Blog Wednesday, May 31 2017
I am ceding my article this month to Dr. Thom Rainer, President of Lifeway Recourses, former Dean at the Billy Graham School at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and leading church strategist. I do not think there is much I can add to this succinct word to the church. I pray we will heed the call. (Personal commentary in parentheses JW)
Change or die.
That is reality for churches today.
Of course, I am not talking about Scripture, doctrine, or spiritual disciplines changing. Those things are constants, never to be compromised.
But much of what we do in our churches must change. And, unfortunately, many church members and leaders resist change. They seek stability and comfort over obedience and sacrifice.
Let’s look at five key reasons why stability is bad for a church:
There is nothing biblical about a stable church. In fact, the stability is really just an illusion. Those churches that seek stability will ironically change the most rapidly toward decline and death.
(C.S. Lewis said, “The church exists for nothing else but to draw men to Christ. If they are not doing that, everything else is simply a waste of time.” The time is at hand for our churches to get down to business with God like we have never done before. We must pray like we’ve never prayed, serve our Jerusalem like never before, and make Christ known in every way we can with an urgency that recognizes our communities are most lost now than in previous decades. Stability is not an option. Churches/Pastors/Leaders must be willing to do “whatever it takes” to reach a progressively lost and dying world to the transforming power of Christ alone!)
Jim Comments:
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