Ministry Growth and Our Attitude

Why is it that some ministries have quality people who come in and stay and others have people come in and then leave, to go on to the other ministries? It’s not the gospel. That isn't the problem. If it was only in gospel preaching ministries and churches where this was happening, you could figure people were leaving because we preach the gospel too much!

But it isn’t like that. Liberal churches are losing people, and some gospel preaching ones are, too. Some liberal ones are growing. Some gospel preaching ones are growing. Some contemporary seeker friendly churches are growing and some have reached a plateau or are declining. So it isn’t 100% the message. 

Wherever we go, we see some churches growing, others barely holding on to what they have and sadly, some that are in decline and closing. When we see churches growing all around us and it isn’t growing for us, we need to learn something.

We need to find out how they relate to people, how they love them, how they serve their people. It can be that we’re not reaching the right people, but if we have 30 visitors over the course of several months and none of them stay and become active members, it has to be more than that. We have to start asking, "What can we change?" 

The easiest copout for ineffective leaders is to say that the churches that are growing are full of compromise and are just tickling the ears of the people. And, that may be true with some churches.

We know that a lot of the “seeker sensitive” churches DO seem to leave out such vital basics as repentance, the blood of Jesus, holiness of lifestyle, judgment of Believers, hell, the reality of the devil, the power of the cross, and more. So, that does account for SOME churches growing as they pander to the desires of carnal people. These churches don’t refer to people as saved or lost, but as “churched” and “unchurched.” 

But, that doesn’t account for ALL ministries that are outpacing our ministry! Some of them are very strong in their preaching and teaching, and very strong in every way that a church ought to be strong. And people may be leaving our church to go to those other churches. So, what’s the problem?

 A big problem is likely to be in how we deal with people. We like to say we “tell it like it is.” But a lot of times, we’re telling it like WE are. In fact, we ALWAYS tell it like WE are.  That’s one reason a speaker will be too long winded. He’s not thinking about how hard it is for the people in the audience.

If you think about it, the preachers and speakers we see on TV rarely actually speak for more than 18 minutes in a half hour program! They just learn how to be more efficient than the rest of us who have the luxury of preaching a half hour to forty five minutes. We need to change. 

When we realize how hard it is to change ourselves, we realize the enormous task of changing people.  We all want to change other people, and can barely change ourselves.  That’s why need to learn to be loving, accepting, non critical, non judgmental. Like Jesus was.

That doesn’t  mean we drop biblical standards in order to make people comfortable in their sins. No, it means recognize how much work it is for people to get up early on Sunday morning, shower, eat, get dressed and drive all the way to church. Respect them for that, and honor their time. Make sure you have something from the Lord that is worth saying, and that you say it well. 

We found out that churches who attract and keep good people think differently than those who don’t. Differently about God. Differently about themselves. Differently about their pastors and pastors think differently about their congregations. They think differently about the people in.  We have to change how we think. 

People want to be around happy people. When people come into a church and the people there each other and get along well, they want to come back. People want to be around people who are full of hope, full of joy, who feel accepted and who clearly LIKE the Pastor, the church and the rest of humanity. That’s the power of unity.

No one wants to be around lethargic, negative, critical and unhappy people. That is a description of the population of hell. 

It starts at the top. As Pastor, we need to set the example of being loving, caring and happy. We need to openly talk about the joys of ministry, how much pleasure we get from pasturing that particular group of people. We need to brag on the people during our sermons. We need to hang around with them, and edify them; speaking good and positive things to them and about them.  

As we love the people and refuse to belittle them, blame them or resent them, our churches will begin to retain a high percentage of new visitors – and experience the vitality that Jesus died to purchase for us on Calvary.

Copyright Steven L. Davis  www.SteveDavis.org