Crisis of Results
Crisis 1 - We are not keeping up!
The church in America is losing ground and we are not keeping up with population growth. We are becoming increasingly ineffective at reaching people far from God. Some leaders are predicting that we are on the path that Europe has already taken. If you take away the significant impact that megachurches play on attendance, our numbers are bad and getting worse.
Dave Olson has tracked the attendance of over 200,000 churches for the past 20 years. His data is insightful. Dave's research shows that in 49 of 50 states we've lost ground over the past 20 years and the rate is accelerating. Dave found that we needed over 50,000 more new churches than we started simply to keep up with population growth. The following 7 minute video of Dave is worth checking out.
Crisis 2 – A Crisis of Trust
Young and old alike are leaving the institutional church. At the same time, unprecedented numbers of boomers are retiring with years of productive engagement in society left ahead. Many of these "halftimers" are on a journey from success to significance and are choosing to engage the Kingdom not in or through the church, but rather in spite of the church.
There is a growing sense among these leaders that:
- "There is already excess capacity in the local church why do we need more" (i.e. "as I drive down the road, virtually every church has open seats")
- "Why would you want to franchise (or reproduce) what I've experienced in the local church"
- "Church planting just reshuffles the deck with people transfering their membership"
- "I want to invest my time, talent and treasure where it can have the biggest impact. The local church and church planting simply don't seem like the best investments."
A loss of trust in the local church as a solid investment of time, talent and treasure is unfolding in front of us. As a result, the most entrepreneurial thing happening in the Kingdom (church planting) is not on the radar of these Believers who are looking to engage in significance.
The Disconnect
How do we reconcile these perceptions with what Jesus said about his church? Specifically,
- The local church is my plan. It will endure and accomplish it’s mission.
“I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.” Matthew 16:18 - I am the owner. You are my stewards through the local church.
“he is the head of the body, the church.” Colossians 1:18 - I love the church deeply. I paid for it with my own blood.
“Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” Acts 20:28 - The church is my chosen delivery system to reach those who don’t know me.
“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:10-11 - My Father is glorified through the church throughout all generations.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Paul, Ephesians 3:20-21
Why the disconnect between what people are perceiving and what Jesus said? Could it in part be a lack of impact and results through our churches? What if the church isn't seeing the high-impact results Jesus intended? What are we to do?
We can:
- continue to bypass the local church for results
- we can tolerate the crisis believing the church will persist
- we can engage in a solution and do something about the crisis
Lets assume:
- The local church is Jesus’ plan
- There is a crisis to be addressed
- The potential results of addressing the crisis far exceed the current path of bypassing the local church
- There is a leveraged way to engage
- The solution requires engagement of time, talent and treasure by those who are bypassing the local church to engage the Kingdom
We intend to enage in a solution. A movement of high-impact, reproducing churches provides the means for engagement. The mission of Exponential Network is to attract and inspire Kingdom-minded leaders to engage in a sustained movement of high-impact, reproducing churches.
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