a jacket draped over the handle, and a tiny Chihuahua trotting beside her. She didn't look homeless. She looked like someone's grandmother, dressed neatly but clearly in immense physical pain. Every step looked like a battle against gravity.
As we watched, car after car—literally thousands of them—zipped past her. It was Sunday morning. A huge percentage of those drivers were likely wearing their Sunday best, clutching leather-bound Bibles, and humming worship choruses on their way to or from a church building. Yet, for five hours, she had been walking from Biloxi, and not one person had stopped.
This is the pain point we often miss. We talk about the "State of the Church" as if it is a series of theological debates or denominational shifts, but the real state of the church is often revealed in what we do when we aren't sitting in a pews. If our religion doesn't move us to see the "least of these" on the side of the road, what is it actually worth? This encounter set the stage for everything Joseph and I would hear later that day. In this post, we’re going to look at what the people of the Bible Belt really think about the Body of Christ and how we can find our way back to the biblical Jesus.
After helping that lady find her hotel and praying with her, Joseph and I finally made it to the art festival—or at least, as close as we could get. The place was packed. They were charging ten dollars for parking, so we ended up nearly two miles away in a quiet, beautiful neighborhood. We had our microphones, our Jesus shirts, and a simple question: "What is your opinion of the state of the current church?"
The Veteran and the Vanishing Family
We were walking down a street lined with oak trees when we spotted an elderly gentleman sitting in the bed of his pickup truck. He was enjoying the breeze with his grandson. He was a Navy veteran, a man who had seen the world and spent time in Korea. When I asked him about the church, he didn't hold back.
He spoke about the "regimes" that had systematically tried to scrub religion out of the public square since the mid-nineties. But more than politics, he was concerned about the military. He told me how he carried a pocket Bible in Korea and how it pulled him through the darkest nights. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105 KJV). He lamented that today's eighteen-year-old recruits often don't have that "Book" to turn to when they're lonely and afraid.
But the real nugget of wisdom came when I asked him if the decline of the church was a "church problem" or a "family problem." He looked me straight in the eye and said it was the family. He recalled his time on the school board in Biloxi, noting how dropout rates skyrocketed when the "Great Society" programs kicked in, essentially pulling mothers out of the home and leaving children without guidance.
We’ve seen the house divided, and as the Word says, And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand (Mark 3:25 KJV). When the family unit crumbles, the church building becomes a place of repair rather than a powerhouse of outreach.
Fog Machines and the Preeminence of the Word
Further down the road, near a park where children were playing, I met a woman sitting on a bench. She was reading a book, watching her kids, and she had a look of quiet discernment about her. When I asked her about the church, she sighed. Her concern wasn't about politics; it was about the "bells and whistles."
"I feel like God's Word is not given the preeminence that it should have," she told me. She talked about the fog machines, the loud music, and the dark rooms that have become staples of modern worship. She argued that we’ve become obsessed with making the Gospel "attractive" through entertainment rather than letting the Word of God do its own work.
The Bible tells us that For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 KJV).
She was a homeschooler, viewing all education as discipleship. She didn't want the church or a science teacher to compartmentalize her children's lives. She wanted them to see that God is the author of math, history, and art. Her solution for the church was simple: Get back to the text. Read the Word from the pulpit. Ask questions. Stop relying on commentaries and start relying on the Spirit of Truth.
The Military Wife and the Search for Spirit
As we got closer to the festival, we met another lady who expressed a deep sense of being "overwhelmed" by the division in the church. As a military family, they moved often and had become "church shoppers" by necessity. She spoke about the exhaustion of trying to find a place that wasn't focused on finances or "who's wearing what."
"The focus gets taken away from Jesus," she said. She missed the old gospel she was raised with in Smith County. While her husband and kids liked the contemporary worship, she felt like the "entertainment" aspect often crowded out the actual presence of God. She found more peace sitting on her back porch, watching the birds and reading her Bible, than she did in many modern sanctuaries.
This resonated with me because the Bible says, Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name (Psalm 100:4 KJV). If our "praise" is just a performance to be watched, are we really entering His courts, or are we just sitting in a theater?
Personal Reflections
Walking back to the car, Joseph and I reflected on these conversations. It’s easy to judge the "church" as an institution, but as one man we met later on a park bench pointed out, "the church is me."
I have to be honest with you—I’ve fumbled the ball more times than I can count. There have been times I’ve turned a blind eye to someone in need because I was "too busy" or heading to a "ministry event." It’s a stinging realization that the very lady we helped on Highway 90 was a test that thousands of us failed that morning.
Jesus corrected me through that elderly lady. He reminded me that the "State of the Church" isn't a report card for a denomination; it’s the condition of my own heart. Am I connected to the Vine?
I often talk about this in my posts. We want the supernatural, we want the "big things," but often the most supernatural thing we can do is obey the simple prompting of the Holy Spirit to turn the car around and help a stranger.
If we aren't producing the fruit of love, then our connection to the Branch is withered. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit (John 15:2 KJV).
Biblical References
Throughout our walk in Ocean Springs, the theme of "Connection" kept coming up. We met a man who had been a drug addict for twenty years. He told us a powerful story of how God pulled him out of a drug house in Texas. He didn't belong to a specific church building, but he was more "connected" than many people I know.
He kept referring to himself as a "branch." He understood something that many theologians miss: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing (John 15:5 KJV).
He warned that if you still have "hate" in your heart or if your anger overpowers you, you need to check your salvation. You've disconnected yourself from the Branch. This is the "State of the Church" in its most raw form—individual believers staying grafted into the life-giving flow of the Holy Spirit.
The church is the "Temple of God," but that temple is built of "living stones," not bricks and mortar. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV). When we realize that we carry the Presence with us to the grocery store, the park bench, and the highway, the "state" of the church begins to improve immediately.
Key Takeaways
- The "Church" is not a building; it is the individual believer acting as the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
- Modern "entertainment" in worship (fog machines, lights) can often become a distraction from the preeminence of the Word of God.
- The breakdown of the biblical family unit is a primary driver behind the struggles of the modern church.
- Biblical discipleship starts in the home, not just in the Sunday school classroom.
- Being "connected to the Vine" (Jesus) is the only way to produce lasting fruit and maintain a state of spiritual health.
Conclusion and Call to Action
My friends, the state of the church is exactly what we make of it today. It’s not about waiting for a new "regime" or a better worship leader. It’s about you and me, today, deciding to be the hands and feet of Jesus. It’s about stopping for the lady on the highway. It’s about opening the Book and letting the Spirit of Truth guide us into all truth.
If you’ve been feeling "overwhelmed" or "spiritually dry," maybe it’s time to stop "shopping" and start "abiding." Turn off the fog machine of the world and get alone with the Word.
I want to hear from you. What do you think is the current state of the church? Have you had encounters like the ones I described? Please leave a comment.
If you want to dive deeper into walking in the Spirit and overcoming the obstacles the enemy puts in your way, check out my book Overcoming Night Terror: Making the Demons Leave.
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Action Items
- The Five-Second Rule: Next time you feel a "tug" from the Holy Spirit to help someone or speak a word, do it within five seconds before your "logic" talks you out of it.
- Immediate Micro-Obedience: Practice obeying the "small" prompts immediately—like putting away a stray shopping cart or offering a silent prayer for someone you pass—to train your spiritual ears for the big prompts.
- Back to the Text: This week, pick a book of the Bible (like John or Acts) and read it without any commentaries. Ask the Holy Spirit to be your teacher.
- Family Discipleship: If you have children or grandchildren, find one way this week to show them how God is the author of something "secular" they are learning, like math or nature.
- Examine the Fruit: Take a moment to reflect on John 15. Are you seeing the fruit of the Spirit in your daily life, or has "anger" or "indifference" started to wither your branch?
- Be the Church: Identify one person in your neighborhood who isn't "homeless" but might be "hurting" or lonely, and reach out to them this week.
Until we meet again, dig deeper and go higher. God bless you!
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