In my last article I said the reason we don’t have leaders who last is because we don’t have healthy disciples. How did it come to this point in the church?
Over the years I’ve seen many churches, both local and national, decrease in influence, some of them barely hanging by a thread, some of them closing its doors. I thought, “If the church is God’s chosen instrument to proclaim the gospel, then shouldn’t it increase in influence and be expanding?” This desire to see healthy churches began a personal study of trends in modern church history. Please note this is a sweeping survey of church history and does not include the trends in denominations, missions, or revivals.
From my vantage point, here is a quick snapshot of what I’ve been observed. In the 1950’s and 60’s the culture was being bombarded with communism and empiricism. This decrease on the value of the individual and the increase of the scientific resulted in the decrease of the need for what the church was teaching. To counter these lies, the church began to emphasize biblical truth, primarily through biblical literacy and theology. At the forefront was the Calvary Churches led by Pastor Chuck Smith. He emphasized studying the Bible verse by verse. However, this emphasis came at a cost. The increase of truth came at the cost of evangelism. Biblical truth increased, evangelism decreased.
This lack of outreach resulted in an evangelism explosion in the 1970’s but more particularly the later 80’s, with other churches following in the 90’s. At the forefront was the Seeker Sensitive Movement led by Willow Creek Community Church, pastored by Bill Hybels, and Saddleback Church, pastored by Rick Warren. This type of church appealed to many unchurched people. As other churches followed the pattern of these two churches, churches in cafeterias, shopping centers, and theaters started to pop up, as well as churches with multiple services. One of the appeals of the Seeker Sensitive Movement was that anyone could be a minister. If you could fix a car, you could start a ministry helping to repair cars. If you could cook, you could be part of the hospitality or homeless ministry. If you could arrange flowers, you could be part of the ambiance ministry. However, this came at a cost. This increase in evangelism and growth in multiple ministries resulted in many ministers who were placed in leadership roles very quickly. Evangelism increased and so did the need for leaders.
This increase in leadership resulted in a leadership development explosion in the 1990’s and into the millennium. At the forefront was the Willow Creek Leadership Summit and John Maxwell’s leadership books. It also birthed a new genre of books called Christian Leadership, as well as degree programs such as Masters of Arts in Global Leadership. People would flock to leadership conferences; purchase leadership books, cassettes, CDs; and teach leadership principles in their own churches. This was helpful to many people who were serving in leadership capacities in the church, from children’s ministries to youth to small groups. However, this came at a cost. This increase in leadership development resulted in the decrease of discipleship. People were becoming leaders without having the basics of the Christian faith.
Here’s a typical scenario: So many people were coming into the church and accepting Christ, small groups were needed to make sure people stayed in the church and stayed connected. But there weren’t enough small group leaders who had basic discipleship habits. Thus curriculum was created for those who led small groups but didn’t have a foundation of Bible basics. Now anyone could lead a small group. However without the depth of spirituality needed to lead a small group, many of these groups became social gatherings at the expense of growing deeper in God’s Word.
Here’s another scenario: A person accepts Christ and immediately desires to serve. The thinking is “Christ has done so much for me, I must do something for Him in return.” They are encouraged to take a spiritual gifts test which then plugs them into a ministry. Their service becomes the basis for the spiritual life. They equate ministry with maturity.
This is why I believe leaders are not finishing well. They are here today but are gone tomorrow. Why? They don’t have the depth of maturity needed to lead. Outside they look and act like a leader, but inside they are spiritually starving. This is a clarion call for discipleship.
Next week I will take a look at some of the basics a believer needs to know before moving into a leadership role.
Questions to Think About:
Looking back over your Christian life, were you grounded in the basics before serving in a leadership capacity?
Were you made a small group leader before you were ready? Did you use curriculum that only required you to push play on the DVD player and follow the leader’s guide?
© Gary Lau 2013
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