Brad Powell Online

Who’s Building Your Church?

Q: Our church is in decline. Why does this seem to be the norm in so many churches today, and what can we do to experience renewal?

A: Sadly, though Jesus promised something very different in Matt. 16:18, decline is the norm in the majority of U.S. churches these days. Of course, it’s not a new phenomenon for God’s people to fall short of His promises. It goes all the way back to the fall of man. In the Old Testament, Israel is often an example of God’s people failing to rise to His promises. In the New Testament, the early churches often reveal the same truth. And Revelation 2 and 3 clearly expose churches that are falling short of Jesus’ promise to build a Church that will not be overpowered by Satan.

A Spiritual Battle. As was true for God’s people in the past, the reason so many churches are experiencing decline and falling short of God’s promise today is spiritual. We’re failing to recognize that we’re in a spiritual war (Eph. 6:10-11; 1 Peter 5:8), and as a result, we’re losing.  Satan’s goal is to keep us from fulfilling God’s mission in this world. Since decline is pervasive throughout churches today, it’s obvious he’s winning, and we’re losing.

I see two clear indications of this reality.  The first is selfishness. The Great Commandment calls us to love God with all our heart, and then to love our neighbors as ourselves. Unfortunately, in most churches, people are more interested in preserving the church they love than making sure the church they love is fulfilling the mission God gave it. Simply, they love their way of doing church more than they love God or the people He died for.

The second sign is disobedience. The Great Commission calls us to “go” and “make disciples.” Sadly, most churches are fighting to shut the world out rather than fighting to reach it—a glaring expression of disobedience.

Where to Start. To experience renewal, we must first address these spiritual issues of selfishness and disobedience. I truly believe that if we miss this spiritual dimension, we’ll never successfully lead our churches to be all God intends.

Look at Nehemiah. God used him to rebuild Jerusalem—the walls, city and people. However, Nehemiah didn’t start with strategic leadership, creative plans, raising resources or securing workers. He knew the primary problem wasn’t physical; it was spiritual. So, he prayed to and waited on God. It was the only way Jerusalem experienced renewal. He was a good leader, but, more importantly, he was a person of prayer. And that’s the only way we’ll experience renewal in our lives and churches.

During the first two years of my ministry at NorthRidge, I failed to focus on this dimension—God’s plan. I was making many of the right leadership decisions, but the church was still not progressing toward all God had promised. In various ways, God opened my eyes to the reality that I was leading as if I could build the church without Him, and He reminded me of Nehemiah’s example. I established prayer as the No. 1 value of our church and began a prayer ministry that became the foundation for everything we did. As I began trusting God to build His church, our ministry began to change and reach people.

Don’t make my mistake. Begin moving your church toward more effective outreach by addressing the real issues—the spiritual ones.