After a Natural Church Development weekend conference I returned home with a conviction of the importance that churches be focusing on the right area of need for their particular church.
It has occurred to me with greater urgency that the problem with most churches in the Western world is they are working on the wrong issues for them
In terms of the pot plants and the garden:
Water is good; too much water begins to kill them.
Lime is good for the garden; too much lime begins to kill whatever may be growing.
How about health?
Medicine is good; too much medicine (or the wrong kind of medicine, i.e., someone else's prescription) can kill you.
What about diet:
A balanced diet is good (for a normal person); but feed people with certain allergies a balanced diet, and they will not last long.
These examples are leading up to this:
The 40 Days of Purpose will be a great programme to run in some churches. In others, there will be no ill effect; but it won't do any good either. In others, the result of doing this programme will be downright detrimental. The programme that brings life to one church will harm others. No wonder some churches derive no benefit whatever from this programme (or some others of the many that are available these days).
One Natural Church Development coach says that out of 40 churches, only 3 'guessed' their Minimum Factor.
Let's be a bit more generous.
Let's say that out of every 40 churches in NZ, 5 were able to make a right decision about the issues they should address (at any given point in time). That's one-eighth of all churches. Out of 400 churches only 50 have got it right (and that's only this time round; will they get it right the next time they do a planning session?). That means 350 are working on irrelevant (and even counterproductive) issues.
We have complaints about some pastors who seem to do nothing. Don't complain. By doing little or nothing, they may actually be doing more for their church that those pastors who are energetically doing the wrong things!!
Does this make any sense to you?