Tough Questions

At our church’s most recent elders meeting we discussed vision and leadership. I had brought out some old material I had from a lecture from current President of Lincoln Christian University, Don Green. We had a brutally honest conversation about where we are as a church and where we need to be.

I believe those kinds of conversations are critical as you strive to honor God in your service to Him in a leadership position. According to a study a few years back 27% of Christian Churches/Churches of Christ are growing while 73% are either static or declining. Declining churches tend to be more maintenance-minded while growing churches tend to be more mission-minded.

So we examined whether or not we are more mission or maintenance-minded by discussing these questions. I would encourage you to do the same with your leadership team.

·       Is your church maintaining a tradition or fulfilling a mission?

·       Is it more inward-focused (serving ourselves) or outward-focused (serving others)?

·       Are its paradigms (ways of viewing and doing things) oriented to the past or to the future?

·       Is it more concerned with being efficient (doing things right) or being effective (doing the right things)?

·       Is it preoccupied with programs or people?

·       Is it a Sunday church or a seven-days-a-week church?

·       Is it more concerned with making decisions or making disciples?

·       Is it more committed to satisfying the saved or to seeking the lost?

·       Is it becoming older and smaller or younger and larger?

As we assessed our situation we realized that we currently lean a little heavier on the maintenance side than we do the mission side. So we began discussing how to correct that. What steps do we need to take?

Let me first say this, our leadership must have absolute, unwavering integrity. We must be aligned in what we are and what we believe and what we do. We need to clearly understand our mission as a church. Our purpose is not merely to meet on Sundays. It is much more serious than that. We are tasked by God Himself to proclaim His truth in and out of season and to help rescue sinners from perishing.

An old adage comes to mind when I consider this: Methods are many, principles are few. Methods always change but principles never do. Our message can never change but the way in which it is proclaimed can definitely have room for improvement. We want to reach young families with the Gospel. It is our heart and soul. Everything we do this new year will be directed toward meeting that end.