Attending the Mandate this week, I heard Greg Howse deliver 9 of these. I added the tenth. If you lead a church or ministry and seem to be stuck, this is a pretty good checklist.
The comments are my own:
1. Lack of Vision
A vision is a clear mental image of what it looks like when manifested. It's not a goal. It's the concept that a sculptor uses when confronted with a block of granite. He chips away everything that doesn't meet the vision he has. Seeing the end from the beginning. Clearly. Vision will drive you, it will keep you focused.
2. Lack of Leadership
Someone has to be in charge. While it has become popular to lead by consensus, it doesn't work as well as has been advertised. God always uses a man who carries the vision to do his work. (could be a woman) Its the leader that makes the difference. A stuck church is the result of a stuck leader.
3. Lack of system and structure
This is the culture. The way we do things. It should not change often. It should be dependable. This is not increasing committees and bureaucracy, it is making sure that every function is covered. The best philosophy is keep it simple and do less better. Too many stuck churches have too much going on. Not everything that could be done should be done. Keep the main thing the main thing.
4. Lack of skill and competence
Sometimes people get in over their head. They lack the ability to do what needs to be done. Some can be compensated for by education. Better by mentoring. AND not everyone is cut out to do everything. Do what you do well, and find someone to take care of the things you do not. Your desire to be the one who does all things well may be the thing that is causing your church to be stuck. It takes ten years to develop deep competence. Don't be impatient, be creatively discontent with where you are.
5. Lack of financial understanding
There is a syndrome in christianity. The anointing will fill up the checkbook. Money follows ministry. While that's true to a point, the least stuck churches are capable of making the buffalo on the nickle roar when pinched. This doesn't negate generosity, but placing a church income of several hundred thousand or a million dollars in the hands of someone who can't pay his or her own bills is a recipe for disaster. Learn about money....and use your knowledge. Money is a tool.
6. Lack of Order
There must be the capacity to stay in order, in life, in work, in churches. A pastor who's family is out of order cannot lead. Show me a stuck church and many times the marriage, family and finance in the leadership is out of order. A pastor who gets up at noon, doesn't go to bed and who's appetites are ungodly can't lead a church.
7. Lack of Prayer
This is not having prayer meetings, this is time alone with God, time where a leader talks to but more important hears from God. IF this isn't happening a church will come to a halt. Get out of the boardroom and into the prayer closet if you want to get unstuck. Don't read your Bible. Hear what the Spirit is saying to you. Silently. Write down what you hear. God wants you to be the head and not the tail. He is telling you how. Hear him if you still have spiritual ears.
8. Lack of Faith that brings things HOPED for to pass
The ability to believe for big things with real faith is a test many stuck churches are not passing. People in many churches have faith in faith not faith in God. Confession, loud prayer, prophecy, and declarations are no substitute for a hard core confidence in God, trust, faith, conviction that causes things hoped for to manifest. This is a stumbling block that is not done by method, it is done by knowing God and believing him over your own ability.
9. Lack of Management when those things hoped for manifest
Some Churches have seen their best days. Now they are going backwards. Stuck. They could not manage the blessings of God when they came. Certainly there is an ebb and flow. It is important to be a good steward of the provision of God. This is more than money management, this is taking care of what God puts in your hands. A member gives you a car and you don't take care of it. That becomes a symbol of how you treat all gifts from God. Be thankful and careful with what God places in your hand.
10. Lack of consistency and persistence
Many churches are stuck because they are a moving target. Service times, service places, service formats, even IF there is going to be a service. One of the most successful pastor's I ever knew, Dan Rothwell, would always say, I will be here every Sunday Morning, every Sunday Night, Every Wednesday Night and every Saturday Morning and Evening for prayer. I hope you will join me. His consistency and persistence were his success. Even in North Dakota he almost never canceled church for weather.
Bob Schmidgall from Calvary Church would say if questioned, "You knew a YEAR AGO we would be having church today".
That kind of steady consistency became a comfort to those attached to their ministries. Stuck Churches sometimes suffer from inconsistency. They are not persistent in what God has called them to be and they give up too soon.
Examine these and if you find yourself lacking these...change and get UNSTUCK
1 comment:
Things that cause Christians to be stuck? Lack of the Word. I have become convinced that it is important to hear the Word taught by several teachers. It seems that most teachers have an emphases that they are proficient at. By hearing different "angles" of the Word, one becomes better equipped in dividing the Word. My advise is to:
1) Choose teachers who teach from the text and can refer to the manuscripts for a better understanding when needed.
2) Listen to people whom you enjoy learning from.
3) Check them out to be sure they are teaching the truth.
There are some on TV that I completely disagree with concerning the rapture, but their other teachings are worthwhile.
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