I recently read a blot post written by someone I respect as a Christian leader. He has challenged me for years to think differently about the church. I've quoted him in some of my books. In his blog he stated his belief that 60-70 percent of pastors are wasting their time serving churches that have no chance of long-term survival. He correctly noted that 80-85 percent of churches in America are plateaued or dying, and many of them will not survive. I personally believe that the majority of those churches are dying, not plateaued. He does not believe that most of those churches will survive long term. Unfortunately, I've come to agree with him.
Several years ago when I served on regional staff in our denomination I would not have agreed with him. I was convinced that with the right pastoral leadership almost any church could be turned around. I now realize that, short of a miracle from God, some of these churches had no chance of survival. They had gone too far down the decline side of the bell curve. They had zero interest in outreach or discipleship. Their only goal was survival. Since then, some of those churches have closed their doors while others continue to hang on by a fingernail waiting for the miracle pastor who can save their church.
It hurts me to say this, but perhaps this church leader is right. Maybe a lot of pastors are wasting their time trying to save something that died a long time ago. While pastors spend their days putting out fires and seeking ways to serve their shrinking congregations, multitudes are dying without Christ. The Great Commission and the Great Commandment are ignored while we try to soothe the ruffled feathers of a patriarch in the church. Too many churches are trying to find the funds to remodel their kitchen while they have nothing in the budget for evangelism and discipleship.
My DMin project was coaching bivocational ministers for greater ministry effectiveness. In one coaching session with a pastor he had questions about an upcoming baptism. Since he seemed so concerned about the details I commented that he seemed very nervous about the baptism and asked why. He responded he wanted it to go well because it was the first baptism in that church in 50 years. I had to wonder what the previous pastors had done while serving that church. Perhaps they had wasted their time and the opportunities to present Jesus Christ to their community.
But, here was a young pastor who was not wasting his time. In our next coaching session he reported the baptism went well. After the service, the congregation marched down to a river bordering their town and baptized the person there. The parade of the congregation was noticed by some people in the community who followed them. They were able to hear the pastor explain the purpose and symbolism of baptism and witness the baptism itself. Several people heard the gospel that day without ever attending the church service. I do not know the long-term outcome of that baptism, but this young pastor sowed some powerful evangelistic seeds that day.
The church leader I quoted earlier would have probably looked at that small church that had gone 50 years without a baptism and determined the church had no chance of survival and any pastor who went there was wasting his or her time. Maybe we should not be so quick to judge that, and maybe that's not our call to make. After all, if God calls a person to serve a church He must have a purpose in doing so.
I realize there are some churches that will not survive. Churches close their doors every week. At some point, denominations and church leaders need to allow them to end their ministries and stop artificially propping them up. At the same time, there are some struggling churches who only need a pastor with a God-given vision to turn them around. Such pastors will not be wasting their time serving in that church. It will take time to pass that vision on to the congregation, and it will take time to implement the vision, but it will be time well spent. It will not be wasted.