Church members aren’t looking for super-pastors, they want basic pastoral competence, honesty and leadership. That’s what they ought to expect.
Congregations Don’t Want a Hero, They Want a Pastor Read More »
I don’t blame anyone but myself for my failures in ministry.
Why are people so surprised by that?
In last month’s podcast with Carey Nieuwhof (click here to listen), I described our church’s history, including a short period where we had sudden growth, followed by even faster and deeper collapse.
Carey asked me if I had a handle on why the collapse happened, so I told him two of the mistakes I made that contributed to it. He was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t blame anyone (like the big church down the street) or anything (like changing demographics) for the problems, but took the responsibility upon myself.
To which I responded, “If you don’t own it, you can’t change it.” The interview went on and I thought no more about it.
But that little exchange and my short answer to it have received far more feedback (all positive, thankfully) than any other aspect of the interview.
Why?
I think it’s because we live in a blame culture. And that culture has invaded the church. In fact I know it has because I regularly hear pastors of Small Churches blame everyone from their denominations to other churches, to the corruption of the culture for their church’s lack of growth and/or health.
We must stop doing this. Here are 12 reasons. I’m sure there are more, so if you know of any, feel free to add them in the comment section.
1. If You Don’t Own It, You Can’t Change It
If someone else is to blame for my problems, I’ve given them control. If I’m to blame, I can do something about it.
2. Blaming Others Is Easy, But Unproductive
Let’s say it actually is the fault of someone else. What changes after we identify that? I can’t change someone else’s behavior, after all. I can only change me.
Like Henry Ford said, “Don’t find fault, find a remedy; anyone can complain.”
12 Reasons Not To Blame Others For Our Ministry Failures Read More »
I’m a fan of Small Churches. But I like big churches, too.
In fact, I really like them. There’s something very inspiring about hundreds, even thousands of people gathering to lift up their voices and hands in praise to Jesus and to receive discipleship through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.
Every size of church has something to add to this amazing organism we know as the body of Christ.
But, as I pointed out in a previous post, 5 Bad Reasons To Go To a Big Church, not everyone who goes to a big church, goes for the right reasons. (Also, as I pointed out in 5 Bad Reasons To Go To a Small Church, people don’t always go to a Small Church for the right reasons either.)
But there are some great reasons to go to a big church. Here are just five of them.
1. Because It Helps Me Know I Belong to Something Much Bigger than Me
Depending on where you live, it’s possible to go through an entire week of school or work and not meet one other person who shares your faith.
For many people, going to a big church allows them to see that they not alone in their faith. The size of the crowd helps encourage them in the realization that they serve a God who is much bigger than them, and they are part of a spiritual family that is vast and wonderful.
2. Because the Multiple Service Times Fit My Atypical Schedule
5 Good Reasons To Go To a Big Church Read More »
I love big churches.
Any time massive numbers of people get together to worship Jesus, that’s a great thing.
But every church of every size has its advantages and its challenges.
So there are both good and bad reasons to attend big churches just like there are good and bad reasons to attend Small Churches.
Today, I’m continuing my four-part series looking at those reasons.
If this post is the first one of the series you’re reading, please understand that it is not a criticism of big churches. It’s a challenge to people who choose to attend big churches for the wrong reasons.
To see the other side of this, check out my previous post, 5 Bad Reasons To Go To a Small Church and come back later for my upcoming post, 5 Good Reasons To Go To a Big Church.
Even if your church is great, it matters that we attend for the right reasons. So if you’re attending a big church for any of the following reasons, you don’t need to stop attending a big church. But you may want to take another look at your motivations.
5 Bad Reasons To Go To a Big Church Read More »
We all make assumptions.
I do. You do.
And they’re almost always wrong.
Especially on complex subjects, like those that involve God and people. Subjects like church health and growth.
But over the years I’ve made many assumptions about church growth anyway. And I’ve heard others make them.
Then I lived a few decades as a pastor. Experience challenged, then changed my assumptions. It showed me that many of them were not valid.
So what should we do when our assumptions are challenged? Let go of them.
With that as a backdrop, here’s a partial list of assumptions many people make about church health, growth and size – many of which I made myself – that have proven to be wrong.
So we need to give them up.
(If you’re new to my blog, this might also help you clear up any assumptions you might have made about me and this ministry. Some have links to previous posts that explain them in more detail.)
When You Assume… (Church Growth Edition) Read More »
A lot of bloggers and ministers like using negative 10-point lists as the basis for blog posts and sermons.
Some that I’ve run across include:
10 Reasons Your Church Isn’t Growing
10 Practices Healthy Pastors Need to Avoid
10 Habits of Highly Ineffective People
10 Attitudes that Will Ruin Your Marriage
10 Ways to Raise a Boy You Wouldn’t Want Your Daughter to Date
There’s nothing inherently wrong with writing or speaking that way, but I’ve never been a fan of it.
Here are my 10 reasons why.
10 Reasons I Don’t Use Negative 10-Point Lists In Preaching or Blogging Read More »
I want to be a better pastor.
I’m always doing everything I can to put more tools in my pastoral tool-belt. I read the best books I can find, I seek out wise counsel, I take classes and go to seminars. All of these practices have helped me become a better pastor – some more than others.
But, along the way, I’ve discovered that there are a handful of things many of us strive for that will do nothing to make us better pastors.
I’ve also discovered a list of things that we all know, but sometimes overlook, that will always make us better pastors – and people.
The first list is not exhaustive – it never will be. But I think the second one is. I offer both of them in simple lists because each one stands on its own.
9 Things that Won’t Make Us Better Pastors – And 4 That Will Read More »
As a pastor, I was taught never to wrestle with difficult truths in front of the congregation. Give them simple three-point, alliterated answers to life’s problems.
That may have been the right thing to do years ago. Perhaps we really did live in a simpler era when answers were easier, God made sense and the church always did things well.
But not any more.
Today, people don’t trust answers that come too easily. At least not when we’re dealing with the big questions of life.
That has led some people to give up on the idea that we can find truth at all.
Not me. More than ever, I’m committed to the reality that there is a God. He does exist. That Jesus is the only way to heaven. And that the bible really does mean what it says.
But.
The details are messier than we’d often like to admit. So here are a few of those messy details that I’ve come to be OK with in recent years. I’m even OK with acknowledging them to my church, from the pulpit.
Just don’t stop until you get to the end of the story. The road may not be as smooth as it once was, but the destination is more than worth the trip.
Church Is Not Efficient – And 5 Other Other Messy Truths Read More »
Church leaders are always wringing their hands about the problem of Small Churches.
I heard it again recently. A church leader complained that 90% of the churches in their group had less than 200 in attendance, then introduced a plan for getting those numbers up.
(Never mind that the “90% under 200” figure is shockingly consistent across all church groups – which should make us consider that maybe God is up to something with that.)
I watched as many of the pastors in the room tried to hide their “here we go again” faces. Then I left the room wondering again about what happens when we do what that church leader did.
As I was pondering the implications, this question hit me over the head like a hammer.
If Small Churches weren’t seen as a problem, would they stop being a problem?
Think about it. When we treat people like they’re problems, they become problems. When we treat them like they’re a blessing, they often become the blessing we see.
Churches are the same.
When We Treat Small Churches Like a Problem, We Get More Problem Churches Read More »
If you’ve been slow to embrace the idea that Small Churches can be great churches, I get it.
If you haven’t read The Grasshopper Myth yet, or you’re new to the ministry of NewSmallChurch.com, let me take this short post to challenge any presuppositions you might have, too.
Ministry to Small Churches is not about doing church small. It never has been and never will be. It’s about doing small church well. Really well.
So what’s the difference between doing church small and doing Small Church really well?
Here are two starter lists to give you an idea. Many of these points are linked to previous posts that explain these ideas in more detail.
Don’t Do Church Small, Do Small Church Really Well Read More »
