The unsaved church member

Years ago Billy Graham stated his belief that one-half of those attending churches had never trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Many were active members and leaders in their churches. Some served as pastors of those churches. I'm sure when he said those words that some doubted the number could be that high. Well, Christian researcher George Barna's team have studied those attending church services and came to the same conclusion. Approximately, one-half of those professing to be Christians have actually given their lives over to Jesus Christ. That is an amazing number, and one that should give pause to churches and their leadership.

How can such a thing be true? From my perspective, it's the result of people not truly understanding what it means to be a Christian. Some think they are Christian because their parents or grandparents were Christians. Others may believe because they attend a church service and even take an active part in those services, that they are Christians. Some may be relying on an event that happened many years ago in which they made a public profession of faith which was followed by a baptism, but in reality their lives never changed nor have they had any recent experience of God working in their lives. What we are talking about here in each of these examples is poor theology and is the direct result of inadequate preaching from the pulpit. In too many churches, the gospel has been watered down so much so that it might not offend anyone that people no longer understand what it means to become a Christian.

Several years ago a pastor shared with me a story about a young member of his church. This individual had once again been arrested for drunk driving and was in jail. After his release the family asked the pastor to visit the young man which he did. During their conversation the pastor asked the individual about his relationship with Jesus Christ. The young man shared that he had attended a church camp as a child. During a chapel service one evening he fell asleep, and when he woke up he noticed a crowd of young people down front. He went down front to see why they were there. These young people had responded to a gospel presentation to give their lives to Christ. This individual was asked his name, and a couple of weeks later his pastor received a letter from the camp stating this individual had made a profession of faith. Without looking into this apparent profession any further, the young man was baptized and became a member of the church. How many people sitting in our churches believe they are right with God because of an inadequate understanding of what it means to be a Christian?

In 2 Corinthians 13:5 Paul encourages us to test ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith. Such an examination should be good for each of us to perform. Let's not trust our church membership or our role in the church as proof of our relationship with God. We should also not trust our Christian upbringing as evidence that we are Christians. God has no grandchildren. Each person must make a personal decision of whether to seek a relationship with God through Jesus Christ in order to be saved.

One final word to church leaders, especially pastors. Let each of us be abundantly clear on what it means to be a Christian. God doesn't need "woke" churches afraid of offending people. He has called each of us to present clearly the gospel and invite people to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. There is no other name under heaven by which people can be saved. Our churches will never impact our communities as they should until this message is shared without apology.

Church hoppers

 Every pastor dreads to hear a member of the congregation say, "We're not getting fed here and we've decided to leave for another church." This is seldom true. There are those occasions when a pastor is not preaching biblical truth, and people do need to leave a church, but this is not usually the case when people say these words. The reality is that many of them are "church hoppers," people who move from church to church attempting to find a place that will cater to their preferences and desires.

In my 35+ years of ministry most of the people I've seen leave a church did so because they were angry because they didn't get their way. Some were controllers who had perhaps ran the church for years before someone finally said no to them. When they couldn't threaten and bully to get their way they left to take their dysfunction to another church. Some had a different vision for the church and its ministry, a vision most of the church didn't share, so they left. They weren't angry; they just needed to find a church whose vision for ministry more closely matched their own. This is different than the ones who leave because they didn't get their way.

Some have a "What have you done for me lately?" attitude. I learned the hard way that no matter how much you help some people, they always demand more. When the help begins to slow down, they move on to greener pastures.

Church hoppers can have a fear of commitment. They are afraid if they stay too long in a church they will be expected to become involved. The only involvement they want is to attend a worship service when it's convenient. They don't want any responsibility, and they certainly don't want to be held accountable. The pastor of one church told me that their church was large enough that people could hide out there. That can't happen in a smaller church. Eventually, in a smaller church people are going to be invited to serve in some capacity, and that invitation is enough to cause some church hoppers to leave.

They may also have a fear of the shallowness of their faith being exposed if they stay too long. While the excuse may be that they are not being fed, the reality may be that they don't want to be fed. Often, they are not feeding themselves. Their faith might be described as a mile wide and an inch deep. There is no depth to their faith, no roots, and this shallowness will eventually be seen if they stay in a church long enough for people to get to know them well.

 When people complain about not being fed, pastors should take a look at their sermons to see if there is any truth in the complaint. It might be that some adjustments may be needed in the messages, but often pastors will find that there is no basis for the complaint. In that case, wish the people well as they continue their spiritual journey and bless them as they continue their church hopping.

Friends are essential to a growing church

One of the most helpful books for pastors that I've seen in many years is What Every Pastor Should Know: 101 Indispensable Rules of Thumb for Leading Your Church by Gary McIntosh and Charles Arn. It is packed with practical information for pastors and church leaders designed to help them be more effective and grow their churches.

Rule #22 says that "Newcomers must have seven-plus friends in the church within the first six months to become fully assimilated." This rule explains why some new members become involved in the life of the church while others seem to disappear. The authors explain that the friends are the bridge for outsiders to become insiders in a congregation. Without those friendships the new member never seems to fit in and eventually leaves.

Nearly every church I've visited have told me they are the "friendliest church in town." I often joke in my workshops that I've yet to meet the second friendliest church in any community I've been in. However, while these churches may be friendly to one another, they are not always friendly to new people. I know because I've been in many of those churches.

When I first became a judicatory leader I was not well known by many of the congregations in my Area. I had been a bivocational pastor of a small, rural church for twenty years. Being bivocational I had not attended a lot of conferences in our region or been very active in the larger denominational family. When I would visit a church for the first time, there was a good chance no one would know who I was. I used that anonymity to see how these churches received first-time guests.

In many churches I was well-received, but there were some exceptions. My wife and I noticed that some people went out of their way to ignore us. While there was often a lot of talking and laughter all around us, in some instances not a single person spoke to us. Had I been looking for a church I would not have chosen those to join.

There are a lot of resources available today addressing church hospitality as it pertains to how the church treats first-time guests. In fact, I have a workshop that I've done for several churches and associations on the subject. However, not much is done around how friendships are key to keeping our new members involved in the life of the church.

This book offers some good tips for doing this. In this post I'll just mention one. The authors suggest regularly beginning new groups for newcomers. It can be difficult for a new person to break into an existing group. However, it can be much more comfortable if everyone in the group is new.

I'm sure some reading this will object saying that this will lead to cliques in the church. Let's just be honest with one another for a minute. Your church probably already has cliques, and many of them may not be open to receiving new people they don't know. We all associate with people with whom we share common interests, and it's no different in the church.

We should be more concerned about losing new members than we are about the possibility of cliques forming in the church. Helping these new members make at least seven new friends is one way to keeping them involved in the life of the congregation, and creating new small groups for them is one way to do that.

Making a re-commitment to church membership

Louisville megachurch, Southeast Christian, recently deleted everyone from their membership rolls at all four of their area campuses. Following five weeks of sermons that focused on core beliefs they asked people to recommit to being a member of the church and to the mission of "connecting people to Jesus and one another by loving where you are." Thousands of people signed colored tiles making a renewed commitment to church membership and to the mission. Hundreds of baptisms also occurred during this emphasis.

At a time when many question the value of church membership this church has emphasized its importance to its congregation and to those they are seeking to reach. But, it's not just signing on to be a member of a church. It's also asking for a commitment to being involved in their mission of reaching people for Jesus Christ.

Too often we are content to "dip 'em and drop 'em" as one writer put it. There is often little discipleship done with these new members nor are they challenged to be involved in the mission of their new church. If they prove to be somewhat faithful in attending services they may eventually be asked to serve on a committee or teach a class.

Growing churches, and Southeast Christian is certainly growing, are not afraid to challenge people to engage in ministry. In fact, I would say that there is a culture of expectation in growing churches that its members will engage in ministry.

There is one element here that does not exist in every church. Southeast Christian has a clear mission to which they can challenge people to engage. If a church has no sense of purpose, no vision for ministry, and is not actively involved in doing intentional ministry, what can they challenge people to do? Mostly, serve on a committee, and that's not very appealing to people who want their lives to make a difference.

What would happen in your church if you removed every member from the church roll? How many would recommit to membership in your church? More importantly, how many would commit to being engaged in the mission of your church? Final question...exactly what is the mission of your church?

Our entitled society

As we look at the various challenges that hinder a church from fulfilling its mission one is the entitlement mentality that so many people have. We see it on the news every night. After decades of government handouts and giving everyone who participates an award we have raised a generation of people who believe they are entitled to anything they want whether they have earned it or not.

Back in the mid-1990s I was still working in a factory. Our local school brought a class to tour the factory and learn about manufacturing. I was the only factory worker involved in meeting this group and leading the tour. Everyone else was in management or engineering. After the tour we gathered for a Q&A session. Most of the students were very pleasant, but there were two boys who thought life revolved around them. Each of the factory people gave a short presentation of what their jobs were and took questions. Most questions were very good except for the ones these two boys asked. When it was my turn I explained a little about what was required to work in a modern factory and then asked for questions.

One of the two boys immediately asked how much I made. Not wanting to answer since it was none of his business I responded that the union had recently negotiated a new contract with the company and new employees would start at about half what we were making. The boy went into a tantrum about how unfair that was. He felt he should be making what everyone else working there made. I was already fed up with his behavior so I fired back with about a dozen questions asking if he knew how to read a set of micrometers, how to set up a Cincinnati drilling machine, and several other questions requiring knowledge and skills we used every day in that plant. He kept admitting he didn't know how to do any of those things. I then looked at him and asked, "Then what makes you think you deserve to earn what those of us who do know how to do these things make?" A senior management person told me later how glad she was I was able to shut him up.

He had the same mentality that those have who are demanding starting wages be raised to $10.00 or $15.00 an hour. If people want to be paid more let them learn new skills that enables them to add value to their employer. Raising people's salaries beyond the value they add to the employer will do nothing but result in higher unemployment. More jobs will go overseas and more companies will invest more money in automation equipment to replace those employees and their inflated salaries.

However, this mentality also impacts the church. Too many church members look at their membership as a guarantee that their every need will be met. Their pastor exists to serve them. The church's finances are to be spent on making their lives more comfortable. They do not see that they have any responsibility to grow as Christians or to be involved in ministries that would serve others.

As a pastor for twenty years and a denominational leader for the past fourteen years I have found that the people who often create the most problems in a church are the same people who add very little value to the church. They have an entitlement mentality that refuses to do anything that will benefit the church while at the same time demanding that the church caters to their every whim.

If the church is to achieve its mission it must stop giving in to these people. Churches don't need people who are going to take up space and do nothing but complain and criticize. We need people who are committed to the mission and vision of the church, people who are willing to work to see that purpose fulfilled. The church needs people who do not see their church membership as another entitlement program but as a responsibility to take the Gospel message to a world that does not know Jesus Christ. Only then can the church begin to make a difference in our world.

A different look at people who leave your church

Most pastors have felt the emotions often associated with hearing the words, "Pastor, we are leaving the church."  It's easier when their leaving is due to their moving away.  It's much harder when their reasons have to do with the pastor, the direction the church is doing, or some conflict in the church.  As a pastor I often felt like I had somehow failed these folks or they wouldn't be leaving.  What I have come to realize later in life is that there are valid reasons for people leaving a church for another one that has little to do with the pastor.

Few ministers remain at one church their entire ministry.  Some of us go to a church thinking that we will remain there until our ministries end only to find that God leads us in another direction.  As regular readers know, I was pastor at Hebron Baptist Church for twenty years and had no desire to leave.  We were enjoying a good ministry in that church, but I became aware that my time there was about to end.  One day I realized that I had taken that church as far as I could with the gifts and abilities I had, and if the church was to go to another level of ministry it needed a pastor who had different gifts than I did.  I felt certain that God was going to open up a new ministry door for me, but I didn't know it would be two years later before that door opened and it would lead me out of pastoral ministry to a denominational role.

If pastors can leave a church because their work there has ended, why can the same not be true for lay leaders?  Somehow we have the idea that if someone joins a church and leaves for any reason other than moving from the community that something is wrong.  I realize that some people leave for selfish reasons and some leave for reasons that are just plain childish, but we need to accept the idea that sometimes people leave one church for another for good, valid reasons.

Sometimes a person will feel led to another church so they have a better opportunity to use their gifts.  For instance, someone who can play the piano may be in a church that has four piano players but knows of a church in the community that has no one to play for their services.  Perhaps that person would feel led to move to that church to assist them in their worship.  I know of a church restart that asked people from surrounding churches to help provide leadership for a few months while the church was getting started.  People came to teach classes and participate in the life of the church.  Many of them returned to their home church after a few months, but a few stayed to become part of the core group of this church restart.  Some may feel God is leading their church in new directions which are not comfortable to everyone.  Recognizing that most of the congregation is committed to these new directions those who are not comfortable may decide to leave for another church rather than resist what seems to be a move of God.  We are often tempted to criticize these folks; perhaps we should avoid making judgment on their decisions.  I know of a family who decided to leave a church because of some decisions the congregation made, and today they are leading a ministry in their new church far beyond anything that their former church was capable of doing.

It is a mistake to believe that God can only call pastors to leave a church for another ministry.  He can also call lay leaders to do the same, and it's time we in the church recognize that and acknowledge their faith in accepting that call.  Perhaps it's time to publicly recognize those persons who are leaving for new lay ministry opportunities and ask the congregation to pray for them and the work they will be doing in their new church.  That would be much more proper than what sometimes happen in churches when people leave.

Member values vs missionary values

In my book The Healthy Community: Moving Your Church Beyond Tunnel Vision. I quote Reggie McNeal who wrote "Member values clash with missionary values.  Member values are all about church real estate, church programming, who's in and who's out, member services, member issues (translated: am I getting what I need out of this church?)  Missionary values are about the street, people's needs, breaking down barriers, community issues (Translated: am I partnering with God's work in people?)."  The question for each church leader is which of these values best represents the thinking in your church?

Maintenance-minded churches focus primarily on member's values.  That is why these churches are often plateaued or declining, and usually declining.  If people are not having their needs met they will either go elsewhere or change the leadership in hopes that new leaders will meet their needs.  As members, they expect to be served.

Missional churches focus more on the missionary values.  The majority of their congregations see themselves as called to serve others, not to be served.  They seek to minister in the areas of their giftedness and passion to make a difference in the lives of people in their community.  They continue to enjoy great fellowship with other members of their church, but that fellowship is often in the context of ministering to the surrounding community.

The values your church focuses on will determine the look of your church five years from now.  I recently spoke to a men's group and told them their church will change in the next five years.  It will either have a number of new people attending who have been reached through your church's ministries into the community or it will be a smaller, grayer congregation.  Either way, it will change, and their decisions about whether they focus on member values or missionary values will determine which change they will experience.  The same is true of your church.