Why Good Churches Fizzle: Examining the Reasons Why Promising Churches Derail

Copyright © 2013 KURT TAKAMINE, Ed.D..

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-7353-3 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012924323

WestBow Press rev. date: 1/22/2013

Contents

INTRODUCTION

SECTION ONE: Setting the Foundation

[or, Making sure the important stuff is in place!]

CHAPTER ONE: Examining the Vision for Your Church

CHAPTER TWO: Developing a Mission Statement for Your Ministry

CHAPTER THREE: Do We Really Need a Code of Ethics?

SECTION TWO: Using the Best Materials

[That is, Selecting the Right Leaders]

CHAPTER FOUR: How Should We Choose Our Church Leaders?

SECTION THREE: Selecting the Right Tools

[Using leadership methods that are appropriate for your situation]

CHAPTER FIVE: Creating High Functioning Teams

CHAPTER SIX: Anticipating the Roadblocks to Team Development

CHAPTER SEVEN: Understanding the Make Up of Your Team

CHAPTER EIGHT: Establishing Servant-Leadership in Your Church

CHAPTER NINE: Utilizing the Power Source in Your Church

CHAPTER TEN: Connecting the Plumbing System in Your Church

FINAL THOUGHTS

INTRODUCTION

Fizzle: (1) to fail, especially after a successful beginning (2) an attempt that ends in failure; fiasco (3) to break wind silently.

In my ecclesiastical experience as an associate minister, campus missionary, and organizational leadership consultant, I have been fascinated (and at times, dumbfounded) by the phenomenon of the fizzling church. Utilizing the first two definitions provided above (we’ll not indulge the third), the fizzling church is defined as one that is inaugurated with great promise and excitement, only to stagnate or shut down completely. What are the components of churches that fizzle, and what are the attributes of churches that succeed? Those are the questions that will be addressed in this book.

The purpose of this book is not to chastise or ridicule those dedicated men and women whose ministries have fizzled out at some point in their careers. I, myself, have been involved with a couple of church plants that have never reached their potential. My hope is that we, as leaders in God’s church, can maximize the effectiveness of transmitting the Gospel to a world that so desperately needs to hear the good news. It is not always prudent to attribute a stagnant church to Satan or worldliness; sometimes it is simply human error that confounds the success of a ministry. My hope is that we can pinpoint those errors and course-correct these struggling churches before they fizzle out completely.

I understand that there are some purists in Christendom that refuse to acknowledge anything that does not fall into a spiritual category. That is, if a theory was not overtly Christian in origin, or did not emerge from the mind of a seminary professor, it is summarily dismissed. I can understand that the church would be (and should be) hesitant to embrace worldly concepts. But let me challenge you (as a brother once challenged me) to discern and evaluate truth rather than an opinion that is overtly labeled as Christian. Not every idea subsumed under a Christian rubric is profitable for study, and not every theorem that is developed outside of an ecclesiastical setting should be discarded ipso facto.

I have found that truth is truth, no matter who the originator is. I believe that much of truth is constructed out of the keen sociological observations of erudite men and women. These men and women may make references to their faith, as does Robert Greenleaf in his Servant-Leadership books, or may keep their religious orientation cloaked from the general public. I don’t think this taciturn approach to a thinker’s religious affiliation (or lack thereof) disqualifies us from engaging that thinker in a dialectical fashion. Truth is truth, no matter what the packaging may read.

Having said that, let me reveal the layout of this book. Why Good Churches Fizzle is organized into two major sections. Since I’ve gotten on the home improvement bandwagon, I’ve noted that to have a solid house, you need three things: A solid foundation, a solid infrastructure, and good tools at your disposal. The same holds true for the House of God. Section One examines the solid foundation of the church. Is there a vision stated? Do parishioners understand the mission of that local church? Are there safeguards in place for the leaders, alleviating (or at least reducing) the incidence of ethical violations among the clergy? Section One will explore these foundational elements that are inextricably associated with healthy, growing churches.

Section Two will explore the infrastructural integrity of the house. Walls, electrical conduit, plumbing all have to be sound, or the house cannot stand. In the case of God’s House, the leaders are that structural design. In this section we’ll examine the effect that the Emotional Intelligence Quotient has on the success of a ministry. To give you a brief introduction to this concept, this theory explicates the reasons why certain leaders succeed, and why other (so-called) leaders fail. Emotional Intelligence theory expounds the notion that successful leaders (regardless of their field of interest) exhibit certain character attributes, such as moral integrity, interpersonal sensitivity, and intestinal fortitude. I Timothy 3:1-7 will be juxtaposed against the Emotional Intelligence template.

As any Do-It-Yourselfer (DIYer) knows s/he must work with the right tools in any rebuilding project. As homeowners are painfully aware, a house needs constant upkeep. Throughout this book tools will be referred to (such as organizational leadership inventories, theories, etc.) which will provide the tools that will replace and strengthen those areas in the church that are in disrepair, and offer a variety of approaches that a church can choose to utilize. How can highly effective teams be developed? What are some of the prominent leadership approaches that a leadership team can utilize in running a church? How can we better understand how to interact with those that we are responsible for? These and other questions will be discussed in throughout each chapter.

Let me make one final comment regarding the inclusion of secular sources. Some believers may be hesitant to consider sources that emerge out of a secular, academic arena. I can understand that reticence. After all, isn’t the Bible sufficient for our purposes?

Well, yes and no. Yes, the Bible is the final word on matters of ethics, morality, and theology, but (no) it doesn’t always speak specifically to matters of leadership strategy and implementation. For example, you may recall how David was chosen to be Israel’s king in I Samuel 16:1-13. Samuel was instructed by the Lord to go to the household of Jesse, for God had chosen one of his sons to be the next king. Samuel saw Eliab, Jesse’s eldest, and thought to himself, Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord (v.6).

Then comes the Lord’s famous declaration on selecting successive leadership:

But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (v.7)

How do we, as the Church, choose our leaders? Do we inquire about their seminary education, or lack thereof? Do we ask for recommendations from others? Do we look for years of experience? David had no experience in a royal court, had no glowing recommendations from anyone (not even his dad sent for him), and had no educational or technical background in theology or military science. How many churches would have chosen David as their next leader?

Sometimes research can help in leadership selection. Recent research in leadership studies has shed some light on the emotional intelligence of leaders (which includes pastors), and other assessments such as the 360º assessment instrument or the 16 PF Leadership Survey. These tests will shed some light on the strengths and weaknesses of the pastoral candidate, and provide a better fit for a pastoral leadership team or cabinet.

To some people, using anything other than prayer and fasting in pastoral selection seems sacrilegious. I do understand this reservation. We are not in the business of building the Kingdom of God. But we do have to function within an organization, and there are times when organizational science can help to facilitate the smooth transactions of a church. As we purpose to create a loving, effective community, let us consider ways to ameliorate the ministries entrusted to us, through both Biblical and extra-biblical sources, as long as they do not contradict the directives of the Almighty.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by

Permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

SECTION ONE:

Setting the Foundation

[or, Making sure the important stuff is in place!]

CHAPTER ONE

Examining the Vision for Your Church

Every survivalist, Boy Scout, or hunter worth his or her salt has a compass. That small contraption provides the user with the proper orientation to the destination, allows the person to course-correct their travels, and provides utility for map reading. Without a true sense of direction, you would be wandering aimlessly in the wilderness, and you wouldn’t know if you were heading toward salvation or destruction.

A vision statement is the compass of a church. Without it, your church will be heading somewhere, but you won’t know where that destination is located. You will be unable to course-correct, because you have no idea what you’re aiming for. And, like a myriad of churches before you, you’ll be wandering aimlessly in a spiritual desert, unsure of your success or failure. It may not seem apparent now, but every successful church has a clearly articulated vision statement under their belt. Let me introduce you to a church that desperately needed a moral compass.

I was contracted to help a church that was dying. At one time, this was a vibrant church with a large youth program, an active congregation, and a growing number of families. Now, however, this church was on its deathbed. The congregation had dwindled to about twenty faithful individuals, there were no teen-agers or children, and the median age of the membership was approximately 55 years old. Let’s call this church the First Community Church (a pseudonym).

The first session was designed to help First Community Church (FCC) re-engineer its identity, to discover a new vision. FCC’s demise was paradoxically due to its success in its heyday. As the membership grew, and programs abounded, the leadership began to function without any direction or vision. They were just playing church, maintaining rather than building the Kingdom of God. This passive approach to ministry crept into all areas of the church life, and soon people began to leave, first the teens, then the families, and finally all but the stalwart few. How can the leaders re-create a new, exciting vision for this church?

I suggested that FCC designate a future weekend retreat for prayer, renewal, and fasting, so that the leadership could discern God’s direction for them. But in the meantime, I challenged the existing leaders to create a new inspirational creed for FCC, that is, a new vision.

But what, exactly, is a vision? I explained it to the leaders this way: "A vision is the defining characteristic of your church, the essence of who you are. It is your raison d’être, your ultimate reason for existence. In a short, pithy statement, a vision inspires you to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to keep the faith (II Timothy 4:7). It is a description of your passion."

Since they were giving me the deer-in-the-headlights look, I decided I’d better give them some examples. I said to these bewildered leaders, Here are some well known companies.¹ What might you imagine their vision statements to be? I projected the following slide:

What Might You Imagine Their Vision Statement To Be?

HONDA:

DISNEY:

PHILIP MORRIS:

WAL-MART:

NORDSTROM:

Then I asked these leaders about the ideology that each company believed in. Honda is in the business of building excellent cars, one person proffered. You’re on the right track, I said, looking for a more accurate answer. How about making dependable vehicles, said another member. You’re getting warmer, I chimed in, still looking for a more specific answer. After a few more moments of silence, I gave the answer. Honda is in the business of creating the best motors available, whether for a car, a boat, a lawnmower, or an emergency power source. Let’s try Disney.

One woman said, To create the happiest place on earth, and one comedian said, To create the goofiest company in the world. Actually, neither was too far from the truth, because one of Disney’s values is to bring happiness to millions.

Philip Morris was interesting, because people thought their vision was to sell the greatest number of cigarettes to the greatest number of people. In reality, their ideal is to promote freedom of choice for each individual, even if that freedom might give you significant health problems.

Walmart and Nordstrom’s ideals were similar, even though their clients are usually at opposite ends of the economic spectrum. They both believed that the customer was number one, and that work was to be pursued passionately. Walmart also expoused the best value for their customers, and Nordstrom elevated excellence in reputation to the highest level.

When you review each of these vision statements for these companies, you can sense some of their priorities, their values, and their beliefs. That’s what a good vision statement does. In a concise way, a vision statement will impress upon the reader or listener the prime objective of the organization.

I then asked the FCC leadership what some of their observations were regarding the vision statements that they liked. Here’s what our brainstorming session revealed:

Characteristics of a Good Vision Statement:

40420.jpg Pithy: That is, there was a lot of substance even though the message was brief.

40422.jpg Clear: The focus of the vision was easily understood.

40424.jpg Unambiguous: There were no confusing terms or phrases employed.

40426.jpg Repeatable: The vision statement was cleverly worded, easy to recall, and sort of stuck in your mind.

We then looked at the ministries of a few prominent people in the Bible. I asked the group to divide up into groups of fours, and to come up with a vision statement for the ministry of Abraham, Nehemiah, Paul, Mary (the sister of Martha), and Jesus. Here are some of the more memorable vision statements for these people:

Abraham: Living a life of faith and Obeying God one step at a time

Nehemiah: Prayer, Passion, and a Plan to Rebuild Jerusalem and Reuniting a People of Worship

Paul: Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Race, Keeping the Faith and Following Hard After God: Paul’s Journey from Damascus to Rome

Mary: Choosing the Good Portion and Sitting at Jesus’ Feet

Jesus: To Serve, not to be Served and Dying for the Sins of the World

The group members were catching on. So I moved on to the next part of the exercise. What we’re going to do now, I said, is to create a vision statement for your church. I then picked up three canisters of Play-Doh and handed them to each group. You will now depict your vision for FCC using this clay, and remember that this depiction must be pithy, clear, unambiguous, and repeatable. I then left them to create a vision statement in fifteen minutes.

When time elapsed, each group shared their sculpture. One group created a circle of people joining hands, and explained that their church’s primary purpose would be to spread Christ’s love through a bond of unity in that community. Another group created a family, and explained that the primary focus of FCC was to create a family of true worshippers, who worshipped God in spirit and in truth. The third group created a man holding a fishing pole, and explained that FCC should emphasize being fishers of men. The last group had a distinct disadvantage: The Senior Pastor was part of this group. If the pastor is dogmatic or charismatic (in personality, not theology), then people will oftentimes acquiesce to his directives. We believe in the strong and unwavering teaching of God’s Word, providing a safe place for discussion and dialogue, maintaining a hermeneutic integrity, and welcoming intellectual discourse even if you hold to a divergent view. The Senior Pastor sat back in his chair, clearly pleased with his presentation. Unfortunately, this statement violated every tenet of a good vision statement.

It wasn’t pithy; it was far too wordy. It wasn’t clear: Are we talking about a conservative, evangelical, or liberal approach to interpretation (it was a liberal position). Was it unambiguous? No, it was somewhat vague. Was it repeatable? Only by the pastor. I doubt that anyone else could even recall this vision statement after five minutes.

I took a different tack to bring us back to a good vision statement. There are five churches within 200 yards of your property, and they all presumably hold to the value of scriptural teaching. Why should they come to your church? The pastor shot back, Because we value the Word! Well, let’s assume for a moment that all of your neighborhood churches value the Word. What is truly distinctive about your church? Before the pastor could parrot his mantra about the Word of God, I decided to interject some examples.

When you think of Dr. Bill Bright’s ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ, what comes to mind? We decided Dr. Bright’s ministry centered on reaching the college-aged student on the college campus.

When you think of Billy Graham’s ministry, what do you imagine? Someone remarked that they envision a stadium full of non-believers pouring out onto the field area to accept Christ.

When you think of Dr. James Dobson’s Focus on the Family ministries, what do you think of? And we all correctly agreed that Focus on the Family did what their title implied; that is, they focused on strengthening the (Christian) family.

Considering all the wonderful Play-Doh representations here around the table, I mentioned as I looked around the room to each member, Can you come up with a vision statement that incorporates your collective passion? At that time the pastor interjected, To teach the Word of God!

Believe it or not, that resounding remark shut down any further discussion of creating a new vision statement for FCC. All of the other leaders obsequiously submitted to their pastor’s ineffectual statement. To add insult to injury, that pastor left after three months, and the church’s congregation is still lost. So let’s recap:

1. It is essential that a church have an agreed upon vision. Sometimes a church will inherently understand that their vision is to feed the poor, or to expositionally teach the Word verse-by-verse, to send out missionaries, or to emphasize the gifts of the Spirit. But stated publicly or not, successful churches understand their priorities, because no church can do everything.

2. Successful churches have a clear identity. Why is this so important? Because people can decide whether they belong or not. All churches want to be inclusive of everyone that walks in their doors. But successful churches understand that if a Pentecostal person is visiting a Southern Baptist church, or a hymn-loving parishioner visits a contemporary worship service, it will cause friction, not unity. With a clear identity, people can make the proper choice to stay or go.

3. A good vision statement has certain characteristics. If your vision statement is too vague, wordy, non-descript, ambiguous, general, or uninspiring, you might as well not have one. At least that way people can come up with what they think is the vision statement, although it might be their own platitude.

4. A good vision statement allows you to focus on excellence. Too many fizzling churches are attempting to succeed at too many ministries. In spreading themselves too thin, there are not enough gifted people for any one ministry to succeed. My Senior Pastor gave me sage advice when I was a young pastor. He said, Let’s do a few things well, rather than a lot of ministries in a mediocre manner.

5. A good vision statement helps you in becoming an effective steward of your limited resources. Imagine that your church’s vision is to reach every elementary school child with the gospel within a ten mile radius. That’s a huge undertaking. If that’s your focus, then you’re not going to spend an exorbitant amount of time and money on missionary endeavors, planning senior adult retreats, or hosting Christian teen-age concerts. Not that any of those things are bad things; they just aren’t your priority.

Now that we have a preliminary understanding of what a good vision statement looks like, where does the vision originate? We’ll look at the answer to this question in the next section.

Whose Vision Is it?

All godly vision statements come from God. That may seem like a somewhat insipid statement, but you’d be surprised how many vision statements are man-made derivatives rather than Holy Spirit initiatives. To examine one Biblical example of a God- motivated ministry, let’s look at an Old Testament prophet in Scripture: the ministry of Haggai.

Haggai was a contemporary of Zechariah, and both of these prophets were appointed by God to command the Israelites to rebuild the Jewish temple. Haggai’s burden, as given by God, was to exhort the Jews to re-prioritize their ambitions in this life.

Several times in this short book, God (through Haggai) warns the people of Israel to Give careful thought to your ways (Haggai 1:5, 7; 2:15), as the Jews were neglecting the building of the temple to tend to their daily activities. As God stirs up the spirit of the people (1:14), the Israelites obey, and God reminds his remnant to be strong…for I am with you (2:4). Historians believe that the temple was restored in 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:15-18). Let’s see how this successful ministry progressed from beginning to end.

1. God placed the burden on Haggai’s heart. In Haggai 1:1, we read that the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai… Haggai’s entire ministry was initiated by God. Clearly, this is where all successful ministries must start.

Sometimes fizzling churches have drifted from their original mandate from God. When a church reaches a certain critical mass, it is not uncommon for a church and its leaders to fall into the playing church mentality, where people go through the motions. The passion that once drove the church is no longer clear nor efficacious.

If you sense that this might be the situation in your church, why don’t you run a little experiment. In an informal fashion, stop people in the hall and ask them what they think the vision of the church is. If you get divergent answers, or mostly blank stares, it’s time to revisit the vision statement.

One final comment. Is it possible for a church to function without a vision statement? Absolutely. A church can, by nature of an ambitious pastor, become a successful ministry. But success in conversions, in new membership, or in larger facilities does not necessarily equate to success in the Kingdom of God. Take a look at Matthew 7:21-23 if you have any doubt about that. But a spirit-driven church with a well-defined vision statement (coupled with godly leadership) is a formidable foe in the fight against the kingdom of darkness.

2. God reiterates the burden. God articulates the messages He wants Haggai to deliver. As you read through the passage, it