Spiritually Stunted Babies-Part 4

Over the last few weeks I've been looking at how spiritually stunted babies are like real, physical babies. This whole idea came out of observing my two little girls & how our physical & emotional immaturity is so often paralleled in our spiritual maturity. So here's the last parallel that I want us to look at. When we act like spiritual babies or when we're spiritually stunted...

We Still Need Someone To Clean Up Our Mess.

Believe me I could have used much more descriptive terminology because I'm thinking about a particular mess. Parents might not want to admit it, but the truth is that one of the greatest days in parenthood is not the day your child takes his first steps or speaks her first words; it's the day when your child finally learns how to use the potty all by herself! It's a great day when a parent doesn't have to deal with poopy diapers & all that goes with it, but imagine what it would be like if your child never hit that milestone. It wouldn't merely be gross; it would be tragic. They would forever be dependent on someone else to take care of a basic need.

Spiritually stunted babies are just as tragic. They constantly are running to someone else to clean up the mess in their life. Sure, every now & then we all need the help of others, but we all know people who are constantly having crises that they can't deal with on their own, & they need their pastors or some other spiritual leader to "fix" their mess. 

What's really tragic is that too often these spiritually stunted babies never realize what they're doing to themselves & those around them. They're either oblivious to it, or they become defiant & defensive. It's never their fault. It's always what someone else has done to them that's created the continuous drama in their lives. As a result, it becomes harder & harder to really help someone grow. Instead, family, friends, & leaders are pulled into a constant drama of hurt, blame, & unwillingness to really deal with the issues that always rear their ugly head. Until we acknowledge the reality of our immaturity, we can't grow & become stronger, more mature believers.

Spiritually Stunted Babies-Part 3

Sadly, churches are filled with spiritually stunted babies who cling to their routines & who throw fits when someone dares to challenge the statues quo. Why are these people stunted in their growth? Here's a possible answer:

We Still Can't Feed Ourselves.

It's funny to watch a little kid try to feed themselves. They get as much food on them as in them. It's cute when they're learning how to manipulate a fork or spoon to get the food to their mouth, but it's not so cute when all of this happens & a few minutes after the meal, the child is complaining because he or she is hungry. For most kids there is a stage where they should be able to feed themselves, & if they can't, something is wrong.

Spiritual babies are not that different. They either don't know how or refuse to feed themselves spiritually. Often they assume that it's someone else's job to feed them. Their Bibles become props used to decorate their homes or as an accessory each Sunday at church. In some cases, their Bible doesn't even get that much attention. Having served in ministry in one way or another for 20 years, I'm still shocked at how often I see people, especially men, come to worship or Bible study without a Bible. I mean surely you think you're going to need & use your Bible at church, right? 

As a result, they get just enough of God's Word into their lives to make a mess. They often talk about the Bible, but they don't really know Scripture or use it as the filter for their worldview. That's why it's not uncommon for spiritually stunted babies to be self-righteous hypocrites who hold people to standards of "holiness" that aren't even biblical. Each Sunday they climb into their high-chairs, known as a pew, & demand to be fed by the pastor or their small group leader. If you want a picture of a spiritually stunted baby, go check out the Pharisees in the Gospels. They embody the idea of spiritually stunted. 

Believers who can't feed themselves will not be healthy believers, & it will affect the rest of the family (church.)

Spiritually Stunted Babies-Part 2

All of us hit the pause button from time to time in our spiritual growth, but sometimes something happens and our growth gets completely stunted. It's as if we're spiritual 2 year olds, & we definitely know how to show it. Here's the second way to spot the spiritually stunted babies:

We Still Throw Fits.

Last week I talked about the fact that little kids love routine & when that routine gets messed up, the kid usually flips. That of course leads to the fit. We've all seen them. The kid momentarily loses their mind as well as control of their body. They jump up & down or roll around uncontrollably; there's usually crying or screaming involved. It's fun, big fun, but usually if the parent can wait it out, it's over relatively quickly.

The same is true of a spiritual baby. Babies, both spiritual & physical, are still primarily focused on themselves, & both spiritual & physical babies cry & throw fits when they have a need they think is going unmet. Here's the thing: not all fits are the result of purely selfish desires. A lot of times the needs are real, but the way a person goes about expressing the need is what is selfish. That's where it takes real leadership to determine whether you're dealing with a selfish person or someone who has some growing to do & is just ACTING selfish. Those are the fits you can walk with someone through & help them grow. It's when you deal with someone who seems to be a chronic fit-thrower that you need to be really concerned. That's a sign of stunted growth, & there is more going on than the particular issue they're throwing a fit about this time.

So the next time that person throws a fit because you messed with their routine, you have to figure out whether they're being selfish at the time or if they are just plain selfish. A lot of times a little kid needs you to stop & explain things further to calm them down. Then they're good. Remember that simple practice next time somebody throws a fit.

Spiritually Stunted Babies

All Christians go through seasons where we aren't growing. It may be due to our laziness or some other sin that drags us off the path of Christ, but no matter what the cause, we've all been there. Those who deny that are lying to themselves! However, I've also noticed that our churches are filled with a lot of people who don't look like it, but they are spiritual babies. They've been Christians for a long time, but somewhere along the way their growth was stunted. They may know the language & the church culture, but in reality they're reliving the same year(s) of their faith over & over again. 

Over the next few weeks I'm going to give you handful of ways you can spot the spiritually stunted babies around you or maybe that stunted baby is the person looking back in the mirror (that's how it is for me sometimes). Here's the first way that we (church people) act like spiritually stunted babies:

We Need Our Routine.

Babies like routines. Babies need routines in order to function at their best. Try messing with a two year old's routine & see what happens (we'll talk more about that tomorrow)! But here's something I've noticed: Little kids get into routines & they expect their parents to keep them up even if the child doesn't really participate. For example, when my younger daughter was little, she learned a little prayer song & insisted that we sing it at meals & at bedtime. At first, she would sing along enthusiastically, but after a little while she didn't participate at all. But guess what? If we tried to skip the song, which was getting kind of old to her mother & me, she freaks. She has to have it done that way.

In the same way, our churches have been built on routine, & there is nothing inherently wrong with that. Routine is important, but why should a routine stay in place when it is no longer useful? But that's exactly what happens in many ministries. The routine & the status quo are guarded, even at the expense of the ministry. Routine becomes a problem when it exists for its own sake. Just as a child eventually grows out of the afternoon nap routine, there will be structures & routines in your church that you will & should outgrow.

Watch out when you start messing with the routine. Those who NEED it will freak.

Book Review: Becoming A Welcoming Church

I recently received a copy of Thom Rainer's new book: "Becoming A Welcoming Church". Dr. Rainer is the the President & CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources. In recent years, he has a produced a series of short but powerful books focusing on specific issues of church membership, church decline, & church leadership. In this new book, Rainer focuses on years of research in the area of church guest experience & follow up with those guests. In just 100 pages, he is able to identify some specific issues in how congregations minister to their guests & how to move toward a more effective ministry to newcomers in our churches.

One overarching principle in this book that most churches & church members need to come to grips with is the fact that our churches are not as friendly & welcoming as we think we are. The research shows that guests perceive our churches as friendly...if you already are a part of that church. In short, church members are welcoming to one another, but when it comes to guests, we're not as warm & friendly as we think we are.

This general lack of self-awareness should move church members & leaders to reexamine this aspect of our congregations' ministry to insure that we are as effective in our ministry as possible when it comes to welcoming & caring for the guests who worship in our church this weekend. In order to equip congregations to look in the mirror, Rainer gives not only some ideas but also resources in his book to help our churches see themselves with fresh eyes. Those resources are available in the book & on Dr. Rainer's website. Church leaders would be wise to take advantage of them.

The meat of the book tackles the particular issues of websites, signage, security, cleanliness, & greeters. Rainer gives helpful insight into how to leverage these items in a way that connects with our guests & encourages an atmosphere of authentic, gospel hospitality. One issue that I found somewhat surprising is that research shows that guests feel the most uncomfortable in the minutes prior to the worship service begins. In many places they've been warmly greeted as they arrived, but then they find a seat & are practically ignored until someone stands up & tells everyone to greet each other. Then they're "warmly" greeted again. The problem is that it all comes off as artificial. It's not enough to have a good welcome team. The whole congregation has to see themselves as the welcome team.

The book closes with a great reminder that if we want to be welcoming churches we must be going churches. Our hospitality ministry should really function as an extension of our Great Commission ministry. We reach out to people in our everyday lives. We share the Gospel with them. We share how Christ has changed our lives. We invite them to join us for worship on Sunday. Then the hospitality ministry at our church takes on a greater urgency. It's not just about making sure people get a bulletin. It's about making sure that each person that is a guest in our church feels just as welcomed as they would in our homes or by our Savior.

I would encourage every church leader to pick up copies of this for the church staff, those who serve in their church's hospitality/greeting ministry, & for the congregation in general. The insights & principles in this book need to permeate the cultures of our local congregations so that we not only becoming more welcoming churches, but that we also become more faithful going churches.

The Friday Five

This week's Friday Five focuses exclusively on things that would be valuable for the Church. I've listed some music & other resources here to encourage & instruct church members & church leaders as they seek to know Christ & make Him known.

1. Music: Grace Alone by The Modern Post. This is a nice little EP from a Seattle based group led by Dustin Kensrue. The songs are great with deep, rich lyrics & a cool, modern sound. They do a great job reworking classic hymns while also offering great original content.
2. Blog: Vanderbloemen Search Group. Vanderbloemen is one of the premier ministry search firms in America. William & his team provide great resources for churches who are looking to fill a staff role as well as actually partnering with the church in the search process. June is Pastor Search Month at Vanderbloemen. The folks at their blog have already loaded the blog with some great posts about the dynamics of a search process. If your church is in a search process, it would be well worth the search team's time to check out the blog. If not, it would be wise to bookmark these posts because eventually, your church will be looking to fill a staff position & these resources & insight will be at your fingertips.
   
3. Book: Reclaiming Glory. This is a new book from John Mark Clifton. John Mark is a church replanting & revitalization specialist with the North American Mission Board. He is working with other church leaders to do something about the alarming rate of church decline & deaths. His new book forces us to wrestle with the question, "What about a dying church brings glory to God?" The answer is obvious: nothing. Therefore, what are we going to do about the thousands of churches at death's door? In the book he shares some great insights gleaned not only from his own, hands on experience, but form the stories of other leaders who are doing the work of replanting & revitalizing churches.
4. Quote: "Men's ideas of the wrath to come may be judged of by the earnestness with which they exhort others to fly from it." J.C. Ryle
5. Follow: NAMB_SBC on Instagram. This gives us a great glimpse into what the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention is doing to further the Gospel through church planting, church revitalization, & equipping believers to live life on mission.

Get The Church Outside The Church

This past Sunday our church did something way out of the norm. We didn't "have church." Instead, we were the church. We intentionally shut down our typical Sunday schedule & programs in order to host a Memorial Day Weekend Block Party. We promoted it throughout our community. We encouraged & equipped our people to invite friends, neighbors, or co-workers through social media & old fashioned invitations. Our goal was to build bridges with our community & sow Gospel seeds in the hearts of our neighbors.

Needless to say, this was probably very uncomfortable for some of our members & attenders. After all, Sunday is when we go to church & worship. However, what we wanted to remind everyone of is the fact that on this Sunday we were going to worship through serving & evangelizing our community. If we say we want to be known for loving our community & being #ForToccoa, shouldn't that be reflected in our schedule, even our Sunday schedule?

This outreach event allowed us to connect with people who wouldn't come to a worship service at 10:45am. In fact, we were able to connect to one young man who literally would have never crossed our path were it not for this event. This young man recently took ownership of a local convenience store. As he drove by our property, he saw everything that was going on at the block party. He grabbed some donuts from his store & came by to drop them off for us as a nice gesture from a new business owner. However, as God would have it, he dropped by just as we were sharing the Gospel. He stayed & listened intently. He then responded to the message by sharing with me that he was raised Hindu but that he really wanted to learn more about who Jesus is & that he thought he needed to come to church to find out. That's where we were able to share with him that our next message series is called "I Am" & it's Jesus talking about Himself, telling us who He is. 

This young man would have most likely never set foot on our property or had a conversation with the pastor were it not for the church's willingness to get outside the church's building. He would have possibly never heard the Gospel & had it stir something in his soul. Churches are often worried about what it will cost to do something really different. Churches should be worried about what it will cost if they don't do something different. Are our comforts, traditions, & conveniences really worth withholding the Gospel from our neighbors? Today is a different day. Many non-believers will no longer just show up in our sanctuaries on Sunday. That means we need to get out of the sanctuary & hit the battlefield. There are souls to save, lives to change, & seeds to sow. 

How can you & your church get outside the church in order to advance the Gospel?

Who Moved My Pulpit?

I wanted to give you a quick review of Thom Rainer's book, "Who Moved My Pulpit?". Dr. Rainer & B&H Publishing were gracious enough to get me some advance copies to review & distribute to ministry leaders. If you'd like to enter to win one of those copies, you've got three option. First, visit my Twitter page & follow the instruction in my #WhoMovedMyPulpit tweets. Or you can visit my Facebook page & follow the instructions in my "Who Moved My Pulpit?" updates. The last option is the easiest; you can simply leave a comment here on the blog. However, you need to hurry though because tomorrow I'll be selecting the winners & getting these advance copies out. If you miss out on one of the freebies, you'll be able to find it at bookstores on June 1st.

Dr. Rainer's focus in this book is on leading change effectively in the church. Some of the impetus for writing this book comes from the fact that 90% of churches are plateaued or in decline compared to their community. The overwhelming majority of churches need to change in order to survive & continue to be a viable part of the Great Commission.

In the book Dr. Rainer outlines a roadmap for leading change in the church that would serve as a solid baseline for any leader in any ministry context. In fact, I'm passing on copies of this book to our Church Leadership Team as we work through the process of revitalizing the ministry in our congregation. I'm also planning to get some copies to our local denominational leadership who will be working with churches seeking to revitalize.

If you serve on a church staff or as a ministry lay leader, you should invest in this little book. I finished it up in a couple of hours, so it's a quick but loaded read. If you'd like more information on "Who Moved My Pulpit?" visit the official website.

Why Churches Don't Revitalize

According to Thom Rainer, 90% of churches are either declining or growing at a slower pace than their communities. That means the overwhelming majority of our congregations need to take a good look in the mirror & consider how they might breathe new life into their ministry & revitalize their congregation. Sadly however, while the need is overwhelming, the response in many cases will simply not rise to the level necessary to address the issue. Here are just a few reasons why many of our congregations simply will not revitalize even though they're obviously in decline.

1) They Don't Realize They Need It.

This is a bigger issue than we may realize. Often decline is slow, almost imperceptible. That means we don't always see the decay or what led to the decay. The longer we're in a stagnant environment, the more it becomes normal. We become desensitized to the fact that we're no longer reaching people, that our church has become inwardly focused, or that our congregation is heading down a dangerous path. The only way to remedy this is for someone or a group of someones telling the truth. Yes, that truth will be ugly, & people may not want to hear it. However, if the church is going to turn around & become a vibrant gospel influence in its community again, they must first recognize that they're not. 

2) They Know It Will Mean Change.

Then there's the other group of churches. These churches know something isn't quite right. They recognize that they're not reaching people. They're just not going to do anything about it. Why? Because of change. Sadly, many congregations fear change more than they fear decline & death. The ironic thing is that in death everything changes. The programs: gone. The buildings: gone. The traditions: gone. The things we often fight to preserve at all costs will literally cost us everything, & they'll be pried from our dead hands.

3) They Can't See A Way.

Because congregations resist change, by the time they realize the need for revitalization, the task seems so daunting that they just can't see how it can happen. Usually there are really big issues: finances, declining facilities, & leadership issues are pretty common is church that need revitalizing. While these are big issues that will have to be dealt with, if you only focus on those, you'll be tempted to overlook the spiritual component of ministry. While tackling those issues, we also have to be refocusing on the core of what it means to be the church: The Gospel & The Great Commission. When a congregation gets back on track in those areas, the other issues will seem smaller because God will seem greater. These issues won't go away. In fact, you'll still face them when the church is growing & healthy, but you'll be dealing with them from a strong place spiritually.

4) Leadership Won't Lead.

You've heard it over & over again: everything rises & falls on leadership. When the leadership is either oblivious to the need or to afraid to address it, the whole ministry & congregation suffers. Too often the pastoral staff &/or the lay leadership is too afraid to lead in the direction of revitalization. Their fear of "What people will think?" or "What if this doesn't work?" is greater than their faith that God can use their leadership to revive the Gospel work of their congregation. If you're afraid to lead change, you can't lead. It's that simple. Leaders, you will have to give an account for your stewardship of leadership. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be like the servant in Jesus' parable who did nothing with what was entrusted to him. Yes, leadership is risky. Yes, leading a church toward revitalization will probably upset some people as it upsets the status quo, but isn't pursuing the Great Commission & advancing the Gospel among the lost worth agitating some stagnant church members?

5) They're Already Dead.

This is the sad one that nobody wants to talk about. Believe it or not, you can kill a congregation. Just because Jesus promised to build His church doesn't mean He will build your congregation. He will be faithful to His people, but He will not preserve a congregation that no longer magnifies His glory or advances it's mission. These are a relatively few congregations, but the longer a declining congregation does nothing, the closer they come to their time of death. If you're in one of these churches & you've fought the good fight & sounded the alarm only to be ignored or marginalized by leadership or the congregation in general, prayerfully consider moving on because what is coming is going to be even more heartbreaking, & you don't have to stick around to bury the dead. As Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead."

These are just a few reasons I've encountered & heard about in ministry. What are some other reasons why church who are in decline just will not pursue revitalization? Would love to have you leave some examples in the comments below.

If you're in the middle of a revitalization effort & feel overwhelmed, visit namb.net, thomrainer.com, & replanters.com for resources & encouragement in leading a congregation through revitalization.

What Makes A Church Big?

Some people love big churches. Others can't stand them. Those that love big churches point out how a big church can offer more programs & events. Those that don't like the idea of a big church point out how once a church gets to a certain size, you lose that sense of "everybody knows everybody." What if the things we use to define & judge big churches aren't really what makes a church big? What if attendance or number of programs really has very little to do with whether a particular church is really big? What if a church of 100 in attendance were actually a big church? And what if a church of 10,000 in attendance were actually miles away from being a big church? What if it's not just the "big churches" that can have a big impact or a big ministry footprint? What if big has less to do with the size of our congregation & more to do with our vision of the Gospel?

"You Don't Need To Be A Big Church To Have A Big Footprint.

You Just Need To Serve A Big God & Have A Big Vision."

Big as the world defines it, & usually as the Christian sub-culture defines it, is all about numbers. It's about the number of people in attendance & dollars in the bank. However, that's not big. A big church is a church that leaves a big impact wherever it goes for the Gospel. It's a group of people who seize their opportunities to have a Gospel influence at their jobs, in their neighborhoods, & yes, even to the ends of the earth. It's been said that the true measure of a church isn't its seating capacity but its sending capacity, & that truth hasn't changed. A church of 100 that mobilizes those believers to advance the Gospel & make disciples is a bigger church than the one that simply draws 1000 to a service. In Revelation 3, Jesus speaks to a church in the ancient city of Philadelphia who on the surface doesn't look very strong, but they are faithful. As a result, Jesus says He has opened a door for them to be a Gospel influence in the world. They're not "big". They're not impressive, but their faithfulness makes them far more fruitful than a church that may be bigger & more impressive on the surface.

Here's the tension for us church folks though. If you're that church of 100 who is mobilizing people for ministry, you probably won't be a church of 100 for very long. After all you're reaching people with the Gospel & inviting them to connect to God's Church as they learn to follow Jesus. That means we have to hold on to our programs, ministries, structures, methods, & buildings with a loose grip so that those we've reached with the Gospel can come on board & find their place in the Body & in the mission. We're not calling people to follow our church or our way of doing ministry. We're calling them to follow Christ. If our vision & mission can be contained by our methods & our traditions, then our mission is too small. The mission of advancing the Gospel is bigger than all of our churches & all of our models & methods. 

So let's strive to be big churches, but not big by the world's standards. Instead let's pursue big by Scripture's standard. A big church is a faithful church, & a faithful church will be fruitful. What's a faithful church look like. First, according to Revelation 3 it's faithful to Jesus' word. Broadly that means being faithful to Scripture, but more specifically it means being faithful to the Gospel. Secondly, it means not denying Jesus' name. It means standing boldly for Jesus & putting all things aside in order to serve Him, know Him, & make Him known. When we do that our ministry footprint can become bigger than our ministry facilities. When we do that being a big church take on a whole new meaning.

Moving The Immovable

Mission & vision have been big time buzz words among church leaders for years, & in recent years these concepts have trickled down into the language of church members & attenders as well. Mission & vision are the things that help us move people, & we've all heard some pretty good stories about the church being just about immovable. However, it's not just the church. All people tend to want to settle into a comfortable rut. Mission & vision are the things that we hope will create & sustain momentum. Mission & vision are the things that help an organization or ministry know who they are, where they're going, & what they're doing. However, if we're not careful they also can become idols.

When mission & vision statements & strategies & processes become the true trademark of the church, we're in danger of elevating them to a place that's unhealthy, unhelpful, & most importantly unbiblical. Too often we think that we can move our ministries & move our people with mission & vision, but in the church it can be a little more nuanced than that. We can craft incredible vision statements. We can build strategies & processes that if implemented, will undoubtedly lead us where we want to go. But when dealing with the church, there is something else that absolutely cannot be left behind or overlooked. In fact, it has to move our people, our ministries, & us as leaders more than our clever cliches about mission & vision. 

That one thing is the Gospel. When leading a church or ministry, this has to be the foundation, & you can't assume that foundation is there. To start with mission & vision without the solid & consistent backdrop of the Gospel is to put the cart before the horse. Sure, you want to reach the lost & make disciples. Yes, you have an incredible strategy to lead people into greater faith in Jesus. However, if you & those you lead are not first moved by the power of the Gospel, you will experience a powerful truth about ministry leadership.

"No Amount Of Mission & Vision Will Move A People 

Who Are Unmoved By The Gospel."

Lately I've been spending a lot of time looking at Jesus' words to the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3. So many of them had gone off the tracks in one way or another. For some it was bad doctrine, for others it was the temptation to drift back toward religious pursuit of God rather than resting in the Gospel. In each case, Jesus calls the church to repentance. He doesn't call them to greater organizational alignment. He calls them to remember the Gospel & hold fast to it, & if they do that, they'll be confronted with their need to repent of whatever has gotten them off track. Some of these churches looked pretty good on the outside. They appeared to have it all together. However, they had drifted away from the Gospel, & the key to getting things right wasn't to remind the church of its mission & vision. First, they had to be reminded of & moved again by the life changing message of the Gospel. 

So whether you're leading a thriving, growing ministry, or planting a new church in a difficult area, or taking on a church in need of revival & revitalization, work on casting mission & vision to your congregation, build the process necessary to lead people into greater faithfulness, but first & foremost, preach the Gospel. If we lose sight of the Gospel, the mission begins to fall on deaf ears. If we've forgotten the power of the Gospel in our own life, we will not sense the urgency to experience it fresh & anew as we grow or to invite others to experience it for themselves. Before we will be moved by our mission, we must first be moved by the Gospel.

Complain, Compromise, Or Confront?

Recently our church has been digging into Jesus' words to the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3. One of the reasons why these passages are so important & so practical right now to the church in America is that these churches were living in the middle of a very hostile culture. Being the church in the 1st century Roman Empire was not easy. Pretty much no matter where you lived in the empire, you & your church were going to be under pressure & would probably face persecution of some kind. As Jesus speaks to these churches, He's talking to them about what they need to do in order to be a faithful effective witness even in the midst of a hostile culture. In America our culture is becoming increasingly hostile to faithful Christianity. This however is a new development for most of us. Until recent years, for the most part the church & the culture agree on some basics of right & wrong, good & evil. There was never total agreement, but in general biblical values, ethics, & principles translated to our culture. Those days are long gone. That's why Revelation 2 & 3 are some of the most relevant passages for the church to look at. In these 2 chapters we run into many of the problems that plague churches & threaten their ability to effectively advance the Gospel & make disciples. However, we also see what needs to happen in order for congregations to right the ship & become faithful witnesses to their world again.

We have so much more in common with the past than we realize. Then, like now, there was the temptation to engage culture in one of two extremes: complain or compromise. The complaining church walls itself off from the world, points their fingers, & complain about how bad the culture is, how hopeless it is. The irony however is that in their pursuit to "remain pure", they've actually walled themselves off from the very people they're called to reach. They've also unintentionally denied the power of the Gospel. After all, to think that anyone is "too lost" for the Gospel denies the Gospel's power. The other extreme is to compromise. The compromising church worries about "being on the right side of history." The compromising church is more focused on cultural tolerance than faithfulness to Christ. Therefore, it becomes easy for that congregation to begin to mix a little bit of our culture's values in with biblical teaching. They may even do all of this in the name of reaching the lost. After all, didn't Jesus hang out with sinners? Yes, He did, but there's a big difference between going where they are & doing what they do. In all of Jesus' encounters with sinners, no one ever accused Him of sin. The worst they could do was try to make him guilty by association. 

Jesus was tolerant of sinners, but not in the way that we define tolerance in 2015. Jesus' tolerance refused to condemn the sinner & instead compassionately confronted the sinner & invited the sinner to follow Him. That's the kind of tolerance the church should exercise today. In Revelation 2 in His words to the church in Thyatira, Jesus makes it clear that He cannot tolerate a church that is more tolerant than He is. We're called to follow His cue. not the world's.

"Culture Doesn't Need A Church Who Complains Or Compromises. 

It Needs A Church Who Courageously & Compassionately
Confronts It With The Gospel."

The church that either sits back & complains about the culture or who compromises to the culture actually robs the culture of the Gospel. Compromise dilutes the power of the Gospel because compromise always leads us away from its transforming power. Complaining does no good at all because it subtly tells the world, "You're too far gone." If the Gospel you believe in is too weak to save the worst sinner you know, it's probably too weak to save you as well. We have a message that has unimaginable power to raise the dead & transform sinners to saints. If you've really experienced the Gospel's power, you know there is no one that God could not save. So we can't afford to turn our church buildings into bunkers where we talk about the good ol' days & complain about the culture, & we can't afford to check Jesus at the door of our churches so that we can be more appealing to the culture. Neither of those approaches requires any faith or courage. It's time for us to be courageous enough to contradict our culture by compassionately confronting it with the hope of the Gospel. We have three paths to choose: complaining, compromising, or compassionately confronting. Which will you choose? Which will your congregation choose?

The Death Of Church-Wide Ministry

There's an issue that many churches face that's reached epidemic proportions. For one reason or another, too many congregations have become islands within their communities. The community has changed, but the church hasn't. Usually that also means the congregation has fallen behind in actually engaging & 

ministering to its immediate community.

Each week members & attenders drive in from other parts of town to worship, study, & serve. Then we drive back to our neighborhoods while the neighborhood around the church becomes increasingly neglected by the church. This almost never happens intentionally. It's usually the result of not knowing what to do as things change & usually change rapidly. However, the end result is a congregation that becomes more & more obsessed with themselves rather than the mission to reach those far from God. That's a recipe for disaster: the community is abandoned by the church & the church slowly begins to die.

"Churches Need To Replace Church-Wide Ministry 

With Community-Wide Ministry."

The only cure for what ails the church that finds itself in this or a similar situation is a radical shift back to mission focus instead of me focus. Everything a local congregation does should seek to serve not just its membership but its neighborhood. Our family ministries shouldn't simply serve our families. They should serve the families of our community. Our student ministries can't just serve our teenagers. They need to engage with & serve the teenagers in our churches' neighborhood. Our benevolence ministries can't simply be about feeding & clothing the less fortunate. They have to be about seeking to feed & clothe the lost with Christ. All of our ministries need to become radically Gospel-saturated. Every penny we spend should have a Gospel focus, whether that be a direct Gospel focused outreach or the clear equipping of the church for Gospel ministry to the congregation's community.

Many churches in America are in desperate need of revitalization. They're sick. Some of them are dying. Many of those struggling churches find themselves in the situation of being in the middle of a neighborhood they aren't serving or reaching. Attendance is declining. Giving is down. So we begin to try to figure out how we can salvage things. Meanwhile, the answer is literally all around the church. Perhaps the reason why our congregations are struggling is because we've abandoned many of our communities. A radical return to the mission is in order. It's time for our congregations to recognize our communities are our mission field. To ignore them is to ignore Jesus' call to His church & to deprive our neighborhoods of the hope found in the Gospel. Let's get rid of church-wide ministry & replace it with community-wide ministry.

Behind Enemy Lines

In American church culture we have a doctrine that many of us hold on to. In some churches it's an unspoken doctrine, but in some it's actually a core doctrine that is lifted up as the ideal. There are different ways to state it, but it's basically this: "The safest place in the world is in the middle of God's will." In some contexts that means that if you follow God faithfully, He will bless you with all sorts of stuff because God's primary concern is making you happy. In other contexts we don't state it that way but we basically peddle a version of Christianity that makes Jesus into a cure all & will fix all your problems as long as you follow Him.

There's a lot of problems with this philosophy, but here's the biggest: it has no basis in God's Word. I'm sure the person who coined that phrase had good intentions & was probably speaking in very spiritual terms. Yes, ultimately if you're in the middle of God's will, you are safe because He will be with you & He will see you through whatever comes at you, but that's not how it's usually packaged or received. So what does Scripture tell us about being in God's will? Scripture tells us the exact opposite. Scripture reminds us over & over again that being in God's will invites opposition & can be downright dangerous. Need I run the list? Job, Joseph, Elijah, Nehemiah, David, Jesus, Peter, James, Paul, & on & on it goes. These were all men who were seeking to live a life submitted to God's will & it was anything but safe. At one point or another, every one of these guys had a reason to fear for his life. Some of them actually paid for their faithfulness with their lives. So yes, while God will be with you through the struggle & through the suffering, being in God's will is anything but safe.

"What If Being In The Middle Of God's Will
Is The Most Dangerous Place You Could Be?"

Here's why being in the middle of God's will is a dangerous place to be: we live in the middle of enemy territory. Let's face it we live every moment of our lives in a world where Satan & sin get to run pretty wild. Paul even describes Satan as the prince of this world. We don't live in a world or culture that shares our desire to honor Christ & do God's will. In fact, we live in a world that is pretty much completely opposed to Christ & His will. So why do we think being in God's will is going to be safe? If you buy into this deception that God's will is safe, you will be tempted to judge both your faithfulness & God's faithfulness solely on your circumstances & feelings, both of which are temporary. Instead we need to judge our faithfulness by what God's word says about God's people, & we need to base our view on who God is on what God has revealed to us in His word. If you think being in God's will is safe, you'll doubt God's goodness & faithfulness when hard times come, & you'll miss the blessing of knowing that God is walking with you through the hard times.

Now here's where it gets tricky. Do we really want to pursue God's will? Do we really want to live so radically devoted to Christ that it might cost us something? Do we really want to be so ridiculously faithful to Jesus that it might get us in trouble? Or do we want a faith that simply sneaks us into Heaven through the backdoor but doesn't attract any negative attention from the enemy in this world? That may be our real issue. Do we really want to be in the middle of God's will? After all, that could get complicated, that might cost us something, that might even get a little dangerous. Here's one final word for Christians. Non-Christians are not our enemy. No, instead we have a common enemy. Satan is the enemy. Sin is the enemy. Non-Christians are still simply enslaved to the same thing that once held us. Therefore, we don't attack non-Christians; we invite them to reject sin & embrace The Gospel, to embrace Jesus. We attack the enemy, & we attack the enemy with the truth about him, the truth about sin, & the love, grace, & hope of the Gospel.

It's time for the Church to rise up & recognize we live on a battleground. It's time for the church to recognize we have an enemy, & we have people we're called to rescue with the message of the Gospel. But to do that we have to embrace God's will in our lives, no matter the cost. After all, when we consider the price that Jesus paid to show His faithfulness to us, no price is too high so that we might show our faithfulness to Him.

That's Not Fair!

One of the greatest tensions in leadership is the desire to be fair. The concept of fairness is pervasive in our culture. When that cultural norm bumps into our role as a leader, there is inevitable tension. Leaders have decisions to make that will affect people, & those people demand that the leader lead in a way that is fair, & the leader himself feels the pull toward fairness in his own leadership. However, another truth is pulling at the leader as well: that fairness & leadership aren't always compatible. 

"Fairness Is Usually Determined By Our Present Desires, 

But Leadership Demands We See The Long-Term Destination."

Absolute fairness in leadership is a myth. It doesn't exist & never has. God Himself doesn't even treat us fairly. After all, if God were fair & gave us what we deserved, it would be really ugly. Even if you just brought it down to the level of fairness that we usually operate on which is all about what we think we need right now, God wouldn't dare treat us "fairly". If He gave us what we wanted now, it's likely that it would ultimately destroy us. Instead God does what all good leaders do: He keeps the big picture, the long-term destination in view. 

As a leader, you have the responsibility of leading people into a future that they won't always see or understand. In the midst of that, you'll probably hear, "That's not fair," but don't be distracted by the world's mantra. Fix your eyes on the finish line, on the destination that you have been called to lead others to. Don't try to be absolutely fair; it's impossible. In fact, it can actually become an enemy to your organization, ministry, or family.

What Do You Expect?

Expectations are sort of odd. We all have them, even if we don't communicate them. Most of us have fallen victim to unspoken expectations because uncommunicated expectations almost always result in unmet expectations. There's another component to this as well. 

How many times have we seen someone, a kid perhaps, who was told over & over how stupid they were or how they didn't measure up, & lo & behold they lived a life of mediocrity: their grades were sub-par, they were in & out of trouble. Well, what did you expect would happen? If someone constantly gets the message that they're not smart enough, competent enough, or just plain good enough, they'll embrace that message & fulfill it through their life. You don't always have to come right out & say those things to someone for them to get the message. When you either explicitly or implicitly set low expectations for someone, don't be surprised when they live down to them.

The opposite is true as well. How many of us had a teacher, coach, parent, or leader in our life who called more out of us than we thought was actually in there? I've seen guys on the football field who accomplished more than what they should have because a coach set high expectations & convinced that player that they could actually rise to meet them. I've seen students who were bored or lazy excel because a teacher refused to let them stay bored or lazy. Instead he or she spoke to the potential in that student, & somewhere along the way the student bought into the idea that maybe, just maybe, they could achieve more than they thought possible. I've seen countless lives changed through the local church not just through the Gospel but through the Gospel centered leadership of men & women who refused to allow their brothers & sisters in Christ to simply fill a seat once a week or go through the motions of some ministry every once in a while. Instead they called their brothers & sisters to a greater sense of purpose, responsibility, & calling than anyone had before. The results are always the same: people rise to meet the expectations.

"Whatever You Expect Is Usually What You Get."

In the realm of leadership I've found this little principle to be true over & over again. If you set low expectations, you can expect low results. If you set expectations of mediocrity, don't be surprised when that's exactly what you get. If you expect high school students to act like fools, guess how they'll act. However, if you raise the bar, if cast a vision of excellence, most people respond by raising their output as well. They'll work harder, do more, & achieve more than they ever had before, not because they suddenly became smarter or more competent but because somebody called them to raise the bar.

As a church leader I believe there is no group in the universe whose bar should be higher than ours. In Christ, we've been called from death to life. We serve the King of all creation. We have been called to the greatest mission in history. Yet so often we set a low bar hoping to shield ourselves from risk or the possibility of disappointment. Ironically, there is nothing more disappointing than a low expectation follower of Jesus. It's time for us to expect more from ourselves as we follow Jesus. It's time for us to expect more from one another as we grow together & serve together. Considering our mission & calling has eternal ramifications, I would say it's time for us to set the bar high. After all, those we serve, lead, & reach out to deserve it, & our Savior, who we seek to honor, definitely deserves it.

How can you raise the bar for yourself? How can you raise the expectations for those you lead & serve beside? How can you speak to them & lead them in a way that calls out the greatness in them & calls them to do more & go farther than they ever have before. Whatever you expect is usually what you get, so what do you expect?

Time To Share The Spotlight

Statistically the vast majority of pastors will lead "small" congregations. Not only will those congregations be small, most of them will also be very unhealthy. They will be in desperate need of revival & revitalization. Most studies put that number around 75% to 80% of churches that are stagnant or in decline. 

So it's pretty clear most ministry leaders will be serving & leading in small, potentially unhealthy, church environments, yet if you were to visit many universities & seminaries for chapel or to take a peek at ministry training, or if you were to pick up a book on church leadership, do you know who you would find as the model of church leadership & what ministry should look like? You guessed it, the mega-church pastor. The names Chandler, Stanley, Groeschel, Noble, Platt, & many others seem to be omnipresent, but is this really helpful for young ministry leaders who are preparing & training for their calling to the local church?

Now let's get one thing straight right off the bat: I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH MEGA-CHURCHES. Did you hear that? So don't assume I'm one of these guys who thinks the megas are bad. They're not. Sure, you can find some that are off base, but you can also find lots of mini-churches who are way out in left field too. So it's not the mega-church I have an issue with. It's the way that our American consumer, bigger is better, mindset has permeated not just ministry culture but also ministry training culture. If the only leaders who are given a platform to speak to other ministry leaders are the ones with the biggest churches, then don't be surprised if other ministry leaders either feel like failures when they don't have 5000 people in their church or if they turn their backs on opportunities to serve those "small" churches. After all, it's easier to give birth than it is to raise the dead right? The only problem with that is that the Savior we serve specializes in raising the dead.

What we need to begin to do is shine the spotlight on great ministry leaders, no matter the size of their church. If most of our future ministry leaders are going to serve churches in need of revitalization, shouldn't they be hearing from revitalization leaders at least as much as they're hearing from the mega-pastors? After all, there is a chance that the skill sets that make a leader great in a mega-church may work against the same leader in an environment in need of revitalization. What if a ministry leader as influential & as proven as Andy Stanley wouldn't be able to do the work of revitalizing a congregation that some guy you & I have never heard of has somewhere in Nebraska or in small town Tennessee? Tackling the work of revitalization or replanting a church comes with a set of challenges that are unique, & those who have faced it, navigated it, & survived can speak to it most effectively. 

"If The Majority Of Church Are In Need Of Revitalization, 

Shouldn't We Be Hearing More From Leaders 

Who Have Done The Work Of Revitalization?"

Don't get me wrong, I want to hear the insights of leaders like Andy Stanley, David Platt, & Craig Groeschel. They have incredible leadership principles to share, but I also want the world of Christian education, publishing, & conferences to open the doors to a group of leaders who may not have a massive platform but who have massive insights to share with other leaders doing the work of church revitalization & with those who are preparing for ministry in churches who need revitalization. We need to hear those voices on campus at our universities & seminaries. We need their stories to be published, & we need platforms like Catalyst, The Gospel Coalition, Orange, 9 Marks, & The North American Mission Board's Send North America Conference to give the stage to ministry leaders who are quietly doing the work of renewing & revitalizing local congregations but making a lot of noise in God's Kingdom as churches on the brink of death discover a renewed sense of mission to advance the Gospel & make disciples. It's time to share the spotlight so that we can learn from one another & have an even greater Gospel impact, regardless of a church's size.

The Only Change That Changes Anything

Leading always involves change. It's unavoidable. It's almost always uncomfortable. It's always necessary. Leadership by definition involves taking people or an organization where it's never been before, so change is inevitable. When leading a congregation, change is especially difficult & sometimes deceptive. It's difficult because in many settings there hasn't been meaningful change at the structural or organization level for years, decades, or maybe ever! Ironically that lack of change makes change even more necessary in order to move forward. 

Here's where the deceptive part of change comes in. It's tempting & dangerously easy for both leaders & those in the congregation to believe the lie that simply changing programs, schedules, strategies, & structures will affect lasting, meaningful change for the congregation & that all of issues the group may have endured will magically disappear. I'm sure as you're reading that you're realizing how silly it is to think that way, but deep down we've all been fooled into thinking those external changes will some how lead to drastic internal changes. I wish it were that simple, but it's far more messy & complicated than that.

"Changing Programs & Structures Doesn't Change A Church. 

Only Changed People Change A Church."

Changing programs & structures is actually a lot easier than changing people. However, changed people are far more powerful than changed programs & structures. The hope is that changing structures & programs may create a more suitable environment for people to experience the life changing power of the Gospel & the community of the Church, but that doesn't guarantee that we will actually experience it. We are incredibly skilled at resisting Jesus & His desire to transform us. Our structures & programs are important, but don't be fooled; they're no magic bullet. If they were, 75%-80% of evangelical churches wouldn't be plateaued or in decline. If changing your groups structure or worship service or meeting space did the trick, we would have stumbled onto the right trick by now. 

Instead, we need a renewed commitment to creating the right environments & structures for growth to happen while also praying desperately that God would do what only He can do in our lives & in the lives of those we serve with & lead. So if you're a leader, don't think you can program or structure life change & heart change in your congregation. You can't. You're not Jesus. That doesn't mean you shouldn't boldly lead & implement the changes that are necessary. It just means that you need to remind yourself that those changes aren't really the change we're hoping for & praying for. If you're the member of a congregation that's in the middle of some kind of transition, change, or revitalization ministry, embrace the change that comes, but don't assume that those changes are just going to "fix" everything. Instead, immerse yourself in a fresh pursuit of Christ & what it would look like to embody His life through your life. Don't just attend a Bible study; pursue meeting with Christ through that Bible study & let Him begin to change you. Don't just serve in that ministry; seek to make Christ known through your ministry to & love for those you serve. After all,  the only thing that will really change your congregation, is when you & I are changed. Changing programs & structures can't affect meaningful change, only changed people.

Reflections On Church Revitalization & Replanting

Nine months ago I became the lead pastor of a congregation in the foothills of north Georgia that was coming out of some pretty difficult circumstances. To be honest, the church was dangerously close to death. Attendance was down. Giving was down. And morale was even lower. 

The congregation had been through a lot, but it hadn't given up. It wasn't just going to assume that death was inevitable. Since then we've been doing what we can to position ourselves as a congregation to get healthier so that we can again be a congregation that advances the Gospel & makes disciples. 

My story & our congregation's story isn't unique. In fact, it's unfortunately normal. Depending on which stats you cite, somewhere between 70% & 85% of evangelical churches in America are plateaued or declining, & just so we're clear "plateaued" is just a nice way of saying stagnant. The bottom line is that the majority of churches in America are not fulfilling their mission. There are lots of reason & more than enough blame to go around. That's not the issue. It is what it is. The question is what are we going to do about it.

Last week I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days with about 40 other ministry leaders who are in over their head in this ministry that people have labeled "church revitalization" or "church replanting". The truth is that days like the ones we had last week are desperately needed because most of us who lead churches are leading churches that need revitalization. Revitalization isn't a new ministry. There have always been congregations that needed to get back on track & become the people they're called to be. However, this is the first time that I know of where there is an intentional effort to connect, resource, & encourage the people who are pouring themselves out to reduce the death rate in the American church. 

After spending a couple of days with several other guys who are doing what I'm doing, here are a few observations:

1) It Could Always Be Worse

It's easy for us to think our situations are unique & that no one knows how difficult we have it. Believe me, the work of revitalization is difficult, & there are lots of issues you have to wade through. However, there are people who are facing things far more dire than I am. Stop assuming God can't work through your situation & remind yourself He will build His church. 

2) Stop Thinking In Terms Of Big & Small

Mega-churches are great. They have done some great things for God's glory, but they aren't normal. What is normal? Normal is a church of 150 or less. Simply in my denomination there are tens of thousands of "normative" churches, yet there are only a few hundred mega-churches. The potential of what God could do through the normative, neighborhood church is unimaginable. So stop thinking that your congregation is somehow inferior simply because it's a smaller crowd than the mega-church in your area. Both have a place in God's Kingdom & mission. Stop assuming you're too small & simply dive into the mission.

3) Satan Doesn't Easily Give Up A Place Where He's Had Dominion

This is an uncomfortable truth, but if a congregation is on the downhill slide or near death, it's not because Jesus has been King. Bad doctrine, internal unresolved conflict, & structural/traditional idolatry are all symptoms that the enemy is doing his business. Don't think that just because you showed up, he's going to run away. Instead, get ready. He will plan a counter attack. 

4) Revitalization Begins With God's Glory

Programs, new structures, or changing your church governance can only bring about limited change. However, turning the congregation's eyes toward God's glory & toward the Gospel can initiate limitless change. It's only the Gospel that changes hearts. So start there. Start with scripture, elevate God's glory, proclaim the Gospel. After all, the Gospel doesn't merely save us; it transforms us, & that's exactly what we're going for as we do the ministry of church revitalization: life transformation.

5) Know Your Context & Congregation

This is absolutely essential. There are no cookie cutters here. Sometimes you'll need to move really slowly. However, there are times when you can & should move quickly. In my particular context, we really needed to move more quickly than expected & even more quickly than I was comfortable with. However, our situation dictated that we be open to moving forward sooner rather than later. If you don't know your context & your congregation, you're almost sure to mess this up. Know as much of the back story as you can & listen not only to what people say but what they're not saying. Then PRAY. When God gives you clear direction, seek wise, godly counsel. Then don't be afraid to move if God is telling you & your team to move.

There's way more that I could talk about, but these are some basics that are non-negotiable insights that you have to understand if you're leading in a revitalization or replant context or if you're a part of a congregation that's seeking revitalization.