I saw the signs of future sin way before we entered the lost years of the congregation my family helped launch when I was in high school. It was certainly not intentional sin. It was all unintentional. We caught it before it became an ongoing sinful practice.
Our congregation was meeting in a motel conference room that would accommodate up to 75 people. It was the largest conference room available every week. During our second year, we hit the fire marshal’s mandated maximum almost every Sunday.
Realizing our space challenge, something started changing in our congregational culture. The zeal we had to reach people when we were a new congregation waned. Realizing this, one layperson said, “Our passion for new people dropped like a rock.”
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We knew we had to do something — and quickly! Once the zeal to reach new people leaves a church, it is difficult to get it back.
The sins of a movement lost
Many sins of the lost years of congregations are unintentional sins of omission and not sins of commission. They represent the failure of congregations to fulfill God’s calling.
Churches transition from being empowered by God to build the eternal Kingdom to instead focusing on a temporal church growth movement.
I recently read an article examining the megachurches of several decades ago and how many have since become smaller congregations. Some sold their facilities, and others are being absorbed by or are becoming campuses for a new generation of megachurches.
Church growth does not last. Kingdom growth is eternal.
Some sins of the multiplying years
When churches formalize their programs and ministries, they may lose sight of the spiritual journey of their members and focus instead on the success of their programs and ministries.
As people take ownership of their responsibilities within the congregation, they may stop trying to develop new leaders. Thus, they dry up their leadership pipeline and move from embracing volunteers to begging for volunteers.
Churches talk more about what God is doing in and through their congregation than what their congregation is doing to seek the spiritual transformation of the context in which God placed them.
The sins of the maturing years
In the maturing years, congregations tend to fossilize around their way of doing things and the kind of people they attract. They focus more on the church belonging to them rather than to God.
The bylaws compete with God’s empowering vision for the congregation. The bylaws are supplemented by a policy manual akin to the law of the Medes and Persians.
Statistical research shows that during the maturing years, the zeal for new converts lessens. A much higher percentage of new members are transfers from another congregation or children and spouses of current members who accept Jesus as Savior and Lord.
The sins of the management years
In the management years, congregations hold on to “the way we were.” “I hope tomorrow brings back the good things of yesterday,” a layperson might say. They fail to realize the new thing God has called them to do.
They fail to renew the congregational direction at least every seven years. They no longer know how to think about the future but only the past.
Their focus on the process of disciple-making is long gone. Now all they can do is recruit people for programs of discipleship in which they gain more knowledge but do not necessarily live out their faith.
They spend a larger percentage of their tithes and offerings each year on themselves instead of the Kingdom of God. The missional ministries in which they engage are more about supporting what parachurch organizations do than on what they do to connect with people who need the unconditional love of Jesus.
The role of associations and others
Those who support and undergird the life and ministry of congregations must develop a deep and meaningful understanding of the lost years through which congregations journey. Proactively addressing the lost years may significantly decrease the need to talk about renewal, revitalization and replanting.
They must positively inspire, motivate, train, provide resources and offer congregations the coaching, consulting, mentoring and training needed to help them soar with faith and avoid unintentional sin.
EDITOR’S NOTE — George Bullard spent 45 years in denominational ministry. He served on the staff of three associations, was a key staff person working with associations in two state conventions and served on the association missions division staff of the former Home Mission Board of the SBC. He retired in June 2022 as director of Columbia Metro Baptist Association in South Carolina. He has led strategic planning processes in more than 100 associations and has written extensively in this area. Bullard now serves as a strategic thinking mentor for Christian leaders through his ForthTelling Innovation ministry and a correspondent for The Baptist Paper.
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