Here is an article I recently read that provoked my heart to repentance.  It is my prayer that the church community I am blessed to lead would "blow up every paradigm" of Gospel mission and harvest!  Please read with a prayerful heart.  

Here are the highlights...

1. The church forgets who we are and what we are for … When we forget that we are the community of disciples for declaring God’s greatness and making disciples, mission quickly becomes just one among many activities rather than the defining vision of who we are as a community.

2. The majority of believers are no longer thrilled with the Lord and what he is doing in their lives. When questions like ‘What is God doing with you at the moment?’ cease to be common currency, it is a sure sign of creeping spiritual mediocrity.

3. … In my view, the single biggest cause of stalled churches in the UK is the belief that material comfort can be normative for Christians. It is the opposite of radical commitment to Christ.

4. When [Christians]  see church as one among many leisure activities, usually low down the priority list. They are unlikely to see the Christian community as God’s great hope for the world and unlikely to put commitment above self-interest.

5. … Where people take no personal responsibility for their own spiritual growth a stalled church becomes more likely.

6. … When preaching, teaching and Bible study become ends in themselves rather than means to an end, something is badly wrong.

7. A church becomes afraid to ask radical questions … The danger is that people start to equate serving the church with living out the gospel. Few churches regularly evaluate every aspect of church life against their core vision.

8. Confusing Christian activities with discipleship …

9. Not understanding how to release and encourage everyone in the church to use their spiritual gifts for the building up of the church … There are two types of DNA in churches. One type of church says ‘we exist to have our personal spiritual needs met’, the other ‘we exist to impact our locality and the world with the gospel of the grace of God in Christ’. The first type is a stalled church.

10. … No church was stalled at the point that it was founded. At the beginning all churches were adventures in faith and daring risk for God. No one actively decided for comfort over risk, but at some point the mindset shifted from uncomfortable faith and daring passion for the Lord to comfortable mediocrity … The mantra of the maintenance mindset is ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. But just like buying shoes for growing children, if structures don’t take account of future growth then fellowships end up stunted and deformed.

Marcus leads Living Leadership and the author Finding Joy   and Meltdown  .

I encourage every ALC Ministry Team and Leader to ask the hard questions!  Let's impact the world in 2010!  

#1 – What do we need to stop doing?

Leadership teams are often obsessed with new things they need to do…but what about things that need to STOP being done?

• Is there ANYTHING in your church that you are having to manufacture energy for?
• Is there anything that you attend ONLY because you are on staff…and not because you are genuinely excited about it?
• Why do you do the things you do…because you’ve always done them, or because you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus has commanded you to do them?

#2 – What bothers us about our church?

Look at your own church.  (Unfortunately people are REALLY awesome and saying what bothers them about other churches…only because looking at their own church would force them to handle their own dysfunctional leadership issues!)

What bothers you?  Seriously…what about your own church drives you up the wall?  THAT is where changing the world begins…if we can’t handle business at home then how in the world would we ever believe that God would trust us with greater things?

(By the way…if the thing that bothers you about your church is, “these people just don’t get it” and you’ve been there for over three years…then that problem isn’t THEIR problem…it’s YOURS because they are following YOUR leadership!)

#3 – What bothers us about our community?

What is the biggest need in the community where your church is?  Where can the biggest difference than can be made?  What bothers/burdens you about your city?  God didn’t place us where we are so we can just pray about it…He has called us to take action.

#4 – What bothers us about the world?

God has called us to reach the world for Him…so, as a church…what BOTHERS you the most about what is happening in the world?  Is it human trafficking?  Is it AIDS?  Is it poverty?  Is it a lack of food and clothes in other nations?  Is it people needing access to clean water?  Is it kids with no parents?  What is it that BURDENS you…find out as a church and the DIVE IN to meeting a need that absolutely STIRS your SOUL to action.

#5 – How can we do things better?

One of the biggest pitfalls of a church is when they believe they have discovered the best way of doing something…thus causing them to switch into cruise control.

#6 – Who do we need to be talking to?

Churches should learn from one another.  I’ve said it before…our job should be to complete one another, not compete with one another.  Saying that…who are the churches you need to learn from?  (I didn’t say imitate…I said learn from!)  By the way…learning from other churches doens’t happen by chance/accident…it must be an intentional effort.

#7 – What’s next?

When a church becomes content with the way things are…it’s over!!!  Leaders should NEVER apologize for getting in a room and asking “what if” questions in regards to vision.

-adapted from Perry Noble's Leadership Lesson