WHY CHURCHES FAIL …

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM CHURCHES THAT FAIL

CECEE – 13.03.03

Intro: What is church failure? See the 7 churches in Revelation 2 and 3. Once they were vital churches, part of a church planting movement launched by the Apostle Paul

(Acts 19: 9,10). Now Christ is threatening to snuff out their candle.

- Sardis,”you have a reputation of being alive but you are dead.” Rev 3:1
- Ephesus, “you have lost your first love” Rev 3: 4
- Laodicea, “you are neither hot nor cold” Rev 3:15

What is success? Eph 4:11-16 “…we will grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ…” christlikeness, total participation, community, qualitative and numerical growth, multiplication.

The growth of the Church in the Book of Acts. It was a God inspired and directed movement.

HOWEVER, the natural course of movements:

MOVEMENT becomes an INSTITUTION becomes a MONUMENT

How does that happen with the Church? What is the road to failure?

I. PASSION TO COMPLACENCY

Remember the first days of your salvation, how fresh, wonderful, clean and passionate you were. How easy it is for that passion to be replaced by complacency. The tone we as leaders set will be reflected by others in the church.

COMPLACENCY: predictable, routine, formalistic, controlled, boring services. Members are spectators watching the professionals doing spiritual business. Unchristlike attitudes are tolerated. Duty, not love motivates us.

PASSION (The qualities of passionate spirituality): Transparent love for the Lord, freedom and spontaneity, inspiring/participative worship, expectant/prevailing prayer, radical life style, hospitality, sacrificial giving, joyful gift based service, loving relationships, passion for holiness, hatred of sin, love of the “word”, lifestyle evangelism.

This is not a denominational issue. Our world has seen revival movements among Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals and many other groups. Even today one can find passionate spirituality and complacency in all of the denominations.

Solution: Repent and confess our luke-warmness. Ask the Lord to rekindle the fire. We leaders need a spiritual accountability relationship to keep us honest.

II. FAITH TO FEAR

Like the heroes of faith in the Hebrews 11 hall of fame, founders of new churches launch with their eyes focused on Christ but often that faith is replaced with fear as they try to live out their Christian lives in their own strength. Faith is replaced by fear.

II Tim 1:7 “God did not give us a spirit of fear (timidity) but of power….”

Fear causes us to be reactive rather than proactive, to protect rather than attack, to withdraw rather than engage. It is self defeating and feeds on itself. It finds comfort in the colorless sameness of a familiar environment.

What are the things that leaders find so threatening?

-disapproval of my peer group

-loss of control

-don’t trust God in my flock

-sheep stealers

-fear of failure

-I have to make everything right

The weaker a church is the more possessive and controlling it is over the little that it has. The more it tries to protect that little the more it loses.

The Church belongs to Christ (Mt 16:18). Only he can build it. Only he can change lives. Let’s not accept for ourselves that which only Christ can do.

III. OUTWARD TO INWARD

While the Church is in the world it exists for the world. When our task is finished the Lord will come for us.

We are supposed to be in the world but not of it. In our fear mode many of us have withdrawn from it becoming irrelevant to it but, at the same time, have become of it in our values.

Evangelical monasticism.

Consequently we are disconnected from non-christians. The offence of the cross is not the chief block to the unsaved. It is our remoteness, traditions, strangeness and our defensiveness.

Newer, smaller churches are more connected to the unsaved and have a much higher rate of conversions than older larger churches. Church reproduction is the most effective evangelistic strategy.

In the final analysis God is more concerned for their salvation than he is about our comfort.

(IL) The churches in Acts were donkey churches. We have replaced them with mules. The church was born to reproduce.

IV. FUNCTION TO FORM

Organic reproducible models of church give way to institutions, traditions, buildings, degrees, and hierarchies. Forms are sanctified over time and have the weight of Scripture.

(IL) Much church architecture was designed to impede good comm’n and fellowship.

A certain style of music is ID’d as spiritual even when the culture no longer connects with it. Time sanctifies music, dress, and language.

Churches that adopt strict forms are not able to distinguish forms from the functions of worship, teaching, fellowship, stewardship, evangelism etc. will be bypassed by the ever changing culture.

V. EMPOWERMENT TO CONTROL

Churches that are lay driven to those that are clergy driven

Lay people become spectators in stead of participants

Clergy become over-worked, the laity under-worked and the Church grinds to a halt.

Spirit gifted believers want to serve. If given no opportunity and training they will expend their energy in negative ways.

(IL) The universal priesthood of the believer was one of the tenets of the Reformation, the one that didn’t get fully developed.

Every believer a minister and every leader an equipper of ministers.

Effective leaders believe in God in others and communicate that confidence.

Churches that promote gift centered ministry by all believers tend to be growing ch’s.

(IL) The Tires church plant

VI. INTIMACY TO INDIVIDUALISM

The church was intended to be our spiritual family where we experience fellowship and intimacy, where we are known, accountable, supported, and cared for, where we can exercise our spiritual gifts in support of others and be valued.

The Church is designed for interdependence, transparency, fellowship, community, body life, and accountability.

Such body life diminishes rapidly after a group exceeds 12 people.

We rejoice when churches grow. However, the larger they grow the less intimate they become. Unless leadership is intentional about small or cell groups the trend will continue.

The unfortunate result of this is individualism, aloofness, a gathering of strangers and shallow spiritual life.

VII. UNITY TO COMPETITION

One aspect of the image of God in Adam and Eve was their reflection of the unity and diversity of the Trinity. That image was distorted by the fall.

The mystery of the Church is that in Christ there is no more Jew/Gentile, slave/free, male/female. As the family of God we reflect the trinity by our unity and diversity .

Jn 17:23 “…may they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me.”

We and evangelical churches of other traditions of are not competitors but brothers and sisters with a common blood, family, cause and future.

Our divisionism, distrust, and competition are an affront to the Trinity and an impediment to the lost.

VIII. VISION TO MAINTENANCE

(IL) Jun Balaio, leader of the Philippine DAWN movement that has seen 50,000 new churches established in the last 20 years was asked what are the three most important reasons for such impressive growth.

His answer: vision, vision, vision

Compelling, concrete, embracing vision

The main task of the leader is to keep the vision of the church in front of the members.

Vision leaks and must be regularly replenished.

Establish a circle of accountability and keep it before your people.

CONCLUSION: THRIVING, REPRODUCING CHURCHES ARE ON ANOTHER ROAD

Ø COMPLACENCY TO PASSION

Ø FEAR TO FAITH

Ø INWARD TO OUTWARD

Ø FORM TO FUNCTION

Ø CONTROL TO EMPOWERMENT

Ø INDIVIDUALISM TO INTIMACY

Ø COMPETITION TO UNITY

Ø MAINTENANCE TO VISION

Don Crane

5.Mar.03