Hard Sell
Remember the last time you bought something complicated for your kids promising “some assembly required”? And it doesn’t help that the instructions are often in some kind of botched translation into English. Often times, the pictures don’t even match the model you’re trying to assemble. I remember putting together an IKEA shelving unit, and not until I completed the whole project did I realize that one of the boards was in backwards. There’s only one way to make it look right again at that point—tear it all back apart and start from the beginning. Years ago I was building, with my dad, a beautiful adult crib, for my differently-abled son, out of white oak. We were precise and careful putting in the balusters (the vertical bars). Even so, we got half-way through it and had to throw it in the burn pile and start over. We had made a measuring error that would be glaringly obvious later on. Throwing away sixty hours worth of tedious work and gorgeous lumber was a major gut punch. But there was no other way. Everything in us wanted to use what we had and “make it work,” but that would have eventually resulted in disaster.
My heart is heavy for many of our churches in need of authentic revitalization because they are faced with that same gut-wrenching decision. Instead of an expensive piece of furniture, what hangs on their decision is the thriving of their church, the redemption of their community, and the gathering in of many lost sheep. I believe I’m starting to notice three categories of these churches: 1) those that don’t recognize they need authentic revitalization, 2) those that see their need for revitalization but don’t have enough humility, and 3) those that are hungry for revitalization but don’t know what to do. All three, it turns out, seem to have an inevitable pull, like a tractor beam, toward “making it work” with the way their beloved church has “always been.” Of the three, those that are hungry for authentic revitalization have the most hope of making the right decision.
“What do I mean? Sometimes I feel like most of the wider conversation out there about church revitalization ranges from big fixes to quick fixes that really don’t get back to the original “oops” in the construction process.”
What do I mean? Sometimes I feel like most of the wider conversation out there about church revitalization ranges from big fixes to quick fixes that really don’t get back to the original “oops” in the construction process. It is impossibly tempting to to try to fix your church without doing all the gargantuan, hard work to fix the foundation. It’s not fun to go back in the process. That’s a momentum killer. A major morale killer. It’s big-time demoralizing. But the project will never be right until going back through all that hard work is done first. Fixing the original tilt in the trajectory that resulted, all these years later, in your church needing authentic revitalization. It is fun to add new signage, sack the current pastor, boost a program, or hire a worship leader. Those feel like you’re getting somewhere. But it’s a trick. The further you charge, the behind-er you get, until you’ve gone back to fix the early, foundational problem.
“The further you charge, the behind-er you get, until you’ve gone back to fix the early, foundational problem.”
So I’m finding authentic church revitalization to be an awfully hard sell. It’s not easy, safe, quick, guaranteed, or fun. (Mark my words: if anyone talks about revitalization in less than five years, they definitely haven’t done it). It’s got all the appeal of asking a teenager to work a nine-to-five job when his parents will give him a new car for free.
All is not lost, however. To the hungry, the humble, the desperate, the alert - to these will come the greatest joy they’ve ever known at their church. Authentic church revitalization. Holy Spirit vanguard power obvious to all. Things popping. God moving. Human power or genius absent. My wonderful, old-timey church vibrant, self-less, and radiant again.
We cannot just use wishful thinking. We must first disassemble the complex “some assembly required” Christmas gift, install the part accidentally skipped, and then assemble it all a second time. Details: what is that skipped part? There are actually two parts often skipped in the church needing authentic revitalization: missionality/governance basis and evangelistic/discipleship premise. So, in which of the three categories is your church? Eschew the quick fix and embrace the way of the cross instead. Your reward will be a hundredfold.
Shawn Keener is the pastor of Brookville Bible Church in Holbrook, MA, a member of the www.revitalizingchurches.com consulting team, and the author of Nimble Church.
