How Did We Get Here?

I remember doing some coaching with a larger church in the Southern Hills District on the issues of church decline.  As the Chair of the Strategy and Missions Committee for the District, I was in a position to give counsel and direction to churches seeking a clearer vision.  As we sat  and looked over the statistics of the church’s gradual decline over the last 10-15 yrs, I heard the exasperated reply through several different voices, “How DID we get HERE?”.

Decline is a natural and normal function of any group that makes choices that inevitably lead to decline.  It isn’t that we CHOOSE to decline in the church, but we DO make the 1,000  little choices that lead to decline.  Let me explain, by illustration.  Mike is a friend of mine.   Now, Mike didn’t choose high blood pressure, but now he has a high BP. He didn’t want this…  he didn’t ask for it…  but now he has it.  What Mike DID choose was unhealthy eating habits and no exercise for the first 45 yrs of his life.  Now- he can either sit around and whine about it OR he can CHOOSE to do something about it.  Mike can’t fix the BP he has now- BUT HE CAN choose to change the patterns that created the problem.  Amen?  Mike can’t do anything about today- but he can fix tomorrow- and he can start seeing results as soon as he starts making better choices.  Our churches are no different. 

The choices that we make right now affect the difference in tomorrow.  In the church that I visited, once they accepted the responsibility to need to change the way that they did things- they were already on the road to new life.  As that church looked over it’s programs, it various attitudes and, most importantly, its VISION of ‘church’, they found immediate direction.  They found NEW PURPOSE!  They found a drive that had been missing for SO LONG.  Once they started FOLLOWING their Vision and achieving what they knew God wanted them to do- they saw life and opportunity.  They saw GROWTH!  Equally…  my friend Mike is doing fantastic!  He says he feels great.  Although he complains about the exercise, THAT is what has him feeling so good- and he knows it!

Friends…   we have work to do.  I’m not going to say that it is easy work…  or fun work….   But I can promise that we will change the world.  Amen? 

-Pastor Bob