Decide
or Die!
The data is irrefutable. The church in America is in
decline. That decline is evidenced in both spiritual impotence and declining
numbers. Reversing this trend requires a decision. Here are three options that people
embrace. I encounter these when working with pastors and church leaders. Where do you
stand on this matter?
1. Denial –
this posture ignores reality and concludes no change is needed.
2. Delay –
this posture recognizes the need but postpones a decision indefinitely.
3. Decide –
this posture musters the wisdom & courage to engage the change process.
There is genuine wisdom in addressing the decline
early rather than later. The following is a quote from the work of Jim Collins
in How The Mighty Fall. I urge
my readers to secure this title, read it carefully, and apply the principles
his research has developed. He makes a
cogent case for avoiding the ravages of delay in making critical organizational
decisions. The future existence of the organization depends on wise, prudent,
and timely decision making.
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. (p. 5)
Commit!
When you make a decision, you can do
one of two things. You can spend a lot of time, effort and energy considering
what it would have been like if you had made a different decision and searching
the internet for more tips on decision making processes. Or you can spend that
time, effort and energy on making your decision work. You get to decide.
So, will you Decide or Die?
