Church Health is not a sexy topic, not like Church Planting anyway! Just a few stories of churches going from 100 to 1,000 in a few years and it is easy to see why church plants are sexy! They are the stuff mid-life crisis dreams are made of. I can just hear the marketing now, "Find yourself in an old, traditional, boring, irrelevant, heartless, non-missional church? Well look over here... because I have something brand new for you. It is sleek. It is clean. It is hip and relevant, and it will change your life and your community!" Intended or not, I believe that is the message many church planters hear. Honestly I am almost to the point where I want to shout, "Stop planting more churches!!"
It is not that I am against church planting; for it is clearly a Biblical mandate. I am against the prevailing idea that planting more churches will make The Church in America more healthy. If all of the church plants over the last 10 years exhibited a dramatic shift in vision and effectiveness than their predecessors then I might agree that given enough time and enough new churches the disease in the American church will work itself out. But, there is no such evidence. And, if the number one factor in a healthy church is healthy pastors and staff, then we have to look at what we are doing differently today in calling, training, and supporting our pastors than we were 10 years ago. I think it might be a good idea to take a step back and cure the disease that ails us before we keep spreading it to a new generation of churches.
As I look around the country, the most successful church planting movements are being led by healthy churches; not by conventions or institutions. That leads me to believe that if we can find a way to cure our existing churches then the issue of church planting may very well fix itself.
4 comments:
i think you're right that church planting can seem "sexy..." until you do it.
1. It's hard, hard work.
2. The percentages of those that "blow up" vs. one's that fizzle out are not in the sexy category.
on the church health side, you're spot on! and, just because a church is new, doesn't mean it's healthy. just because a church is growing doesn't mean it's healthy.
let's be about starting and growing churches that are healthy. I loved your thought this morning that church health is actually missional activity. keep preaching it...errr, blogging it!
True enough man. I have seen the insides of two church plants, and the sexy goes away real fast when reality is smacking you in the face. I don't think I have met many church planters that have said, "Man I wish I had not taken so much time preparing, praying, and planning for my launch". On the contrary I have definitely met those who have said, "I wish I had known more about what I was getting into and prepared for it!"
These have been great posts, Jeff. I agree with your premise (so I guess that means you're right). However, you do realize you are completely going against our culture, right? I don't just mean church culture, but culture as a whole. Your post title today sums it up: trade in that old car for a 2010 model even if nothing's really wrong with it, sell the house you're in to move up to more space than you actually need, get out of that marriage that isn't working out and start "fresh", ditch the past and embrace the future today and all your troubles will go away. Starting new churches really is sexy, and, unfortunately, fixing old ones is gruelling and painful. So, while I agree with you, how do we succeed when our entire American mindset goes completely contrary to what you're trying to say?
The key is church leaders I believe. It is true that we have an entire culture that is counter to the idea of doing the hard and messy. But, something we can learn from many of the recent cultural movements in America is that it only takes a small, committed group of people to bring about change... over time. Most people don't talk about Generational Change. That is where we are in America, this thing won't be fixed in 2-5 years. It is more like 20-40 at this point. I am fully aware that I may not see the end of my vision until I am 60 or older... and even then I will be 60 years younger than Moses was :).
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