I was raised in the mountains. If you weren't, let me inform you that this is very different than being raised in the city. NASCAR. Pork rinds. Different. Life was hard there. Most of the men mined coal underground. People had to be tough to survive. For example, if you had a dog and it got old and sick, you may have had to shoot it to put it out of its misery. You heard me. Shoot it.

Put It Out Of Its Misery

This didn’t happen because the people were angry, mean, or against the ethical treatment of animals. In fact, quite the opposite was true. People shot their dogs because it was the most humane thing they could do when their beloved pet was old and sick and the owners couldn't afford to have a vet put him down. When this point came, they simply went out to the woods, did what they had to do, cried, and came home.

Ministry Dogs

Let me be clear: this principle should NOT be applied to people in the church, but I do believe it should apply to programs and systems in the church. Even though most of us reading this would not want to admit it, I can almost guarantee you that there is at least one "dog" wandering around in each of our ministries that needs to be shot. These include a program or system that has outlived its effectiveness; a set of ideas or terminology that is no longer relevant; or a leader that is no longer leading and needs to be lovingly transitioned. In other words, a dog that needs to be shot. And as long as you allow it to wander around, it is going to drain your momentum and hurt the mission. You don't need to act rashly about it, but you know the mission is too important to not act prayerfully and soon. Do you have the courage to shoot the dog? Check out Pastor Mark’s book Confessions of a Reformission Rev for a further discussion of this idea.