And if that happens, when people ask us questions about an idea, we usually can’t answer them well, if at all.
“It worked somewhere else” is not a convincing line of reasoning.
If you can’t answer a deep line of questioning around an idea, you don’t own it.
4. You won’t change your system
When you’re borrowing ideas from other leaders and organizations, the change you ultimately need to make is deep and structural.
Borrowing a promising idea can be like putting new siding on a house whose foundation is crumbling. It looks great, but you really haven’t solved anything.
As Andy Stanley explains in his classic systems talk, your system—more than anything else—drives your outcome.
Often the change you need to make is deep, systemic and permanent.
As I explain in Lasting Impact, a bad governance system or other structural barriers will restrict the growth of your church.
A pastor who insists on doing most of the pastor care personally will permanently stunt the growth of their church (I explain why here).
If you’re not willing to re-invent everything in your church, you’ll never be satisfied with the change.
Any change usually means a systems change.
5. You’ll ignore context
I’m a little hesitant to mention context because about 99 percent of the time I hear leaders misuse it. How? Most church leaders use context as an excuse, not as an explanation.
