There are many reasons why churches are struggling today, but in my opinion one of the major reasons is the lack of strong pastoral leadership. Churches are floundering because they have no one leading them in the direction they should be going. While many churches are crying out for someone to lead them, too many pastors are satisfied to be maintaining the status quo and avoiding controversies.
In yesterday's post I mentioned the problem of declining baptisms. This decline is the result of the failure of many churches to take seriously the Great Commission's call to evangelism. One can sit in many churches for years and never hear a sermon challenging people to the work of evangelism. In these same churches there is unlikely to be an evangelistic sermon encouraging people to a relationship with Christ. It is also possible that in these same churches the pastor has never led one person to faith in Christ. A church will never be more evangelistic than its pastor. If the pastor is not leading in evangelism, the church will not be evangelistic.
We currently live in a time of great moral confusion. We now see laws passed protecting behaviors clearly condemned in Scripture and rejected by society for thousands of years. Polls now tell us that such behavior is finding widespread acceptance among a growing number of people. Part of this is due to the constant push for acceptance by the media and entertainment industry, but part of it is also due to the silence coming from our pulpits. Many pastors are afraid to speak on moral issues for fear of offending their congregations. Without a clear voice from the pulpit on such issues we can only expect confusion in the pews.
For the past few years many churches have complained about a lack of growth in the church. Growing a church is more difficult today than it was 40-50 years ago, but it's not impossible. In fact, many churches are growing. We know the steps churches need to take to grow so the problem is not a lack of knowledge. Since at least 80 percent of every county in the US is unchurched our lack of growth isn't due to a lack of people who need to be in our churches. The problem is a lack of pastoral leadership.
You see, growth comes with a cost. People want to grow their churches without changing anything, but if your church could grow by doing what you've been doing it would already be growing. Therefore, if a church is serious about wanting growth it must make some changes, and changes come with a price, and too many churches and pastors are not willing to pay that price. Some within churches will reject almost any change that is proposed, and some of the battles over these changes can become fierce. Unless the pastor is willing to pay the price to confront the opposition the needed changes are unlikely to ever happen. Even worse, every time the opposition wins it makes future changes more doubtful. Unless the pastor is more interested in pleasing God than in pleasing his or her controllers growth will not happen.
Some ministers do not want to lead. They want to manage the status quo. Such people should not be pastors. They can serve in staff positions, but they should not be in the role of pastor. Some ministers want to lead but do not know how. Few were taught leadership in seminary. Again, they were taught how to manage a congregation. But, anyone can grow as a leader. Look beyond seminary to training opportunities that will make you a better leader. No church can rise any higher than its leadership, and as its pastor grows in leadership ability the church can enjoy a much more effective ministry.
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