Revitalizing a Church Series: Click | View Series

In Parts 1 and 2, I posed two questions that I recommend anyone considering church revitalization should ask. Revitalization is nothing short of a work of the Holy Spirit. Unless you believe that God is working in the group of people that currently make up the dying church (and not the institution itself), and that he has big plans for them in the future, I would not advise trying to revitalize. There are too many lost people to waste your time with stubborn, hard-hearted religious people who don't want to change.

That being said, I want to offer a couple of words of advice and encouragement to those who do feel God leading them to attempt church revitalization.

Somehow a wimpy heresy has infiltrated American pastors: when people rebel, verbally rip apart your ministry, or try to take over the church, you should obsequiously take it on the chin, humbly assume the fetal position, and hope for the best. Real Christians don't fight.

As we say in North Carolina: hogwash.

A Good Shepherd Fights

A good shepherd takes on the wolves that threaten his flock. He fights. It's never in self-defense, of course, but quite often, what is being threatened is not the reputation of the pastor but the health of the church—someone is trying to harm the flock that Jesus purchased with his blood! The church is Jesus' most expensive investment, so how can we not fight to protect it?

What's Best for the Flock?

Paul provides a great example for us. Paul's decision whether or not to fight is based on what is best for the flock, not for him personally. In certain places he does not defend himself because, as he sees it, defending his reputation will provide no immediate benefit to the local church (Phil 1:13). In others, however, he goes to great lengths to defend himself and his work because doing so helps the local church (2 Corinthians).

Protect the Body, Not Your Reputation

In other words, we should never fight to protect our reputation, but we should be willing to fight to protect the body. It may superficially appear "humble" and "Christ-like" to obsequiously walk away and surrender when you are being attacked, but you may be doing the church a great disservice in doing so. You may be turning your flock over to wolves. No shepherd worthy of Jesus' name should ever do that. You need to say "only over my dead body." The church is Jesus' most expensive investment. She is worth fighting, even dying, to protect.

These thoughts about revitalization are by no means complete, but I hope they get you started in the process. I am also filling this out a great deal on my own blog, www.jdgreear.com, because I get asked the question so much. You can read more about revitalization there.

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Revitalizing a Church Series: Click | View Series

In Parts 1 and 2, I posed two questions that I recommend anyone considering church revitalization ask. Revitalization is nothing short of a work of the Holy Spirit. Unless you believe that God is working in the group of people that currently make up the dying church (and not the institution itself), and that he has big plans for them in the future, I would not advise trying to revitalize. There are too many lost people to waste your time with stubborn, hard-hearted religious people who don't want to change. That being said, I want to offer a couple of words of advice and encouragement to those who do feel God leading them to attempt church revitalization.

Don't Underestimate Staying Power

"Pastors consistently overestimate what they can accomplish in five years, and they consistently underestimate what they accomplish in 20 years." That was some advice I once received from Ligon Duncan, former head of the PCA (Presbytery of Calvary). Additionally, a pastor of a large, historic Baptist church told me, "You are not really the pastor until year ten. Up until then, you haven't really established trust with your leaders, and the DNA you have tried to inculcate hasn't yet set." Both of these statements make the same point: staying in one place and being a consistent force of leadership will bring lasting change.

The Flywheel Concept

Jim Collins, in his classic leadership book, Good to Great, talks about "the flywheel" concept bringing real change. Inculcating DNA works like spinning a flywheel (a big, heavy metal wheel mounted horizontally on a vertical pole). In your first "spin," you exert an extraordinary amount of effort for very little result. However, your next "effort," building on the momentum of the previous movement, takes less energy but results in a faster spin. On and on it goes until the momentum of the wheel causes the wheel to turn itself, requiring only the slightest tap from your fingertips.

Organizations are like that, Collins says. Few leaders can come in, give it a mighty spin, and be done. Most of us push, then a little more, and a little more, and over time the movement we desire is created, with each year's momentum building on the momentum from the year before.

God Wants Us to Be Persistent

Think about Jesus' story of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. The whole parable seems ridiculous—God is compared to an unjust, uncaring judge who answers a widow's request simply because she is annoying. It almost seems blasphemous, but the point is that if an unjust judge will respond to persistence, won't the just, compassionate God of the universe? For whatever reason, God has ordained that some miracles only come through persistent asking. Sometimes we give up when we don't see an immediate miracle, but we might be giving up right before God gives us what we are seeking.

To be continued

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Revitalizing a Church Series: Click | View Series

I am often asked by guys whether or not they should try to revitalize their current church or plant a new one. Only God can show you what your situation requires, but I want to pose two questions that I think anyone considering revitalization should ask.

Here is the second question, continued from Part 1.

Has God Been Preparing the Church for Revitalization?

If God has not orchestrated revival, and you don't see signs of God's movement within the congregation, I would not advise attempting to revitalize the church.

People are often deceived by our story. I came to the Summit Church in 2002. Shortly afterwards, we sold our building and replanted the church under a new vision. What most people don't know is that God had taken the church through a painful process prior to my coming on as pastor. There was a lot of turmoil about what direction the church should go. Many left. By the time I took the helm in 2002, those who remained were ready to do whatever it took to reach people. Voting me in as pastor was their decision to move forward.

In other words, I did not come in with my cape flapping in the wind and playing my magical flute, with everyone hypnotically following me. I was simply one stroke in a movement God was working in the church.

Don't Waste Your Time

I would not suggest, generally speaking, trying to revitalize when you don't see signs of God working in ways that are independent and larger than you. Yes, there are exceptions, but this is a case where I think Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God) got it right years ago. Discover where God is working, and go join him in it. Pray with Moses, Jonathan, or any number of the Bible heroes, "God, I won't go up, unless you go with me."

If you don't sense him moving in that congregation, go plant. Find a fertile field and invest your life there. You've only got one life, and there are billions of lost people. In my opinion, you should not waste your life banging your head against the wall, trying to lead people who don't really want to be led, unless God tells you in clear terms that is what he wants from you.

To be continued.

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Revitalizing a Church Series: Click | View Series

A Church Revitalized

I've been asked to speak on church revitalization at the Advance Conference this year. Six years ago when I was called as a pastor, Homestead Heights was a declining 41-year-old Baptist church. Attendance was down to about 350 people, and more were leaving. Today, the Summit Church consists of four campuses spread across Raleigh-Durham. To God's glory, this past Easter we had 4400 people in service and saw 160 profess faith in Christ.

Revitalized To Be Gospel-Centered

I've entitled my talk "Planting is for Wimps: Revitalizing a Church around the Gospel." That is, of course, tongue-in-cheek; we believe, and are heavily involved, in church planting (and if not, I'd never admit it at an Acts 29 conference)! We have started a church planting center at our campus called SendRDU, and our goal is to plant 1000 churches by 2050. But at the same time, America is rapidly becoming a boneyard of emptying churches, and our situation cries out for pastors who can lead their churches away from the idolatry of traditionalism and back to the centrality of the gospel.

Considering Revitalization?

I am often asked by guys whether or not they should try to revitalize their current church or plant a new one. Only God can show you what your situation requires, but I want to pose two questions that I think anyone considering revitalization should ask:

• Why, exactly, do I want to revitalize this church?
• Has God been preparing my church for revitalization?

We will address the first question here, and the next in Part 2 of this series.

Why Do I Want to Revitalize?

There are a lot of bad reasons to attempt church revitalization. Here are two major ones:

1. To Restore Institutional Glory

Often we want to revitalize a church because we remember how great it used to be. We are saddened to see a once-thriving church in decline, so we want to "save" the institution and restore its glory days. The problem is that a local church is a covenant community, and it's composed of the people who are currently part of that community, not those from its past. Jesus died to redeem the one universal church and will preserve it forever. In heaven, there will be no "Summit Church," no "Mars Hill Church." If you want to revitalize a church, do it for the care of its members or the excitement over those it could reach, not to restore the glory of the past.

2. To Save the Resources of the Church

On one hand, you hate to see the sacrifice of previous generations go to waste and millions of dollars of property "lost." On the other hand, the Bible repeatedly instructs us that we should look to God to meet the needs of what we are doing today. The story of God's provision of manna in Exodus 16 shows us that God does not want us to depend on his provision yesterday for what we need today. Practically speaking, you will likely waste time and money trying to redeem resources that could be better spent starting something new. The most valuable resource of the church, the only one really worth saving, is its people.

To be continued.

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