In his account of the destruction of a multi-billion-dollar church facility in Turkey called, “Church of Holy Wisdom,” Dr Erwin Lutzer reported that on the fateful day, “soldiers fought their way into the church, killing all worshippers and destroying all religious icons and furnishings. The priests performing their duties were massacred. Churches and convents were ransacked, and nuns were raped.”

In his book, The Fall of Constantinople, Dionysios Hatzopoulos also documented the account of how the “Church of Holy Wisdom” died:

“The bells of the massive church rang mournfully, and singing hymns in Greek, Italian or Catalan, men, women, children, soldiers made peace with themselves, with God and eternity before being massacred.”

Today, all the massive investments poured into the construction of the Church of the Holy Wisdom have been totally wasted and lost after the passing of ten generations. The Church of Holy Wisdom, though highly reputable in the eyes of men, died with the passing of time because the leaders took their eyes away from the real issues that keep a church alive and strong. They merely focused on the physical structure.

After building one of the world’s greatest cathedrals, the Church of Holy Wisdom in Istanbul, Turkey, Emperor Justinian, in his dedication speech in AD 537, shouted, “Solomon, I have outdone you.” Such was the grandeur of this colossal edifice, whose glory and splendour adorned the city of Constantinople for generations. It was the late Canadian prophecy scholar, Dr Grant Jeffrey, who described a generation as a period of a hundred years, meaning that the Church of Holy Wisdom, which was dedicated in AD 537, survived more than ten generations before it was desecrated, hijacked, and converted into a worship centre for some other religion from around 1453. This temple in today’s currency sunk more than a billion dollars in construction costs.

The death of the Church of Holy Wisdom is a practical and peerless reminder of the vanity of money, affluence, and real estate as the exclusive means of securing the future of a local church.

What Then Makes a Church Dead?

Let us look at what Jesus saw in the church in Sardis before calling it dead. Jesus said, “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things say He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” (Revelations 3:1).

1. A dead church is a one in which the overarching direction or focus is diametrically opposed to the overarching values of God in His word – the Bible. The leadership simply does what seems good to it, caring less about God’s will or God’s ways, as enshrined in the mission of Jesus and the Apostles. Jesus told the church in Sardis, “​I have not found your works perfect before God.” Some translations say, “your works don’t meet God’s standards.” Simply put, there is little or no alignment between what God wants and what the church is doing. This is a dead church, and our world is sadly filled with many of them.

Look at Jeremiah 3:15, where the Bible says, “Then I will give you shepherds “after My own heart”, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding.”

Look at the words, “after my own heart,” referring to alignment, synergy, and unity with God. This speaks to a situation where a church and its leaders have unalloyed commitment to standing by and with values, doctrines, messages, and practices that align with God’s values. It was David that God used the same phrase for, “a man after God’s heart.” (Acts 13:22). Look at the context in which God used these words for David:

“And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.”

Look at the last words, “who will do all my will.” That is the key, Doing all of God’s will​, which is exactly what Jeremiah in Jeremiah 3:15 also meant by the words, “after my own heart.”  A dead church is wired to avoid or cherry-pick the will of God. It does not care about the consequences of its doctrines and practices, as long as its empires, names, and brands are preserved. All right, let us look at the remaining attributes of a dead church.

2. A dead church preaches a false gospel that is directly opposite to Christ-centred teachings. It makes the scriptures to say what it wants it to say, and no one can question this.
3. A dead church is founded on satanic directions; God has no hand in it. The founder was specifically instructed by Satan to start the church to win souls for the devil. We have gotten many of these kinds of churches in Africa, Europe, and North America. For some of them in Africa, clear signs to watch out for are several incidences of sexual immorality, strange sicknesses and deaths of members, arrogance, and pride in leadership, and above all, several occultic practices that have no Biblical basis.
4. A dead church uses the members to solely serve the personal agenda and ambition of the leader or leaders. It is a world of servitude and an environment of Egypt. You enter with your marriage and come out as a single. You enter employed and come out a beggar.
5. A dead church promotes sin and never speaks against it. They are lovers of iniquity.
6. A dead church has zero or no love for people, they are caustic, acidic, adversarial, enemy conscious and attack oriented​​. Every error from members or associate pastors is punished severely with no mercy. Some of the leaders of these dead churches use police and several law enforcement agents to harass members at the slightest provocation.
7. A dead church glorifies men, never gives the smallest iota of glory to God. It is a world of my commission, my grace, my anointing, my money, and my sacrifices.
8. A dead church is a business enterprise, solely established to make money, build fame, and brand the names of the leaders.
9. A dead church works in perfect harmony with corrupt people and corrupt leaders in the culture with absolutely no remorse of any kind.

The list is endless. If you think your church has most or some of these traits, you are in a dead church, and must get out of that place immediately. Do not fight the leadership. Do not attack anyone. Just get out immediately and be very honest that you are not making things up. We are not talking about a remote act of failure which can happen anywhere, but an environment totally given over to some or most of these traits. However, some people are in dead churches or in churches that are about to die and have been given a mandate from God to intercede for their churches.

If you have such a mandate from God, please obey God and pray for your church to come alive. While doing so, you will be empowered in a way that will fortify you against any and every one of these evil vices while you are praying for the resurrection of these churches. To the larger body of Christ, we all should also pray for the entire body of Christ as a matter of our daily prayer agenda. But most especially, we must also continue to pray for any church we think is dead based on all or some of the identified attributes.

Here is the most important thing—only God has the prerogative for choosing churches and pastors. Make this a matter of prayer. We are in a terrible time. You must not choose your church solely on reputational factors. It is your responsibility to test the spirit behind the church you want to attend or are attending. John said.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1).

Ayo Akerele is the senior Pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through ayoakerele@gmail.com