Why Churches Fail
Several years ago I wrestled with the question of what was wrong with much of the church that stood for purity. I came to the conclusion that in the flesh we can stress purity without love or we can stress love without purity, but that in the flesh we cannot stress both simultaneously. In order to exhibit both simultaneously, we must look moment by moment to the work of Christ, to the work of the Holy Spirit. Spirituality begins to have real meaning in our moment-by-moment lives as we begin to exhibit simultaneously the holiness of God and the love of God. Francis A. Schaeffer, (The Church Before the Watching World)
This is what we found, and it is not pretty: Our churches are not glorifying Christ because we are failing at knowing and growing in Him personally. We are not able to teach others when we are failing at following His Word and Christ alone! Remember, it is His Church and we are the caretakers of it. Thus, we must act according to our call and His precepts.
Are you dealing with apathy and ineptitude? Is your church on the path of self-destruction and ineffectiveness? Are people lining up for war in various factions and sides while conflict and discontent are running amok? Are some people gossiping while others are being ignored? Is Christ outside knocking on your door, but not getting in? Instead, have you replaced Him with what you think is relevance and attractiveness to the Gospel…
The principle focus of FASICLD for the last 15 plus years is seeking why so many churches are failing.
The slope upon which we slip into a Church of Perfidy is the hill of compromise, where we weaken our beliefs and doctrines, and fail to love. This can easily happen if we fail to apply Christ and His guidelines to our lives.
Over one thousand one hundred three (1,103) churches surveyed and tracked for 12-plus years (Some churches were added and some subtracted by closure or missing or unavailable data).
In my first doctoral dissertation on "why churches fail," I tracked over 1,000 churches for over 10 years. I looked for the marks that caused people to leave. I found the top four reasons why a churchgoer leaves their church.
Are you willing to take an honest look at some of the reasons why people are not coming to or are not involved in your church?
Statistics on Why Churches Fail
Are you willing to take an honest look at some of the reasons why people are not coming to your church?
The problems of Church can be solved and used for His glory! The LORD is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
Out of learning why churches fail, we also learned why they succeeded.
The Unwillingness to Forgive One Another
If you want to be successful as a church you must be willing and able to Forgive. And… real forgiveness takes us beyond our hurts!
Focusing on Our Own Will and Desires over the Mission of the Church
The best way to destroy what God desires is to trade in His purpose for our purpose, or to push aside the truths of Scriptures and what a church is, and replace it with our own trends, whims, and reasoning.
Pastor and Elders refusing to adhere to the purpose of the Church
It amazes me how quickly we Christians get caught up with programs, new ideas, and putting out the fires of personal conflict, spinning our wheels but never giving full attention to what we are all about.
The Simple Problem of Most Churches is…
To say it flat out, the problems our churches face are not so much how we do things; it is how we are! The problem is not what we do in our worship services; it is how we treat the people that go to our services...
A Healthy church needs to develop an immune system to resist disease, else the church will get sick and perhaps even die. We do not mean the diseases of viruses, such as whooping cough, but ones that are even more destructive to our soul and future in eternity!
What can be done to turn churches around?
The churches that were healthy, growing spiritually, and socially vibrant have significant aspects that set them apart from the failing churches. These factors are displayed in order of relevance and importance. Each one of these factors creates a harmony, contentment, and atmosphere for a churchgoer to come to church services and fellowship, and then to invite others.
Can We Turn our Churches Around?
Just as it was in Jeremiah's time, the Church is in an awkward, perhaps even an appalling and dysfunctional state: I am with you and will save you, declares the LORD. Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not...
Unity in the church is something that is not easily achieved. You can ask yourself the question, ...is your church characterized by controversy-or unity?
The call Christ gives us is for us here is to move forward under His produce to produce the goods of "produce" by the Fruit of the Spirit with our faith. So, how can we do this?
It is aligning our personal desires, our plans, our worship, and our hope with God and His principles. It is an attitude more than an act, a pursuit to be offered to God to give Him glory through our pious, fervent...
A healthy church is one that is filled with His presence, is motivated to serve Him, and has love for "one another." It is about the centrality and supremacy of Christ.
What Society Expects from Christians
People expect Christians to behave to a certain standard; that is why Jimmy Swaggart, PTL and Ted Haggard made such big news. Christians are human, full of sin and frailty, and will mess up. I do this a lot; we all...
Did you know if you want to be successful as a church you must be willing and able to love? And… real love takes us beyond ourselves!
When we are twisting God's truths to fit our whims and rationalizing our sin, it is blatantly evil. It creates a bad "who" and a bad "how we are." Do not allow this in your church! We have to be willing to prevent, discipline, and even kick out the manipulative and deceptive people in our churches.
Our churches will not glorify Christ when we fail at knowing and growing in Him personally. We will not be able to teach others when we fail at following Him and Him alone! Remember, it is His Church; we are the caretakers of it, thus we must act accordingly as we are called.
Our entire website is filled with solid research, insightful articles, practical curriculums, essays, tools and resources to help you prepare your church to grow in Christ and glorify Him!
