6. You don’t understand the changing culture
Stagnant and declining churches often see a gap develop between them and the culture.
Because nothing has changed in a decade—or several decades—the world is seen at best as something they don’t understand, or at worst, as an enemy.
Outsiders who come in see a church like that as, at best, quaint, and more likely as irrelevant and misguided.
Jesus loved the world enough to die for it. The church should love the world enough to reach it.
7. You haven’t got new leaders around the table
Look around you. Are most of the people on your team the same people who were there five years ago?
I’m not advocating for high turnover in staff, but in far too many churches there is no plan to renew leadership.
Churches who position themselves for future impact intentionally integrate new voices and new leaders around the table. I try to keep a balance of established, trusted voices and new voices around our table.
If all the people around your table are the same as 5 years ago, you might just all be 5 years older, not 5 years better.
8. You mostly listen to the voices of current members
When you make decisions, who are you listening to?
Hopefully, (naturally) to the voice of God and to scripture.
But when it comes to human voices…whose wins the day?
Too often, the voice of current church members drowns out the voice of the unchurched people you’re trying to reach.
In fact, smart church leaders will intentionally hang out with unchurched people and bring their voice to the table. How you do that is up to you. That you do it is critical.
Don’t let the voice of current church members drown out the voice of people you’re trying to reach.
9. Your conflict is about all the wrong things
There will always be some level of conflict whenever human beings gather, so what’s your conflict about?
Dying churches spend their energy fighting each other and fighting change.
Growing churches spend their energy fighting for new opportunities to reach unchurched people and speaking up for the change that will impact their lives.
Dying churches spend their energy fighting each other and fighting change.
