At the end of yesterday’s post “Something Special” I mentioned that the challenge for FCC and other churches like it is whether or not enough people there would be willing to make changes to grow, both spiritually as a congregation and numerically as a result of their growth. I posed the question of whether or not any church would ever need to change anything they do. Let’s take a look!
FCC, like many other small rural churches is steeped in tradition. They are well aware of their long herbage and the legacy of the past… and this is all great. They have also lost about half of their membership, and seemed to have leveled off with an average attendance of 45. Many members are of the opinion that since they have a certain way of doing things, anyone new will simply need to get used to them. I don’t know about you, but I’ve found this to be a common attitude. Yet even though it may be common, it misses the mark of making disciples.
Looking at Matthew 28:18-20, we are commanded to make disciples, and this command has two aspects to it. First is that of taking the Gospel to the lost. Second is fostering the spiritual growth of the saved. When either or both of these is missing, a church needs to reconsider what it is doing, for we all know that doing more of the same won’t change anything.
…And now comes a ridiculous argument! No! you can’t change the Order of Worship, we’ve always done it this way! No, we can’t change the music style, Jesus used the same Hymnal we do, and besides, if the music isn’t the old hymns, it isn’t worship; this is the way I like it! As the discussion goes on, we find that somebody will be upset and say something like this about pretty much everything, and the effect will be that nothing can change at all… until the last member dies off and the doors are locked for good. It doesn’t matter to me whether you like the new or the old, and you might want to leave me a comment telling me that nothing can ever change in your church, and that’s the way you want it to stay: Fine! I realize that many Christians are of mind that says that it matters what your preferences are in these matters, and that is all well and good.
In that case, a person would be showing very clearly that the leadership of their church has failed to keep them growing spiritually beyond a rather elementary level! You see, there isn’t a single word in the New Testament that tells us that our personal preferences matter to any great degree when it comes to Kingdom priorities. What does matter is reaching the lost and growing the saved to maturity. If that can be done with an all-traditional church, great! If it isn’t happening, then the Leadership of that congregation must look at taking steps to rectify the situation, or they will have something to answer for!
Yes, as always, this is simple… even though it may not be easy. One thing that I would like to have abundantly clear is that the Gospel message, and the purity and truth of God’s Word are NEVER compromised in this process, for that would be even more serious for the Leadership to answer for than doing nothing. Sadly, sometimes leaders make this mistake; it must be avoided at all costs.
Come on back tomorrow… even if you think I’m crazy… and we’ll have a look at the Leadership of FCC and see if there is common ground between FCC and your local church… and we’ll see if there is enough common ground to move FCC forward.
Hint: FCC can definitely move forward!
Life Project Blog 
“there isn’t a single word in the New Testament that tells us that our personal preferences matter to any great degree”
Beautiful. Don, this sequence of posts is so needed. UK, USA, anywhere and everywhere. Our place? Neither rural, nor city slicker. And yet so much in common, so many similarities in attitude, sliding numbers, etc.
(Your comment yesterday about “great facilities” caught my eye. There is a widespread “but the building is such a drain on finances” theme here and that is very valid. You offered an alternative.)
Thanks Paul
I suspect that we have most of the same challenges both here and in the UK, and many other places… but I’ve seen and dealt with them herem so I know what we need to do. As for facilities, FCC has great ones, and they will be a real advantage. On the other hand hand, I’ve also seen churches that overcome inadequate or outdated ones… so there’s hope for any local church that wants to come alive again!
I think it’s a case of the methods being confused with the core of the mission. We may dislike it, but most of what we do in traditional church meetings isn’t commanded by the Bible, from styles of music to Sunday meetings, to closing our eyes to pray. The goal is to spread the gospel, make disciples and hold to the teachings of the Bible. What that looked like for my parents’ church will look different from Martin Luther’s, will look different from the Puritans as they landed in America, will look different from current expressions in Africa and China, and so might look different at my church down the street tomorrow from what it did 15 years ago.
Great points David! You hit the nail on the head, my friend!
There’s a book recently published: http://toonarmycaptain.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/review-mission-drift-the-unspoken-crisis-facing-leaders-charities-and-churches/which covers it pretty well
Thanks for the tip
3 Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. 4 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter… 13 After they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name… 19 Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. 21 For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, 23 and they sent this letter by them..”
“The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings.28 “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”[Acts 15]
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I love this story so much, because it really addresses the issue of “the RIGHT way to do Church”, and the issues of “the way we’ve always done it” versus “how should others do it?” It teaches volumes about the right resolution of dispute and good-will difference of convictions and discernment.
Very much in the “minimalism” of Jesus Himself, we see a simple foundation laid, upon which the Holy Spirit will build and reveal further over time.
It just seems we seldom here this episode discussed in all the debates about “Seeker” versus “Contemporary” versus “Traditional” styles of “doing church”, as if these issues were a “new historical development”. Nope, these questions have ALWAYS existed (Temple or Mountain, Woman at the Well). And Jesus, as the Apostles led by the Holy Spirit, have always had the right answers.
May we hear them more clearly in coming days… Amen… Grace — LM
You are so right, LM. Several years ago I was in the middle of a transition from ‘traditional’ to ‘contemporary’ music. One day, a guy comes up to me and says that “The Hymnal is just the ‘contemporary’ music of former times.” Well that is obvious. The thing that caught my attention is that this guy was one of the ones who loves the old songs (as I do) but who started out fighting them.
Moral of the story?
When they “get it” about church, they don’t care about style any more!
The church I attended for nearly 18 years has had the same dilemma only for different reasons. They jumped with both feet onto the church growth movement bandwagon. Went from blended services to having one contemporary. They dumbed down the sermons so as not to offend or intimidate new comers. They built a school to draw more people from the community by providing a quality Christian education. Then to pay the huge debt they took on to build the school before even paying off the debt on our old building, they laid of our technical youth pastor (we don’t call them that in my denomination) after several cuts to teen & middle school ministry. Now we are loosing members to every other local church in the area that digs deeper into the Word at Sunday services!! A core of the members and elders begged the leadership not to push down this road of compromising the teaching of Scripture. We were supportive of contemporary worship and the school. Unfortunately now the contemporary service has turned into such a loud show with our music minister as the star! Now even people who participated in getting these things going are leaving in droves!! I myself have found a Bible intensive church with a more worshipful, yet contemporary bent, because I was tired of going to church to be spiritually fed and challenged to press on in the faith only to be given a happy, happy, joy, joy service which did neither!! It breaks my heart because I loved my former church, but I wasn’t willing to starve to death in the tomb it has become. Churches need to be cautious and wise in the choices they make and know which sacrifices are too great to make. We should never water down the Word or cut youth ministry. Especially in an era when 85-95% of youth leave church by eighteen if not before seldom to return.
Very well stated… you cannot mess with the Word. That is much worse than doing nothing when changes are needed. Thanks for you commentsfairyneedle
Wonderful wonderful post Don…God bless you! 🙂
Thank you!
“Who Stole My Church?: What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century”
by Gordon MacDonald, Thomas Nelson 2008, is a book that addresses this issue somewhat.
And, as far as you being crazy, Francis Chan wrote “Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God.” You, too, are rather relentless about making disciples of our Lord; keep it up!
Thanks Dennis, I think I like being called “relentless” rather more than just being annoying!
Reblogged this on Bixby's First Baptist Church and commented:
This is an interesting case study in church growth.