Ten Commandments for Church Failure: #2 Thou Shalt Not Change Anything!

Leadership

A close second to “Thou Shalt Not Take Risks” is this one “Thou Shalt Not Change Anything.” I stated in my previous article that success is often a precursor to the fear of taking necessary risks (http://drthomreece.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/ten-commandments-for-church-failure-1-thou-shalt-not-take-risks/). Success intoxicates leaders into a belief that success will continue and is dependent on doing things the way they did to achieve success. Of course, this line of thinking assumes that nothing in the ministry context ever changes, which is a naïve assumption. However, this line of thinking is not usually based on assumptions or naivety, but has more to do with arrogance. Accomplishment entices leaders to believe that they have the formula for success and they often develop what I call mental myopia.

Myopia is an eye disease in which a person’s field of vision becomes more and more narrow to the point that it seems they are viewing the world through a pinhole. Mental myopia is similar in that it impairs leadership vision and stifles inspiration, imagination, and innovation. One important aspect of great leadership is having a broad enough vision to know what to change. Remember that the message of Christ never changes, but methods must change. It is a given that conditions will change whether cultural, demographic, economic, and so on. Consider a rural mindset church situated in a multicultural, mixed demographic, urban setting, and the church is very resistant to change. The described church will die if the leaders refuse to change.

Leaders often desire to recreate past success as they often look back to the past while they fear the future. Keough said, “History is downstream—the future is upstream” (The Ten Commandments for Business Failure, p. 33). The problem is that it takes great energy to swim upstream, but consider how much negative energy is expended resisting change and trying to maintain the status quo. My wife and I recently moved a piece of furniture up two flights of stairs, but it got stuck ¾ of the way up one flight. While we repositioned to try a new strategy, I had to hold the “status quo” for a while, which took more energy than one might think. The point is, if you are going to expend the energy anyway, it might as well be spent toward making progress instead of regress. Inflexibility is not a virtue, but it is a disease. To be sure, leaders must use caution when making changes in the church ministry. Some church leaders make changes on a whim as they see a new program coming down the pike. The kind of change I am advocating is principled, Holy Spirit initiated, and saturated with prayer before, during, and after the strategy is adopted.

The Apostle Paul said, “Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (NLT)

And yes, I dared to use a translation other than the beautiful King James Version since I am talking about change. Most people today read on a 7^th grade level and the KJV is rated at 12^th

grade level or beyond. Besides, I think it has been long settled that Jesus did not read from the KJV in the synagogue.

Reference the first article in this series at: http://drthomreece.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/ten-commandments-for-church-failure/

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SD Blessings!

Dr. Tom Cocklereece

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