A Report from the Director
Could Your Church Have Developed WD-40®?
Think of the challenges and opportunities God has put in your context right now. Which one of those have you made 40 tries to address?
The church today requires innovation, not improvement. Making things better through improvements is always welcomed, but we are past the time when merely improving what we are already doing is sufficient to address the new cultural and social context in which the church finds itself. In a stable environment in which the church held sway as a cultural icon and enjoyed virtually universal deference, making incremental changes from one decade to the next and one generation to the next was sufficient. Updating the facilities, adding staff, introducing new programs, and making other changes to align with changing expectations and sensitivities made for continuity. Today the challenges go well beyond recruiting a few younger people for the choir or refurbishing the youth room.
This is one reason that so many congregational leaders, lay and clergy, find that approaches that worked in the past no longer seem adequate to address the declining participation and influence of their churches. Most of the efforts of the past were based on the assumption that people valued what the church offered and, even if they did not participate, knew that they should. The changes of the past were never sufficient to reach a society that each day grows more indifferent or even hostile to institutional church life.
Technical changes of the past may still help with those remaining in the church, but a new type of thinking will be required to reach the increasing numbers of people outside the church who see no need for our church or any church. The spiritual hunger may be there, but most churches are no longer seen as the place to satisfy that hunger. To recognize this new reality is not to judge what worked in the past so much as it is to name a new context into which we have entered.
Often new efforts are implemented after a long process of developing the idea, perfecting it to deal with objections, discussing it generously, building support for the idea, and taking a series of votes in committees and councils to authorize the new worship service, or new campus, or new ministry. Only then is there implementation of a full-scale version of whatever the project is. It may succeed or it may fail. In either case, it has taken a great deal of time and consumed abundant energy that may have been needed elsewhere. The time required for this process means that few new initiatives can be attempted in any single year. In the meantime, even if the project is a success, the environment may have changed enough that you are addressing yesterday’s need.
The innovation of a fast-changing context calls for a more agile and less uptight approach to new things. This is where experiments by a few or trial periods of limited duration can help. An atmosphere in which there is more permission to try things and less fear of failure can set the stage for learning that is far faster and less costly than fully polished ideas. However, such innovation requires more than good ideas. The ideas must be targeted toward the fruitfulness the church is seeking. The only test of the effort will be whether it bears the fruit God led us to seek. God may reveal to us new fruit we should be pursuing, but no project can continue without a missional purpose and outcome.
This is where WD-40® comes in. This product has been a mainstay in industry and homes for over 50 years. The “WD” stands for “water displacement.” In 1953 a small group of chemists at the Rocket Chemical Company in San Diego were attempting to perfect a formula to prevent corrosion by displacing water. The “40” in the name refers to the number of attempts they made before coming up with a formula that worked!
Now think about your church. Is there anything to which you are so committed that you have made 40 efforts to accomplish? Don’t we sometimes say, “We tried that once”? Think of the challenges and opportunities God has put in your context right now. Which one of those have you made 40 tries to address? So, maybe you tried the new service once, or tried to restart the youth group once, or tried to organize small groups once, or tried to reach people different from the makeup of the congregation once. If the ministry need is still there, what about one or two more tries, even if you cannot manage 40?[Lovett H. Weems, Jr.]
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You ask why you keep getting speeding tickets (why me God?!?) when the simple truth is you usually speed.
You ask why your friendships are so conflicted when the truth is you gossip.
You wonder why your kids don’t talk to you when the truth is haven’t been around to build a relationship in the first place.
Often problems whose origins seem mysterious to us are really not that mysterious to others. We just can’t see the truth.
The same is true for many of us who want our church to reach new people and are puzzled why that just isn’t happening.
Maybe it’s not as mysterious as we think.
Every time church growth surfaces as a subject, some leaders defensive. What’s wrong with small churches? Why are so many people obsessed with growth? And then people go hyper-spiritual and start quoting scripture verses to justify why church growth is a bad thing.
I write posts like this because I love the mission of the church, and I truly believe Jesus is the hope of the world.
I have met with countless church leaders who want their church to grow for great reasons (because they love Jesus believe people’s lives are changed by him) but are puzzled at why their churches aren’t growing. That’s why I write posts like this. (If you want more posts on growth, you can check out 8 Reasons Most Churches Never Make it Past the 200 Attendance Mark and 6 Keys to Breaking the 200, 400 and 800 Attendance Barriers).
And, yes, I have also met church leaders who want their church to grow for questionable reasons too. God knows the hearts of people, and just because some people might want a church to grow because because of ego does not mean all growth is bad.
And, in the end, healthy things grow. The mission of the church at its best throughout the centuries has been an outward mission focused on sharing the love Jesus has for the world with the world.
That’s why this matters to me (and to so many of you).
10 Very Possible Reasons Your Church Isn’t Growing
So with that in mind, here’s a list of ten things that might be holding your church back from realizing the potential of its mission. We’re often the last to see what so many others see, and once we see it, we can deal with it. Progress often ensues.
Here are ten very possible reasons your church isn’t growing:
1. You’re in Conflict
Ever been in someone’s home as a guest only to have your hosts start to argue with each other? It doesn’t happen that often, but the few times it’s happened when I’ve been around have made me want to run out the door.
Why would church be any different? If you’re constantly bickering and arguing, why would any new people stay? It’s not that Christians shouldn’t have conflict, but we should be the best in the world at handling it. The New Testament is a virtual manual of conflict resolution, but so many of us prefer gossip, non-confrontation and dealing with anyone but the party involved.
Growing churches handle conflict biblically, humbling and healthily.
2. You’re more in love with the past than you are with the future.
This can be true of churches that are in love with tradition and churches that are have had some amazing days recently. When leaders become more in love with the past than they are with the future, the end is near.
If your church is a museum to 1950 or even 2012, the likelihood of reaching the next generation diminishes with every passing day.
3. You’re not that awesome to be around.
Fake. Judgmental. Hypocritical. Angry. Narrow. Unthinking. Unkind.
Those are adjectives often used to describe Christians, and sometimes they have their basis in truth.
There are certain people who are energizing to be around. Unfortunately, too many Christians today don’t fit that description. Jesus was mesmerizing. Paul caused conflict for sure, but he had many deep relationships and incredible influence. The early church was known for compassion and generosity.
If people truly don’t want to be around you, don’t let the reason be because you haven’t let Christ reshape your character or social skills.
4. You’re focused on yourself.
Too many churches are focused on their wants, preferences and perceived needs. They are self-focused organizations and self-focused people. It should be no surprise that outsiders never feel welcomed, valued or included.
If you want to reach people, you can’t be self focused. After all, a life devoted to self ultimately leaves you alone.
5. You think culture is the enemy.
If all you ever are is angry at the culture around us, how are you going to reach people in that culture? Christians who consistently expect non-Christians to act like Christians baffle me (I wrote about that here.)
If you treat your unchurched neighbour like an enemy, why would he ever want to be your friend?
6. You’re afraid to risk what is for the sake of what might be.
Let’s face it, at least you’ve got something going for you. You’re paying the bills. You at least have X amount of people.
And if you’ve had any modicum of success recently, you’re going to be hesitant to risk what is for what could be. The greatest enemy of your future success is your current success.
When you’re perpetually afraid to risk what is for the sake of what might be, you might as well cue the funeral music now.
7. You can’t make a decision.
Governance will become a major issue for future churches. When your decision making is rooted in complex bureaucracy or congregational approval for every major change, it makes decision making difficult and courageous change almost impossible.
To get a glimpse of the kind of constitutional set up effective churches will need in the future, don’t miss Jeff Brodie’s awesome post on what every church constitution needs.
8. You talk more than you act.
Most church leaders love to think and love to debate issues.
Effective leaders add one more component. They act.
Most church leaders I know overthink and underact. If you acted on even a few more of your good ideas, you could possible be twice as effective in a very short timeframe.
9. You don’t think there’s anything wrong with your church.
I still run into a surprising amount of leaders and church members who love their church but can’t figure out why anyone else does.
Well, those churches are on their way to soon having not much more than a small club for the already convinced.
10. You’re more focused on growth than you are on God.
Some leaders get so jacked up about growth that they forget it’s about God and his mission. This is just a danger every motivated leader needs to keep in mind.
We’re leading people to Jesus, not to ourselves or our awesome church. Keeping the focus on Christ ensure genuine life-change happens and lasts.
These are 10 things I see holding our churches back.
What would you add to the list? Leave a comment!
Many of you have benefitted from our popular series 50 Ways to Build Strength in Your Church. These free downloads feature many practical and specific steps your church can take to improve ministry in a range of areas, including outreach, mission, church funding, and attendance. Please encourage other leaders in your church to check out these valuable resources.
We are now receiving applications for the 2015-16 Lewis Fellow program that brings together outstanding young clergy (under the age of 35) from a variety of denominational backgrounds for intensive leadership development activities and sustained peer interaction. Support for this program is provided by the Lilly Endowment’s Transition into Ministry initiative. Learn more about the program, meeting dates, costs, and eligibility requirements. Applications are due by March 31, 2015.
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Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Wesley Theological Seminary
4500 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC United States 20016, United States
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