Strategies for dealing with a dead horse

 In a recent Bible study I mentioned  that whipping a dead horse would not make it run any faster. As I said that I was trying to remember this list I had read in John Maxwell's excellent book Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Success but was unable to do so. I've since looked it up. Here is his top ten strategies for dealing with a dead horse.

1. Buy a stronger whip.
2. Change riders.
3. Appoint a committee to study the horse.
4. Appoint a team to revive the horse.
5. Send out a memo declaring the horse isn't really dead.
6. Hire an expensive consultant to find "the real problem."
7. Harness several dead horses together for increased speed and efficiency.
8. Rewrite the standard definition of live horse.
9. Declare the horse to be better, faster, and cheaper when dead.
10. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

What do I mean when I refer to a dead horse? It's any program or ministry in the church that has stopped producing results. Strategies that used to be effective are too often continued even though everyone knows they stopped being effective a long time ago. I suppose we continue doing them because it's what we know. Reluctant to make changes we remain stuck in ruts that lead to nowhere.

How many of these approaches have you seen churches do when dealing with a dead horse? I suppose I've seen just about all of them in one church or another. Sometimes churches even seem to follow them in order like a check-list. If number one doesn't work, let's try number two, and right on down the line. By the time we get to number ten a lot of time has passed by, and the church has even deeper problems.

When the horse is dead the only sensible thing to do is dismount. Rather than spending a lot of time trying to revive the dead horse find one that wants to run. In other words, begin to identify new programs, ministries and ways of doing things that make sense and produces results. It may mean that your church's structure will need to be overhauled. Years ago I read something that has stuck with me: Your system is perfectly designed for the results you are getting. It's true in business; it's true in families, and it's true in churches. Some of us have systems in place that cannot help but fail to produce positive results.

Of course, I realize that some of these dead horses are considered untouchable in some churches. When that is the case, any attempt to change one of these programs or ministries will be met with a huge outcry, "It won't be church without . . . ." At that point, if I may be allowed to change animals, the dead horse is now a sacred cow. Interestingly enough, I am getting ready to read Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers: Ministry Anytime, Anywhere, By Anyone by Bill Easum. I may be able to share some ideas about how to deal with sacred cows in a few weeks.