Deadly Diagnosis

Introduction

Ministry Alert – a lethal infection is rapidly spreading through the evangelical churches of America. It leads to the decline and profound ineffectiveness if not the virtual cessation of ministry in local churches. Being interpreted that means death, closing the doors, ceasing to function. Many are much closer to this reality than they are willing to admit. However, denial will not prevent the erosion of effectiveness.

Our second son is a surgeon. He informed me of a very insidious and potentially lethal infection that is becoming more common. This illness is very difficult to treat. The affliction is known as “necrotizing fasciitis”.  In layman’s terminology, this is flesh eating bacteria. Immediate diagnosis and treatment are vital if the patient is to survive. Within hours this aggressive infection consumes the flesh of the victim and quickly enters the blood stream of the patient at which point the entire body of the patient is subject to the ravages this marauder produces. It frequently causes the death of the patient.

Metaphor for Ministry

How does this apply to local church ministry? A review of the statistics concerning the condition of the evangelical church in America makes a compelling case for the application of this analogy. The church is infected with a very aggressive and lethal disease. David Olson’s work The American Church in Crisis   provides an irrefutable body of evidence to support this claim. There is not a single county in a single state in the entire USA in which attendance is greater this year than it was in the previous year. This is a compelling rationale to ‘listen up’ and investigate the causes of this decline. Further, this is based on a one-dimensional metric. This addresses only attendance. While this is obviously important, it is not the primary dynamic of ministry that must be evaluated. That dynamic is disciple-making. The single command in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) is Make Disciples. Failure in this realm always results in impotence for the church. She may have endless activity but utterly no spiritual power. Focus on the data Olson presents. This indicates precipitous decline in virtually every county in every state. Can you make a substantive objective honest case that legitimately excludes the church you pastor from this pattern?

Operative Causes

Consensus indicates that there are three primary causes for this unrelenting decline. Obviously there are many variations in degree and kind. I will focus on these three as they surface most frequently in literature addressing this phenomenon. The issues are Leadership, Purpose, and Control.

Leadership – George Barna invested twenty-five years doing research on the local church. In 2005 he refocused that activity. In making that change he wrote what he referred to as a Transition Letter. In that letter he made a potent and critical observation about leadership in the church.

We found that very few churches – emphasis on very – measure anything beyond attendance, donations, square footage, number of programs and size of staff. Further, our on-going research continued to show that churches do not act strategically because of a paucity of leadership.

What Barna means by a paucity of leadership is the pervasive inability of pastors to engage the level and type of leadership skills and competencies necessary to navigate the constantly changing landscape in which the church exists. The church is a sub-culture of the larger culture around her. The changes in that larger culture have been seismic to say the least. Most churches have not identified, and most certainly not addressed these changes. This requires an exegetically sound ministry profile that produces organizational health, numerical growth and spiritual formation in the individual believer. Covenant Seminary in St. Louis conducted a five year study in which they collected copious data on the issue of leadership. They published the results of this study in a fifty-six page report in 2010. The following quote validates my observation on the failure of leadership. This also reveals a partial reason - - seminaries did not equip men in this realm.

The responsibilities of leadership and management (both integral to the pastoral task of congregational oversight) are rarely discussed in seminary. Most pastors enter ministry with   very little preparation in these areas and are generally surprised by how much leadership and management skills are part of their work. They often learn how to do these things on the job –  not always very effectively. Pastors aren’t the only ones surprised by this reality. Most lay people have no idea of the time and energy involved in leadership and management aspects of the pastoral vocation. Indeed, these ministerial responsibilities are something of a hidden secret that is rarely discussed but continually demanded. 

Leadership deficiencies were also recognized in a study conducted by the Francis Schaefer Leadership Institute. This research surveyed over 1,050 pastors. The data on the issue of leadership competence is reflected in their responses as follows.

75% of the pastors surveyed felt they were unqualified and/or poorly trained by their seminaries to lead and manage the church or to counsel others.

 What is Leadership? Defining terms always enhances our ability to grasp the importance and application of a given issue in ministry. The definitions are numerous. I offer the following as a working model for this paper.

Warren Bennis & Burt Nanus – leadership commits people to action, converts followers into leaders, and may convert leaders into agents of change.(LEADERS – The Strategies for Taking Charge, p.3).

 Bob Biehl – leadership is knowing WHAT to do next, knowing WHY that’s important, and knowing how to bring appropriate RESOURCES to bear on the need at hand. (Increasing Your Leadership Confidence, p.211).

A very helpful title on Leadership is John Maxwell’s work titled The Twenty-One Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The first ‘law’ he details is what he labeled The Law of The Lid. This law simply stated is
Leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness.

Maxwell developed a scale of 1-10. A leader’s competence is plotted on this scale. The simple fact is that 8’s & 9’s do not follow 4’s & 5’s. I am frequently asked if leaders are born or made. My answer is always ‘yes!’. Every man is a leader at some level. Every man with prayerful dedication and diligence can improve his leadership competence. Every pastor should be cognizant of his leadership competence or lack of same and pursue resources that equip him to achieve maximum effectiveness. Leadership is about securing adaptive and constructive change.  This brings us to the second issue causing the decline of the evangelical church.

Purpose – Most organizations today have signage posted on the walls of their establishment. The mission of XYZ corporation is XXXXXXX. Churches have also joined this parade. The disconnect is that in most cases this is merely a ‘sign on the wall.’ Unless the essence of that purpose is the guiding principle of the church and every member actually practices with integrity and passion the substance of that purpose, it is meaningless. In fact, it is worse. Everyone assumes they have a clear purpose but it is not Applied Theology. It is not shaping ministry. It provides no basis for evaluation and no metric process to measure ministry effectiveness.

I frequently distribute a blank sheet of paper to a gathering of people from a given local church. I ask them to write in one or two sentences the purpose of their local church. The results are predictable. The statements are all over the map. This means that they are riding off in different directions. They wonder why there is no harmony and effectiveness in ministry. The pastor is compelled by the various perspectives to satisfy a plethora of expectations all shaped by this kaleidoscope of pseudo purposes.

The primary purpose of every church is to make disciples. There are many dimensions to this process but they must all serve the same purpose. Many churches have multiple ministry venues e.g. (Men’s Ministry, Softball, WMU, Music, etc.). They satisfy the participants of that ministry, but, do not in any way contribute significantly to making disciples. Over time the accumulation of such ministry venues becomes destructive of organizational harmony and effectiveness. The body is fragmented and the only commonality they have is they meet at the same location.

The following is from a paper I wrote in September 2006. It has significant bearing on the issue of purpose for the local church and the pastor’s role as a leader.

I recently finished reading Bowling Alone  by Robert Putnam. This should be must reading for every Pastor in America. The author invested twenty-five years doing research on the various organizations and groups that make up the fiber of 'community' in America. The focus of his research was 1900 - 2000. The trend in almost every organization and/or institution is decline; significant and persistent decline. He has a chapter (4) on the institutional church that is informative as well as alarming. Examine the graphs noting the trend lines - - they point down!

How does this relate to Purpose?

First, it is absolutely imperative that the leadership of the church in America recognize this trend as a present reality. This is not a remote possibility for future ministry. On the contrary, it is the proverbial 'elephant in the living room'. It is the "Funny Uncle" in our family but he is not funny.

Second, we must invest strategic and intentional ministry initiatives that are specifically designed to overcome the 'culture drift' that has engulfed us. The sub-title of Nancy Pearcy's recent book tells it all; Rescuing Christianity from its Cultural Captivity. The church in America has willingly succumbed to the drum beat of the culture in which we exist.

Third, this radical reformation, so urgently needed, will only become a reality as God ordains Leaders who apply the clear mandates found in the Scripture. They must be men of courage. They must be men who are capable of pressing with precision the principles and precepts of the Scripture without compromise while showing deep and genuine compassion to God’s people. The OT Prophets provide an appropriate model for this glorious task. Fourth, there is the time factor. Thom Rainer (CEO of LifeWay Resources) predicted in 2003 that we would close 50,000 churches in the USA by the year 2010. He seems to have been tragically accurate, perhaps even an optimist. If you currently pastor a local church I urge you to face the brutal reality of your current circumstance. Apply the metrics. Where will the assembly you lead be in 2015 if all present trends continue?

The time for action is today, right now. A year ago many people living on the Gulf Coast waited far too long to act. Katrina’s fury and devastation was their reward. The consequences in this case will perhaps not be as immediate but far more significant. Will YOU take action Pastor?

95% of the churches in America are not making disciples fully formed in the image of Christ. This is in large part because they lack clear definitive purpose that shapes ministry for every member. God uses courageous and compassionate leaders to incorporate biblical purpose into the ministry of a local church.  This is not a mere preference. This is pure and simple obedience to all that Jesus commanded. This brings us to the third cause of decline.

Control – This malady has many faces but always one focus. That focus is “who is in charge here”? The answer is clearly not the Holy Spirit. I am often contacted by pastors in distress caused by the church boss. Let me state this with unambiguous clarity. The only control factor in the local church must be the word of God properly interpreted in context and applied by the Holy Spirit Who is God to the people of God for the glory of Christ who is Head of the body. Every ministry initiative and decision should have clear exegetical support drawn from the Scripture by sound exegesis. Many other documents such as Robert’s Rules of Order have little or no legitimate place in the ministry and function of the church.

I recently heard from a pastor who has an individual who walks the halls during worship services with a ring of keys. He never participates, just patrols. In this manner he traumatizes everyone and no one enters any room without his ‘approval’. I heard from another pastor who had a small band of people interrupt a service by clamoring for some specific content in the bulletin. These examples are from the past week!
The following data is from the Baptist Courier, a publication of the South Carolina Southern Baptist Convention

In 2009, with all 43 SCBC local associations reporting, 14 pastors were reportedly dismissed over control issues. The next three highest reported categories of forced termination were related to the first: pastor’s leadership style too weak (8), pastor’s leadership style too strong (7), and church’s resistance to change (7).

Disagreement over doctrine (2) was low on the list of reasons for forced terminations, . . . Hale said up to 25 percent of all forced terminations go unreported. In 2009, there were 57 reported pastor terminations in the SCBC.

Every month, some 1,600 pastors in U.S. churches quit or resign from the pastorates and leave the ministry (lost giving and replacement costs total over $700 million annually). The majority of these pastoral transitions are caused by issues of control of one sort or another. This is 19,000+ each year across the landscape of America. Apply the 25% under-reported factor and this number grows to 23,750! Many others succumb to a variety of control issues because they have families to care for. This in affect makes them ‘hirelings’, a terrible circumstance in which to serve. This issue of pastors frustrated by control issues is also supported by the Schaeffer study referenced earlier.

Application

Where does this brief assessment of the local church in America take us? My prayer is that it informs, encourages and equips pastors to act. Jesus measures our integrity and credibility by our conduct, our actions (Matt. 7:24-27). The challenge before my readers now is one of significant dimension. At Kadesh only Joshua and Caleb called for uncompromised obedience. We must do what the LORD has commanded. We must go in and take the land. Their reward was rejection and abuse (Num. 14:10). The congregation discussed stoning them. However, can you name any of the other ten spies? I didn’t think so. They are remembered because they showed fidelity to God’s word and obedience to His command.

Real leaders lead. They muster the grace and humility that only God gives and do what he calls them to do. You are at a fork in the road Pastor. Yogi Berra says, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” You are there. Which path will you go down? Leadership is about modeling. If you will embrace the challenge and model leadership God will raise up a band of faithful men who follow your example. Together you will be a powerful leadership team that God uses to transform individual believers and the corporate body. The church will display God’s power and grace before a watching world.

Timing is critical in the transformation process in a local church. Jim Collins speaks to this in his book How The Mighty Fall. He provides an analysis of the life cycle of an organization. Hear what he says about the timing of diagnosing and correcting organizational dysfunction.

I’ve come to see institutional decline like a staged disease: harder to detect but easier to cure in the early stages, easier to detect but harder to cure in the later stages. An institution can look strong on the outside but already be sick on the inside, dangerously on the cusp of a precipitous fall.

Collins shares the account of running with his wife in Colorado. He could barely keep up with her. Six months later she had major surgery and endured a long recovery period. She looked healthy but was in fact seriously ill. This is true of organizations.

Rochester, NY, is the home of Eastman Kodak. In 1982 they employed 62,000+ just in Monroe County. Today they employ fewer than 18,000 world-wide. They are selling their patents to secure operating capital. As recently as 1995 the red “K” and yellow square of Kodak and the red Coca Cola logos were the two most recognizable logos in the entire world. In 2016 Kodak will close their doors. What happened?

They, like so many churches, ignored all the available warning signs of decline. They lost focus on their primary purpose. They refused to listen to wise counsel. They assumed that all things would continue as they always had in the past. They tried to navigate the challenging road of an ever-changing road to the future while looking in the rear view mirror. Fatal mistake.

This is not the only option. We would consider a patient that has contracted necrotizing fasciitis unwise if they decided to self-medicate. They need the best possible medical care available. It is equally illogical to attempt to “self-medicate” the decline of the church. If a pastor/church could correct the problems they are facing without assistance they would have already done so. Read footnote #1, the section on prognosis. This details the prospects for recovery.

Remember those two spies? They faced a very significant obstacle - - the entire congregation of Israel. They took courage (2Chron. 15:8). They knew what God had commanded and they were more than willing to obey. You will also face opposition when you lead a process that brings genuine legitimate transformation. Be wise. Be compassionate. Be unrelenting in your pursuit of all that honors Christ. Some will defame you just as they did Joshua and Caleb. Some will depart. But, many will be transformed into the glorious image of Jesus Christ. In that environment you will discover the joy of leadership like you have never previously known. Christ is honored and you are blessed beyond measure.

You can acquire greater proficiency in your capacity as a leader.

You can identify and incorporate God’s purpose for His church among the people you shepherd.

You can eradicate the inappropriate control factors and lead a healthy and thriving assembly.

The ministry of IgniteUS exists:

To build leadership competence to transform America’s churches into healthy, intentional disciple-makers.

Contact us @  info@igniteus.net or 803 413 3509.