Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 48

3 Reasons Why Your Church’s Marketing is in Trouble

Your church’s marketing may be in trouble and you’re not aware of it. Unless you have a clear idea of who you are, what you do, and why you do it, then your audience will be confused and your marketing will be ineffective. Here are three reasons why your church’s marketing may be in trouble:

1. You’re not clear on who you are

If you don’t know who you are, then how can you expect your audience to know who you are? Take some time to determine your church’s identity. What makes you unique? Why do people come to your church? Is it the biblical teaching? The worship? The family ministry? What is it that brings people in the doors?

Once you have a clear understanding of who you are, you can begin to craft a marketing strategy that will effectively communicate your church’s identity to your target audience.

2. You’re not clear on what you do

Your church may be doing a lot of things, but if you’re not clear on what your church does best, then your marketing will be ineffective. Determine what your church does best and focus your marketing efforts on promoting those activities. By activities I’m not referring to event based ministry, instead think through those ministries that have an impact on your audience and community.

By clearly communicating what your church does best, you’ll be able to attract new members who are looking for a church that offers those specific activities.

3. You’re not clear on why you do what you do

If you can’t articulate the reason behind why your church does what it does, then your marketing will fall flat. Take some time to determine the purpose of your church. Why do you exist? Now of course, the easy answer would be to “Preach Christ Crucified” or to “Glorify Christ.” But what makes your “why” unique compared to the church next door?

Once you have a clear understanding of your church’s purpose, you can begin to craft a marketing strategy that will effectively communicate your church’s mission to your target audience.

If you’re not sure whether or not your church’s marketing is in trouble, take some time to assess your current marketing efforts. If you’re not clear on who you are, what you do, or why you do it, then it’s time to make some changes. By taking the time to develop a clear understanding of your church and its mission, you can begin to craft a marketing strategy that will effectively communicate your church’s identity to your target audience.

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Considering the New Living Translation

We know that as a leader in your church, you care deeply about rooting your people in God’s Word. The common denominator of passionate, engaged, gospel-centered believers is their love of God and his Word. We share a deep conviction that reading, hearing, and rightly understanding God’s Word transforms lives and communities.

Tyndale House Publishers has published and distributed millions of Bibles over its history. What we have found through our research is that pastors want to feel confident in the Bible translation they study and recommend to their congregation. We have also found that congregations want a Bible translation that is easy to read and understand. Is there a translation that does both—that is both accurate and understandable? We believe it’s the New Living Translation.

More than 90 of the top Bible scholars in the world worked on the New Living Translation, producing a translation they say is as accurate as any translation on the market. And more and more pastors, scholars, and Christian leaders are telling us about the impact they are seeing in their ministries and in the lives of the people in their care because they are reading the NLT.

There is a common misunderstanding that a “word-for-word” translation is more accurate than a “thought-for-thought” translation. However, the truth is that there is no such thing as a word-for-word translation. For example, here is the literal word-for-word rendering of Psalm 23:1-2 from the NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament, followed by the ESV translation and the NLT translation:

Interlinear: Yahweh one being shepherd of me nothing I shall lack in pastures of greenness he makes lie down me beside waters of quiet ones.

ESV: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

NLT: The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.

A quick look at the extremely literal interlinear translation makes it clear that any excellent Bible translation must take significant liberties with the grammatical structure of the original Bible text.

As we set out to determine accuracy, let’s look at the interlinear translation and focus on the phrase in verse 1: “nothing I shall lack.” The ESV translates it as “I shall not want.” The NLT translates it as “I have all that I need.” Both are good translations, but is one more accurate than the other?

Another look at the ESV translation “I shall not want” begs the question, “What shall I not want?” And is it really about what we want? It is actually about what we lack or need. The archaic language of the ESV obscures the meaning of the text.

The NLT is clearer and speaks in today’s vernacular. By saying, “I have all that I need,” the NLT clearly translates the intended meaning. This is just one of thousands of examples of how translating the meaning into today’s language increases the accuracy of the translation.

Check it out for yourself at NewLivingTranslation.com. If it passes the test of both accuracy and readability, would you allow us to list you among a group we’re calling “New Living Advocates”—leaders who recommend the NLT? And we would love it if we could have a statement from you about the New Living Translation that we could use as we introduce the NLT to more people around the world.

We even made it easy for you to participate. Simply drop an email to NewLivingAdvocates@Tyndale.com to give us permission to use your name in support of the NLT (and if possible, provide a short recommendation). If you include a mailing address, we will send you a beautiful, single-column text, leather-bound special edition of the NLT Select Bible as a thank-you.

In addition, if it would be helpful to your ministry, we will put you on a list to receive a free copy of future new NLT editions as they are published. Finally, do you know other leaders who value and use the New Living Translation that we could contact (mentioning that you recommended them)? If so, please include their name(s) in your email.

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The Impact of Shrinking Work Commute Times on Your Church

People dread the commute to work. In a recent survey, over half of those who work remotely stated commute times are the top reason they do not want to return to the office. Other reasons include well-being and flexibility, which are also tied to the length of commuting times.

For years, commute times slowly got longer. The pandemic seems to have broken this trend. Anything longer than twenty-five minutes is the new limit.

Will this trend last? Will a desire for shorter commute times be temporary, or is the shift a permanent change? Behavioral patterns shift during pandemics. Depending on the severity of the pandemic, people will change their behavior for up to two years. Most revert to previous habits.

This change appears to have lasting power. People are moving. The US population dispersed at greater rates during the pandemic. It’s unlikely that many of them will move back to their old locations. Additionally, mass transit will not be built quickly enough to change this trend. For example, in the Tampa Bay region where I live, we desperately need an updated mass transit system. Unfortunately, it will take decades to build.

As with any significant demographic shift, the church will feel the impact. How might your church be affected by shorter work commute times?

Average drive times to church are less than most realize. The average American drove six to fifteen minutes to church before the pandemic. One in five drive five minutes. Only 10% of churchgoers are willing to drive more than thirty minutes to church. These drive times are likely shorter now. This data demonstrates a lower tolerance for long drive times to church than places of employment. People may drive twenty or thirty minutes to work (and hate it). However, they are less likely to make such a trek to church (and love it). 

The reach of the regional church model will pull back but not disappear. Large, regional churches have their place, and many will continue to do incredible ministry. There is something to economies of scale with larger churches. They have the resources and footprint to do things other ministries cannot possibly attempt.

But regional churches were built on an appeal to a broader base. At the time of their construction, such models made sense. Building big was in vogue, and the largeness of something was an attraction unto itself. My father tells me the story of his father taking a family vacation to Houston to see the newly opened Astrodome. They drove from South Alabama to look at the behemoth stadium and then went back home. My children would think I’m insane for attempting such a “vacation.” Throughout the 1960s and into the 1990s, big was attractional. As a result, people were more willing to drive longer distances to church. This mindset is changing.

Healthy neighborhood churches will become more attractive. Established churches in established neighborhoods have an incredible opportunity. But people will not flock to closer churches simply because of location. The same reasons people left these churches twenty years ago will keep them away today. But a healthy neighborhood church with an outward focus has the potential to grow now more so than in the past.

Rural churches in proximity to bedroom communities have a big opportunity. Many small towns a few miles from the outer suburbs are growing. At Church Answers, we hear stories of smaller, rural churches growing as people drive a few minutes outside the bedroom community instead of traveling back into the suburb or city. Like the neighborhood church, a rural church will not grow simply because of its location. But a grand opportunity is there, more so than in the recent past.

Location has always been essential to the mission of God. Your address is not an accident. God sovereignly placed you where you are for a reason. I believe my church should do ministry at 1305 43rd Street West until Christ returns. Missiologically, every church should view its address as its assignment in the kingdom of God.

Many pastors rode the circuit when everyone traveled on horseback 200 years ago, often preaching at multiple churches a week. When the interstate system was built in the 1950s, a new model of regional churches sprang into existence. Today, sociological trends are shifting again. Commute times are an important factor in how you do ministry.

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The Community Is Not Coming to Your Church

For decades, many church strategies have been built around getting people in the community to come to your church. Big events. Great signage. Social media marketing. The attractional church. You get the picture.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with any of the “y’all come” approaches. Frankly, those are better than what most churches do to reach people: nothing.

The Old Paradigm

Most of the church growth tactics of the past half-century were built on the premise of expecting people from the community to attend our churches. But these strategies were built upon an assumption that most people in our communities were looking for a church home. Well, they are not looking anymore. And it is mainly futile to build a strategy upon a flawed premise.

The old paradigm meant that a few churches were at least seeking ways to get people to attend our churches. But the less healthy churches just expected people to show up because the church had a building and a sign. As one less-than-friendly church member told me during an interview I conducted for a church consultation: “I don’t even know why you are here. People in the community know where our church is located. They can come if they want to.”

I am glad I didn’t respond with the immediate thoughts on my mind.

The Necessary Paradigm

Though it sounds basic, the essence of the Great Commission is to go. The Great Commission does not say to develop the best events and build the best facilities so people will naturally come to your church. On the contrary, it says get out into the messy world and culture where we live, show the love of Christ to people in that culture, and tell them the good news of Christ.

This necessary paradigm means we must be intentional about pre-evangelism. We must invite people to church. We must develop relationships with people who are not followers of Christ. We must show people we care about them.

This necessary paradigm means we must be intentional about direct evangelism. We must provide evangelistic training and tools that our members will actually use. We must have prayer ministries that focus on evangelism and opportunities to share our faith. And we must share the gospel.

The necessary paradigm means we must make sure our members are biblically grounded. Our team at Church Answers surveys the church members in consultations to help us understand the attitudes and beliefs of the congregants. This survey, called Know Your Church, has been eye-opening. Around forty percent of the active members we’ve surveyed since the COVID quarantine do not believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation. These members have deleted John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 from their Bibles.

You will not have the motivation to tell people about Jesus if you think there are other options.

It Is Time

Most of our congregations were structured to get people to come to our churches. But the Bible is clear that our mandate is to go to them.

Until we get that right, our churches will not grow. They will not be healthy.

It is time.

It is time to go into our communities instead of simply expecting them to come to us.

It is simple but radical for most churches.

But anything else is defiant disobedience to the Lord we serve.

 

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What Lead Pastors Might Be Missing with NextGen Ministry

Quite frankly, it’s easy for a lead pastor to neglect the NextGen ministry. As long as volunteers are in place for the nursery and teachers are in the classrooms for children, we lead pastors tend not to dedicate much time to this area of the church. If the students are not causing ripples with the adults, everything must be going smoothly, right? The next generation of the church deserves more from you. Your NextGen staff deserves more from you. Your NextGen volunteers deserve more from you.

In a healthy congregation, those under 18 years of age will account for about 25% of the church. If your church reflects the broader demographics of the United States, then one in four people in your church will be a minor.  

Lead pastors are called to shepherd the entire congregation, not just the adults. Neglecting NextGen ministry means you are neglecting about a third to half of your congregation (if you include parents and guardians). Whether you shepherd a smaller congregation in which volunteers lead NextGen ministry, or whether you shepherd a large church with multiple staff people in these areas, you can lead by showing your support.

Listen more, assume less. Most lead pastors have limited experience with student ministry and even less experience with children’s ministry. Don’t assume all is great simply because you haven’t noticed any drama for a few months. Don’t assume chaos simply because three parents approached you with complaints. Take the time to listen, especially to your staff who lead NextGen. Lead pastors tend to jump to conclusions more quickly with NextGen ministry than with any other area of the church. Listen more and assume less.

Offer praise from the platform. Worship pastors get a lot of props because they are on the stage every week. Mission endeavors are highlighted during worship services. Lead pastors control the power of the pulpit. However, the NextGen ministry is often forgotten in worship. The children’s pastor and student pastor do not usually have the opportunity to speak about their ministries to the entire congregation. Give them platform time in worship services. Be intentional about encouraging them in worship services.

Push for a better budget. Churches take pride in giving a lot to missions. They should. Worship pastors are particularly adept at negotiating increases to their budgets. I cannot blame them. However, children and students tend to lose during the budget process. Why? It’s simple. Children and students do not have a voice at budget meetings. When have you ever brought a child or a student into these meetings? Likely never. Sure, the student pastor and children’s pastor are there. But it’s not the same as hearing from those directly impacted by the ministry. Lead pastors can serve the NextGen ministry by being an advocate during the budget process.

Nurture a culture of safety, not secrecy. Your children’s pastor and student pastor cannot create this culture alone. They need your help. Take the lead and make it a policy to report all abuse allegations. Don’t wash your hands concerning issues of safety. And you should not encourage NextGen ministry areas to keep matters of abuse quiet. One of the primary responsibilities of a lead pastor is to nurture the culture of a church. Your church will never have a culture of safety without your direct involvement.

Encourage multi-generational opportunities. Lead pastors should work with the NextGen ministry to create opportunities for every generation to serve and fellowship together. If every mission trip is age-segmented and every fellowship is categorized by life stage, the church is creating a hole in the discipleship process.

Create systems and structures that break down silos. Clean handoffs between preschool, children, and students should exist. Families should not feel like their fourth-grader and ninth-grader are in different ministry paradigms. Rarely do student pastors and children’s pastors naturally work together to break down ministry silos apart from the involvement of the lead pastor. More typically, they cut deals with volunteers and budgets. Like a pick-up game of basketball, the children’s pastor and student pastor will go back and forth, selecting the most capable servants. Usually, the lead pastor has to build systems and structures that open discipleship pathways. Without a comprehensive system for the entire church, the student and children’s ministry will likely remain in silos.

Lead pastor involvement in NextGen ministry is more important than ever. One hundred years ago, the life expectancy of an infant was about 50 years. Only two generations existed in congregations, with a handful of grandparents. Today, people live longer, and many churches have five generations to bridge. Every lead pastor should find ways to support NextGen ministry. Nobody wants to be micromanaged, but I imagine most NextGen servants would welcome the encouragement.

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6 Quotes from One of My Favorite Evangelism Books, The Soul Winner, by Charles Spurgeon

I love this book on evangelism. The book covers much more than evangelism, though, and it’s both fun and convicting at the same time. Maybe one of these quotes will help you evangelize better and lead your church to do the same:

1. ON TRANSFER GROWTH: “We do not regard it to be soul-winning to steal members out of churches already established . . . we aim rather at bringing souls to Christ than at making converts to our synagogue.”[1]

2. ON UNREGENERATE CHURCH MEMBERS: “In the next place, we do not consider soul-winning to be accomplished by hurriedly inscribing more names upon our church-roll, in order to show a good increase at the end of the year. . . . To introduce unconverted persons to the church, is to weaken and degrade it; and therefore an apparent gain may be a real loss.”[2]

3. ON PERSONAL HOLINESS RELATED TO EVANGELISM: “Dear brethren, I do beg you to attach the highest importance to your own personal holiness. . . . Fish will not be fishers. The sinner will not convert the sinner. The ungodly man will not convert the ungodly man; and, what is more to the point, the worldly Christian will not convert the world.”[3]

4. ON GOD SAVING SOULS BY HIS GRACE, NOT BY OUR GOOD PREACHING: “It is not our way of putting the gospel, nor our method of illustrating it, which wins souls, but the gospel itself does the work in the hands of the Holy Ghost, and to Him we must look for the thorough conversion of men.”[4]

5. ON PREACHING EVANGELISTIC SERMONS: “The kind of sermon which is likely to break the hearer’s heart is that which has first broken the preacher’s heart, and the sermon which is likely to reach the heart of the hearer is the one which has come straight from the heart of the preacher.”[5]

6. ON PLEADING WITH GOD TO USE US TO SAVE OTHERS: “As Rachel cried, ‘Give me children, or I die,’ so may none of you be content to be barren in the household of God. Cry and sigh until you have snatched some brand from the burning, and have brought at least one sinner to Jesus Christ, that so you also may have saved a soul from death, and covered a multitude of sins.”[6]

May God help us to be evangelistic leaders guiding evangelistic churches!

 

______________________________

 

[1] Kindle Edition  (p. 2, location 37-43).

[2] Kindle Edition (p. 3, location 56-62)

[3] Kindle Edition (p. 23, location 397; p. 172, location 2908).

[4] Kindle Edition (p. 103, location 1704).

[5] Kindle Edition (p. 159, location 996).

[6] Kindle Edition (p. 194, location 3304-3309).

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How Old Is Your Church and Does It Matter?

I absolutely love the discussion and questions that come to and from the Church Answers community. Almost every five minutes during the day, a new question is asked in our community. I could spend hours each day reading the information and interacting with the nearly 2,000 church leaders at Church Answers.

Recently, Matt McCraw, a Florida pastor, posed a simple question to the community: How old is your church? I emulated him and posed the same question on social media. When we tallied all the responses, we learned that the average age of the churches was 92 years old, and the median age was 67 years old.

That led me to recall the thousands of churches we have served through Church Answers. I wondered if I could find any patterns in the churches according to their age. To be clear, we are talking about the number of years since the church was founded, not the ages of the members.

Here are some of our observations.

Facilities: Older churches tend to have more deferred maintenance on their buildings. And they tend to use less of the square footage than younger churches.Finances: In the recent past, older churches were more stable financially. I cannot say unequivocally that reality is true today. I see more churches of all ages have struggles. Likewise, I see churches of all ages doing well financially. Anecdotally, there does not seem to be a correlation between the age of the church and the financial health of the church.Decision making: The youngest churches, typically those 15 years and younger, tend to have a nimbler decision-making process. Many older churches can take a long time to make a significant decision.Worship style: As expected, the younger the church, the more likely the worship style moved toward contemporary. Of course, it’s difficult to define precisely the definitions of “contemporary,” “traditional,” and “blended.”Evangelistic outreach. Sadly, I see poor evangelistic health in most churches regardless of age. The Great Commission has become the Great Omission.Denominational loyalty. As a rule, denominational loyalty is greater in older churches compared to younger churches. But we see denominational loyalty waning at churches of all ages. Of course, many churches do not have denominational ties at all.Small groups. There tends to be a higher percentage of members participating in small groups (community groups, home groups, Sunday school classes, life groups, etc.) in older churches. Those churches that have on-campus Sunday school classes that flow to or from a worship service have the highest small group participation.

To be clear, these factors are generalizations. There are obviously exceptions at churches of various ages. I would love to hear from you. How old is your church? Do the generalizations I noted match your church? What are some other categories beyond the seven I wrote above?

Let me hear from you.

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Five Practical Ways to Be a #WeToo Church

When it comes to sexual abuse, we heal better together—in community. The church sits on the cusp of one of the greatest crises of our time; how we respond to that today will influence our church’s trajectory. Christianity Today published stories about the recent LifeWay sexual abuse survey (link: https://lifewayresearch.com/2019/05/21/churchgoers-split-on-existence-of-more-sexual-abuse-by-pastors/) “10 percent of Protestant churchgoers under 35 have previously left a church because they felt sexual misconduct was not taken seriously,” CT reported. (link: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/may/lifeway-protestant-abuse-survey-young-christians-leave-chur.html) As church leadership grapples with this millennial exodus, we must address this issue with winsome purpose. How? Five practical ways.

1. Develop and Communicate Safeguarding Policies.

If you do not yet have a child protection policy in place, an excellent resource is the The Child Safeguarding Policy Guide for Churches and Ministries by Basyle Tchividjian and Shira M. Berkovits. (link: https://amzn.to/2EEunr9) This resource empowers you to create policies and procedures that fit your church. It’s not advisable to simply grab policies from another campus and paste them into your context. Instead, wrestle through your unique demographic to develop standards that your staff own.

Many churches have created policies but have failed to clearly communicate them to their people. Consider having a white paper easily accessed on your website so everyone can view it, or email these core standards to every parent and volunteer so that these guidelines are known. Err on the side of over-communication.

2. Have a Plan for the Unthinkable.

Through well-articulated policies, we must do our best to prevent the unthinkable, not merely performing background checks, but checking references and digging deeper. But if a volunteer, leader, or attendee has abused in our midst, we must have a known checklist in place for how we will handle the situation.

Remember this: it’s not your job to uncover exactly what happened. You’re not an investigator with years of sexual assault experience, nor are you a trauma counselor. You are simply this: a mandatory reporter. You must report. At the first disclosure, call the authorities who will then investigate and properly handle the allegations. 

If the situation involves a pastor or a volunteer, err on the side of transparency with the public. You can reassure the community by hiring a truly independent investigation firm. As well, choose to be proactive in warning other ministries or churches about the offender. Know this: pedophiles typically have hundreds of victims because of three factors:

They’re not who you expect. They’re charming, well-liked, and upstanding.Churches have passed predators on to other churches, surmising that if they’re not preying on their campus, at least it’s out of sight. But the problem persists, and we are morally culpable for not warning another ministry.They are highly skilled. Preying on children is their full time job. This is why they can harm while their parents are in the room (as evidenced in the Larry Nassar case).

3. Share the Podium.

As a sexual abuse survivor and a Christ follower, I have attended church for decades, but I cannot recall one sermon that dealt with sexual abuse (or domestic violence for that matter). Never have I heard a survivor’s story from the front of the church (unless I was the one telling it). This has fostered the belief that I am fundamentally broken, that I am not normal. If you really want to bless the people in your church who have difficult stories, highlight those stories from the front. Redemption is a beautiful thing, and what better way to convey this by being honest about what the people in the chairs are battling? 

4. Preach the Word.

If welcoming survivor stories makes you uncomfortable, consider preaching through one of the rape narratives of the Bible. Author Jen Wilkin asserts, “It occurred to me that in all my years in the church, I had never heard a sermon about Tamar. The other women on my teaching team couldn’t recall hearing it preached either. And no wonder—it is hardly ‘proper’ subject matter for Sunday morning. Tamar makes only the rarest of appearances in sermons or teachings, and when she does, her story tends to be subsumed, muffled, or downplayed by our concerns to preserve David’s reputation as ‘a man after God’s own heart.’” (source: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/june/tamar-jen-wilkin-absalom-david-1-samuel.html) Sadly, we have bought into the lie that we must play at “Fantasy Church,” a place where we don’t speak of such raw things. But the reality is that 100% of the members of your church are affected by sexual abuse, either personally or through someone they know and love.

5. Rest, then Listen.

As weary shepherds, we are hard pressed on every side. And as burnout approaches, so does our ability to really listen to the people we shepherd. Through body and verbal cues, we can communicate to the broken that we’d rather have a problem-less church, where issues seethe conveniently beneath the surface. So in order to welcome difficult stories, particularly sexually abusive ones, we need to rest and find our strength in Christ. Only in that Sabbath place can we bear the burdens of our congregations.

What does bearing that burden look like? It resembles active listening, refraining from sharing platitudes and plastering on spiritual band-aids. Instead? Ask questions. Empathize. Pray. Weep alongside. This does not mean you’re opening yourself up to becoming the person’s long-term counselor, but it will greatly dignify their story if you simply listen. Develop a list of places and services the person can attend—recovery groups, counseling, trauma therapists, Stephen’s ministries, sexual abuse recovery seminars—so that you don’t have to bear the full weight of their pain. Most survivors I know say that the first step of their healing process began with someone simply listening to their story.

If we want to prevent further exodus from the church and foster healing for our members, let’s return to the gospel narratives where Jesus went out of His way to dignify the broken, hear the stories of the marginalized, and push against the protection structures of the religious elite. People who are broken by sexual abuse hunger for an encounter with someone like that. Why not create that haven now in your church or ministry?

 

Mary DeMuth is the author of over 40 books including her latest: We Too: How the Church Can Redemptively Respond to the Sexual Abuse Crisis (Harvest House, August 13, 2019). She and her husband Patrick, former church planters in France, co-teach a Life Group at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. They have three grown children. Find out more at http://www.wetoo.org. 

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The Number One Missing Ingredient in Church Leadership

In the 1970s, one researcher noted, “There are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.” According to these definitions, leadership is influence, power, mobilization, motivation, processes, and inspiration, among many others.

The same could be said of the church: “There are almost as many different ways of leading the church as there are persons who have attempted it.”

There are a lot of good studies, books, and articles on church leadership. But one ingredient of church leadership is under-represented, not only in the literature but also in practice. The number one missing ingredient in church leadership is a willingness to be held accountable.

It’s more than theology. Leadership accountability is found throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. However, just because a leader acknowledges biblical accountability doesn’t mean that leader will act on it. A leader may believe in the biblical nature of accountability but not follow through, like a person who believes exercise is good for the body but never goes to the gym.

It’s more than a system. The willingness to be held accountable is also more than a system of accountability a church puts into place. A leader may submit to a system of accountability but do so begrudgingly. Additionally, no system is perfect. Loopholes always exist. People who want to game the system will find ways to get around the rules.

It’s a spiritual discipline. Leaders should seek out accountability. They must be willing to be held accountable. It’s more than believing the theology of accountability. It’s more than submitting to a system of accountability. It’s a spiritual discipline in which you act upon belief.

What can you do to demonstrate a willingness to be held accountable?

1. Pray: How often have you asked God to introduce people and situations to keep you accountable? I believe God honors such prayers.

2. Don’t rely just on your church: Every pastor should have people inside and outside the church for accountability. However, those on the inside are, at times, too close to situations to speak pointedly. Therefore, outside sources of accountability are needed for truly unbiased accountability.

3. Make it a priority: Your willingness means putting it on the calendar—schedule times with people specifically for accountability.

4. Create overlapping circles of accountability: You need multiple people and processes (e.g., software for online accountability). Don’t fear redundancy. Overlapping circles of accountability mean you will have fewer blind spots!

5. Be public about who holds you accountable: Tell your deacons, your staff, your elders, your spouse, and other key leaders who have the responsibility and permission to speak the truth in your life.

The number one missing ingredient in leadership is not accountability. Theologically, the Bible gives us the foundation of accountability, and plenty of systems exist to implement accountability. The number one missing ingredient in leadership is a willingness to be held accountable, and it requires spiritual discipline to have it.

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The Death of Evangelism: Seven Unacceptable Responses

The look on the pastor’s face said it all. He was shocked.

Our team at Church Answers sent him the results of a survey of the members of his church. We use a tool called Know Your Church It’s a robust tool with 160 questions. It is a powerful way to see how your church members perceive the health of the church.

But this pastor went to the lowest score. It was in evangelism. The report indicated that the members perceived the church to be “very unhealthy” in evangelism. “Ugh,” he muttered. “We are sick in evangelism and our members know it.”

I give this pastor a lot of credit. He wanted the truth. He wanted to face reality. He knew his church could not get healthy until the members and the leaders admitted the church was sick. This wake-up call to reality was the first step toward health.

The Southern Baptist Convention as a Case Study

Because of the years I spent in leadership positions in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), I watch closely the numbers the SBC reports each year through a report called the Annual Church Profile. The results for 2021 were recently reported. They were not a pretty picture.

Baptisms are seen as a close proxy for evangelism in the SBC. Note the following numbers for baptisms for selected years in the convention:

1972: 445,725 (peak)2001: 395,9002019: 235,748 (last pre-COVID year)2020: 123,160 (COVID)2021: 154,701 (first post-COVID year)

The numbers reflect a saddening trend. In 2021, baptisms were down 65% from their peak in 1972. While some people may take solace that the 2021 numbers were better than the previous year, there really is not much good news there. Many churches were not meeting in 2020, so baptisms could not take place. The better comparison is 2021 (first post-COVID year) to 2019 (last pre-COVID year). Using that comparison, baptisms are down 34%.

The trend is bad, and it is getting worse.

This death of evangelism is not limited to the SBC, though. We are seeing it across denominational lines and in non-denominational churches.

Seven Unacceptable Responses

Some church leaders and church members can get defensive about these disturbing trends. Here are seven responses that will only make matters worse.

1. It’s the denomination’s fault. No, it’s not. It’s disobedience among Christians in local churches. While denominations may provide some helpful resources, evangelism is really simple at its core. It’s a Christian telling a non-believer the good news of Christ.

2. Things are really not that bad. Yes, they are, at least in most churches. Until we accept the difficult reality of our anemic evangelistic state, we will do nothing about it.

3. Evangelism is not my gift. Jesus directed the Great Commission to all believers. He did not say, “If you have the spiritual gift of evangelism, go and make disciples.” The only word for non-evangelistic Christians is “disobedience.”

4. I don’t have time to do evangelism. In other words, telling someone how they can have eternal life is just not a priority in your life.

5. I don’t know what to say. You can learn what to say. You can even download an app and let a non-Christian read it. My favorite is the “Life on Mission” app that uses the illustration of “Three Circles.”

6. I don’t know any non-Christians. That means you don’t go shopping. You don’t get a haircut. You never go out to eat. You have no neighbors. You never go to the dry cleaner. Get the point? People who don’t know Christ as their Savior cross our paths every day.

7. If I tell someone Jesus is the only way of salvation, they might be offended. The cross can be offensive. The narrow way can seem narrow minded. But the exclusivity of salvation through Christ is an unequivocal biblical truth. You can’t compromise it.

The Biblical Problem

Perhaps one of the major reasons evangelism is dying is that many of our church members don’t really believe Jesus is the only way of salvation. In the Know Your Church report, we ask several biblical questions. Sadly, we see an increasing number of church members deny that Christ is the only way of salvation when we get the results of the report.

There will be zero motivation and conviction to share the gospel if you don’t really believe people need to hear it to be saved.

Evangelism is dying in many churches. Evangelism is dying in most churches in North America.

I pray I will be an obedient Christian, not a disobedient Christian. I pray I will share the gospel with discipline, hope, and conviction. I want to be able to say the words of Peter and John in Acts 4:20: “We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard” (NLT).

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