Riding a dead horse

While going through my files recently I came across an interesting note I had copied years ago about what we should do if we find the horse we are riding has died. There are several options a person can choose.

• We can whip the horse harder.
• We can study programs that offer to teach us how to ride dead horses more efficiently.
• We can tell everyone "This is the way we've always ridden dead horses."
• We can move the horse to a new location.
• We can buy a new bit and bridle to make the dead horse look better.
• OR, we can dismount and climb on a live horse that can run.

Which one do you think would be the best option?

Much of what the church is doing today is riding a dead horse. Many of our programs and ministries have not produced good fruit in years, and yet we insist on maintaining those programs and ministries. In fact, we form committees to protect these dead horses to make sure they are not replaced with something living. We ask people to spend valuable time and resources to oversee these dead horses, and then we wonder why they don't have the time to give to new ministry opportunities that might actually be productive.

What ministries in your church is actually producing results and which ones need to be replaced? We read that at least 50 percent of the population in every county in the United States is unchurched. We have a huge mission field that is not being reached by what we are currently doing. Every church needs to ask itself which is more important: protecting the dead horses that we are trying to ride or finding new ministries that will better reach this unchurched population. Jill Hudson asks the question another way in her book When Better Isn't Enough. She asks, "Will the church in the postmodern world become a museum or a movement?" Great question each church will have to answer for itself?