100 Days to a Healthier ChurchSample

Day 25

There is never a one-size-fits-all solution for real-life problems. The church with a Stubborn culture needs a different solution than the church with a Shallow or Busy culture. And even if two churches have a Shallow culture, their solutions will be different because the Shallowness was caused by different circumstances.

However, there are some universal, underlying principles. As we saw yesterday, a Stubborn church needs to become softer and more adaptable. A Shallow church needs to go deeper and become more effective. A Busy church needs to reduce clutter and simplify. So depending where your church is right now, consider how each of these principles might apply in your situation. Over the next three days, we will look at these solutions one at a time. But don’t skip any days just because that day’s topic doesn’t address your church’s main culture issue. Each culture issue affects how we approach the other culture issues.

Today’s Big Idea: Softer and more adaptable. When I arrived at Cornerstone, they’d had five pastors in the previous ten years. Every time I tried to launch something new, the congregation resisted. Not because they were hostile, but because they’d been hurt. Remember how soft soil can become a hardened path after it’s been walked on? That’s what happened to the good folks in our church.

Since the church members were hurting, we didn’t push back against them. Instead we loosened the ground by re-earning their trust. Day after day, week after week, year after year, we spent time in fellowship, discipleship, worship, and hopefulness. We kept our promises. Like parched ground responding to a long, steady rain, it softened their hearts, fed their spirits, and earned their trust. 

Key Verse: As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up (Matthew 13:4).

Thoughts to Consider: What helped our church become softer and more adaptable will be different from what it will take your church to do the same thing. But almost always, the core of the solution is earning back trust, and there’s only one way to accomplish that: Do the right thing, every time, for a long time.

Is there anything you’ve done that has damaged people’s trust? Or, as in my situation, are you paying for someone else’s mistakes? Either way, what can you do to start earning trust again? Are you willing to stick around long enough to see soft ground return?