Crazy Church
They say the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” That’s not exactly the definition of crazy but it is a crazy thing to try to do. They also say “Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.” In short, if you look […]
10 Shifts for the Future in Churches of Christ
I don’t know if you have noticed this or not but most churches are in decline. Not only that, most churches are getting older. The demographics are shifting with less and less young people in our churches. We also see this reflected in many of our lectureships. What is our gut reaction to this? For […]
Churches of Christ – Why Do We Exist?
I need your help on this. I am not going to answer the question quite yet. I would like to hear your answer to this question and then I will follow it up with my answer. Let me encourage one thing I should have encouraged a long time ago. Please interact with each other in […]
We are Approaching a Critical Moment in Churches of Christ
There is a confluence of factors steamrolling toward us that I think we are largely asleep to in Churches of Christ. What happens next is anyone’s guess but I think we can plan and adjust in a way that makes sense. What are those factors and what kind of change is it leading toward? Upcoming […]
Church Leadership: Pain Avoidance is a Myth
It is so common. So typical. Decisions made by church leadership to avoid a complaint. To avoid the pain. It doesn’t work. You cannot avoid pain. You have to choose which pain is worth enduring. Would you rather live a reactionary life of pain avoidance or a proactive/intentional life that has direction and the accompanying […]
Four Major Factors for Anxiety in Churches of Christ
Have you ever felt a real sense of anxiety in our congregations? I think there are a few reasons for it and it is completely unnecessary. First, going back to my previous post, we have created a bar that must be jumped over but the bar is theoretical. It is the bar of the Established […]
Our Obsession with Imitating the Early Church and Another Way Forward
Over time some of our number developed an idea that because God only has one church and that church is defined by the New Testament that the only way to become that church is to imitate the early church as seen in the New Testament. Once we do what they did and say what they […]
The “Rolling in their Graves” Argument
Although we like to say that tradition doesn’t carry authority for us like it does in the Catholic church the truth is, in practice, many times it does. How many times have you heard an idea rebuffed because either “We’ve never done it that way” or “The people who started this church would be rolling […]
“Those Were the Days” – What Does the Future Hold for Churches of Christ?
Nostalgia is the first step in church life toward congregational death. “Nostalgia is an exile mentality. Fulfillment is contingent on the ‘once upon a time’ remembrances of yesterday. ‘I remember when’ stories become commonplace in organizations during nostalgic days. The golden days are remembered fondly. From an organizational perspective, nostalgia signals the beginning of a […]
Does Unity Require Uniformity?
The short answer is no and yes. The answer is no if you mean complete agreement in all things. The answer is yes if you mean the core doctrines of the Christian faith. When we say we have to have “unity without uniformity” we are talking about the first. We are saying that the Bible […]