From your own experience what
would you list as the top 5 reasons churches are declining in our country? I
don’t have research at my finger tips to support From my own thoughts on this topic
but I offer what I see as I coach church leaders around the country. If you
evaluate your church, leadership and ministry and find the following list too
close to home I have good news for you. The following list of ailments can be
cured. They are not permanent. You can take steps to correct them. Here
is my list. Such as it is.
1. Mission Drift: Churches and ministries get off mission. They start out fine and
on target to fulfill the Great Commission then somewhere along the way other
priorities take presidence and the next thing you know you have drifted off
course and are no longer seeing people discipled TO Christ and then IN Christ.
Other things become more important. Take your pick. You can replace your calling
with any number of things. The trouble is you think you are fine and doing
well. Plenty of activities, meetings, events, programs, projects and so forth
to keep you busy and your eye off the ball. Mission Drift is a ministry killer.
2. The lack of Vision
Clarity: Many churches are adrift on
an ocean of ministry with no destination in sight. They don’t really know who
they are or what they want to be when they grow up or where they are headed. I
see great confusion among the ranks of church leaders in our country. At some
point each church has to discover and develop God’s vision
for their congregation and start moving in the right direction to
reach the place where God wants them to be.
3. Internally Focused: Many church members feel and think that church is all about them.
Their programs, staff, and money are all primarily internally focused on
serving the members of the church. I believe it was Thom Rainer that said 95%
of the programs in our churches are designed to serve the membership. I heard another
source state that 97 cents out of every dollar is ear marked to serve the
membership. There is a nation-wide epidemic among our churches in this country.
We are out of balance when it comes to our focus. Our priority is ourselves. We
are not the self-sacrificing church. We are the self-serving and self-centered
church. We are the church of the selfie.
4. An unwillingness
to Change: I have been told that over
90% of people with lung cancer or heart disease choose death
over changing their habits so they can live. This is the American
Church in a nutshell. We refuse to adapt and adjust to reach the people in our
communities. We want them to change to fit into our church and if
they will not do so it is too bad for them. We have divorced our mission and
married our methodology or customs or our
church culture and comfort. Take your pick. We have exchanged the
urgency for souls to come to Christ with something else that is to our liking.
5. Out of Alignment: Simply put. The church is out of alignment. Alignment with God
and His Word. Out of alignment with God’s mission and vision for
His church. Out of alignment with God’s values and priorities for the
church. We have lost our battle cry…souls for Jesus. Our battle cry has become
something else. We are not focused on honoring God through making disciples
that make disciples who will in turn make more disciples.
Well, that is how it looks from
here. What say ye? Why do you think so many of the churches in our
country are in decline? I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this topic.
What do you see causing the churches to decline? What are the key factors? What
are the solutions? Let us hear from you.
Marshall Shannon
Ministry Design Coach
Pre-Construction Navigator
Equipping & Encouraging
Pastors and Ministry Leaders
www.jhbatten.com
Creating Facility Design
Solutions
864-977-1632
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