Why Churches Die

Jesus was never interested in quick external fixes. He always went to the heart of the matter. He taught that if we get the internal part right the external will follow. For example if you truly love God with all your heart, mind and strength then all those tricky questions about what you can and can not do on the Sabbath work themselves out and are no longer questions. This being so why do denominational leaders, pastors,and others in leadership spend so much time focusing on the external. It seems as if the belief is that if we just change the way we do things then the church or organization will change. So leaders attempt to make changes and are meet with fierce resistance and in many cases failure. Jesus would remind us that first we must change the inside and then the outside will change. Erwin McManus makes this point very well:

There is a reason churches are dying. It is not about style; it's about values.
If you can change what people care about, you can turn things around or, more
importantly birth something new.

In seeking to renew a church focus on building Biblical values in the lives of people. If you do this consistently the external changes will follow.

Good leaders work to build biblical values in the people they lead. Mediocre leaders focus on externals.

Technology Trap

Technology is great. I tweet, blog, email, utube and have face book friends. I believe it is an inexcusable error for leaders and churches not to avail themselves of the latest in technology. In fact one of the reasons church renewal is needed is because of the failure of the church to keep pace with technological changes (overhead projectors anyone?). The reason the failure to use technology is inexcusable is because it is so easy to learn. When blogging started to develop I knew nothing about it - so I got a how to book ( The Blogging Church) and started blogging. There are even church technology blogs (http://digital.leadnet.org/)to keep you current.

Yet there is a very subtle trap associated with using technology. The trap is spelled out nicely in the following quote from Leadership magazine (Winter 2010 page 31). Rob Bell is discussing using video to beam a pastors message to multiple locations. This is what he says,

There is something more powerful than simply beaming yourself into other
locations, and that is raising up disciples. Over time that will go farther and
faster, but right now it will be more work and slower. With technology today it's
easy to spend all of your energies reproducing your own voice, but there is a
longer view that says, what if instead of beaming video to those ten locations, we
train ten people who can go there and lead? That's a very basic question that
should be in the mix somewhere.

Our call at its core is to make disciples. Disciple making is a time consuming task that requires a personal relationship (think Jesus and the 12). The question is how does technology either help or hinder the goal of discipleship?

A Reminder

In the busyness of day to day ministry it is easy to forget our source of power. I find myself more often than not relying on my abilities, my ideas and my strength. A few days ago I was reading "The Life and Diary of David Brainerd" a missionary to Native Americans in the 1700's. What he wrote reminded me again of the importance of prayer. Here is what he wrote:

Having now a happy opportunity of being retired in a house of my own, which I have lately procured and moved into, and considering that it is now a long time since I have been able, either on account of bodily weakness, or from want of retirement, or some other difficulty, to spend time in secret fasting and prayer; considering also the greatness of my work, and the extreme difficulties that attend it; and that my poor Indians are now worshiping devils, notwithstanding all the pains I have taken with them, which almost overwhelms my spirit; moreover considering my extreme barrenness, spiritual deadness and dejection, of late; as also the power of some particular corruptions; I set apart this day for secret prayer and fasting, to implore the blessing of God on myself, on my poor people, on my friends, and on the church of God.

A good reminder.