Change or DIE!

If you owned 100 McDonald's Franchise Restaurants and 90 of them were unprofitable, you would most certainly seek correction of the factors producing loss. You would do that immediately upon learning the Truth about the bottom line.

If you had a cattle ranch and you learned that you were losing $200 per head when taking the cattle to market, you would either get out of that business, or, discover ways to make your investment profitable.

The American Church – not so much. There are some 350,000 – 400,000 Protestant churches in the USA. 95% of them are NOT healthy. They limp along with dysfunctions that they refuse to correct. Research says that 95% of professing Christians NEVER share the Gospel with anyone in an entire year. That is flagrant rebellion to the person and command of Jesus who is LORD. Yet, these rebels (Hebrew pasha, to rebel) are regarded as 'members in good standing'. What?

The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant Denomination in the USA, has been on an unbroken 65 year decline when using numbers as the metric for effectiveness. This is perhaps the heart of the problem.

Jesus is not impressed with numbers. Not Attendance. Not Offerings. Not Baptisms. Not Buildings. The New Testament Metric for effectiveness in ministry is Transformation. Redeemed people systematically becoming more like Jesus in character and conduct. Until this false Metric of Numbers for ministry effectiveness is abandoned, nothing will change. If you are not seeing God produce transformationthat is objective and documented in the people you serve, you are not a church you are a Social Club.

There is no 'Quick Fix' for impotence in the American Church. It takes 48-60 months for a church to go from cultural lethargy to biblical effectiveness. The reason – revitalization requires changing the culture of a given church. Culture controls. Such cultures are made up of long standing traditions that have no basis in the New Testament. Churches perpetuate 'programs' that will wear you out with activity but never contribute to the disciple making process.

Conclusion – Change or Die! If you as a leader permit the dysfunctional ministry polity and practices currently producing decline and impotence to continue, you are openly declaring that you endorse such tragic hindrance to genuine ministry. Like Joshua said thousands of years ago - ”Choose this day whom you will serve?” (Josh. 24:15).