Dare to think big thoughts

 Perhaps nothing limits us more than spending our lives thinking small thoughts. In his book, Thinking for a Change, John Maxwell writes: Unsuccessful people focus their thinking on survival, Average people focus their thinking on maintenance. Successful people focus their thinking on progress. What he writes about individuals is true of churches, businesses, families, governments and all organizations.

When I served as a regional Resource Minister most of the 133 churches in my area were focused on survival. They had been in decline, some for decades. There was little time spent thinking about growth or addressing new ministry needs in their communities. They only had one thing on their minds: survival. In some cases, they had financial reserves in the six figures but would not consider spending it in an effort to reach more than the 20-30 who normally attended their services. They were afraid they would lose their savings and be unable to survive as a church.

I would argue that they had already ceased being a church. Jesus gave the church the Great Commission which focuses on reaching people for God, not survival as an institution. In fact, as I have mentioned in the numerous pastor conferences I have led, God is not interested in whether or not your church survives. He is interested in whether or not you are doing what He commanded His church to do, and if not He will raise up other churches who will.

Many times I heard from frustrated pastors and church leaders how some churches seemed to be able to reach new people while they struggled to stay open. I heard complaints when we would help start new churches. "Why not give that money to your existing churches instead of starting new churches?' was often their complaint. The answer was simple although it was seldom expressed: These new churches have the potential to reach new people. Your church ceased reaching new people a long time ago.

I often heard other complaints from our existing churches. One common question was why new churches in the area seemed to be unable to keep up with their growth while the existing churches were trying to desperately to stay open. I usually responded that the new churches thought differently about ministry than existing churches. Existing churches were often highly structured with boards, committees, monthly business meetings and required church approval from nearly everything from staffing to the color of the toilet paper used in the restrooms. The new churches trusted their leadership to make the vast majority of the decisions. In other words, they thought differently than existing churches which enabled them to respond quickly to ministry opportunities.

For too long, churches have been handicapped by small thinking. We think in terms of what we do not have instead of what God has. We often have a scarcity mentality instead of remembering that God own the cattle on a thousand hills. When we catch God's vision for our church and pursue it, He will bring us the resources we need to see it become a reality. I encourage every pastor, every church leader, to dare to think big thoughts that will advance the Kingdom of God.