Ruts

Many of our churches find themselves in ruts from time to time. Some prefer living in their ruts because it is comfortable and all they have ever known. Unfortunately, little ministry occurs in ruts. I often define a rut as a grave with both ends kicked out. We don't find much life around a grave, and we don't find much life around ruts either. However, the pastor who tries to lift his or her church out of the rut can find a great deal of opposition and may find it necessary to look for a new place of service. How can the pastor help a church out of its ruts and find new ways of doing ministry?

This morning I read an interesting thought by Thom Rainer. He wrote, "The way out of the rut is not the attack of the rut itself. It is a new outward focus that helps people look beyond themselves." That is great advice! We will seldom help a church out of its ruts by attacking the ruts. BTW - those ruts can be found in almost any aspect of church life: a Sunday School class that is resistant to new members; a worship format; an outreach program that isn't working; a legalistic dependence upon the church constitution that prevents almost any new idea from being considered, etc.

It is always tempting to attack the rut by attacking the problem. The church constitution may well need to be studied and re-written to reflect the current times. A different outreach program may need to be started. But, it is usually a mistake to start there. The right place to start is by helping people develop a new focus. They need to begin looking beyond themselves and their comfort level and begin to look at their mission field. I would start by challenging the people to ask themselves, "Who are we here for?" Until a congregation understands it exists not for their own comfort but to reach new people for the Kingdom of God there is really no reason to leave their ruts and it is unlikely they will do so.