Recently, our church’s membership growth plateaued. Conditions for growth were excellent: a recently developed suburban setting; over 20 percent of our people were active in various outreach programs; new people were being assimilated into the body; and small-group life was strong. Moreover, ours was a young fellowship, most of the members truly wanted the church to grow, and spiritual commitment was strong.
I was stumped. Our church had been growing at a 32 percent annual rate. Why the lull?
Finally a lay leader unwittingly gave me a clue. Vicki had been visiting relatives the previous weekend, looking for opportunities to share her faith. When she told a cousin and his wife about our visitation program, they said, “That sounds exciting! We wish our church had that kind of evangelism training.”
When she mentioned our class for new believers, they reacted with friendly envy. They even asked Vicki for the curriculum the class was using.
As she continued to share this conversation with me, I felt increasingly grateful. After being a shade depressed for nearly a year, I was gratified to know some growing believers would love to be involved in a church like ours.
It began to dawn on me that my attitude toward the church had gradually changed over the last year. I had analyzed every possible cause of the church’s decline in growth. I had also studied the great things happening in growing churches, with the inevitable comparisons. In the process, I had begun to see our church as a kind of second-class citizen, feeling like a woman who stays home to raise kids (one of the finest, most demanding tasks) and considers herself “just a housewife.”
Now, hearing an outsider’s perspective made me feel like the farmer in the old story who became discouraged with his spread and hired an auctioneer to sell it all. The auctioneer walked around the farm taking inventory and then published an enthusiastically worded auction notice in the local paper. Reading it, the farmer realized it described everything he had ever wanted-and promptly took his farm off the market.
Church growth is extremely complex, and my previous analyses had uncovered several things in need of improvement. Yet I had missed a hidden factor-the loss of congregational self-esteem. I had unconsciously begun to consider ours a second-rate church, and many members had joined me in that estimation.
A great loss of enthusiasm and outreach resulted. Who invites friends to a church-even his own-if he sees it as second-rate? And even if someone does invite a friend, the lack of enthusiasm in his voice betrays him.
Low self-esteem not only cripples individuals, it cripples churches.
Causes of Low Church Esteem
What causes low church esteem? Several factors give it a foothold.
One is unhealthy comparisons with others. The truth is valid not only for individuals, but also for churches: “Each one should test himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load” (Gal. 6:4-5). It is easy to find churches with a broader music ministry than ours, more programs for children, more pastoral staff, or better physical facilities.
There’s nothing wrong with studying good models. Healthy observation of fruitful churches can raise our sights and challenge us to new excellence. However, it becomes unhealthy when we use another church with different opportunities and resources as a standard. We then raise expectations for our church that may never be God’s desire for us, or that are presently unrealistic. The result? We look down on our church.
Since we have no evening worship service, several members occasionally attend evening services at other churches. Some simply enjoyed the celebrations. Others began to say, “Why don’t we do this?” or “Why can’t we try that?” Some suggestions had potential, and we incorporated them. Others were unrealistic or outright contradictions of our understanding of the Bible and philosophy of ministry. Still, some members began to view our church as inferior because of this comparison.
A second cause is distorted perceptions of success. Large and beautiful buildings, sharp presentations, and expensive media programs tend to be seen as success. On this scale, most smaller churches suffer.
Success is fine, when defined as accomplishing God’s intentions. God wants us to reach nonbelievers with the gospel and help them become growing disciples in his church. By this measure, however, both smaller and larger churches may or may not be successful.
Some of our members actually criticized us for such a large proportion of new believers! They forgot that in God’s eyes this was a high compliment and provided an exciting opportunity to be mature “parents” to the many spiritual “children.”
A lack of challenging Bible studies for advanced believers created part of the problem-and we needed to address those needs-but we could not overlook the equally great challenge to reach more nonbelievers and teach young believers.
We were already successful in God’s eyes, but not in our own. To quote the ten unbelieving spies who explored the promised land, “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes” (Num. 13:33).
A third cause of low church esteem is the insignificance of the familiar. Joining a church is somewhat like getting married. In the honeymoon stage, excitement is high and great new discoveries are being made. Ten years later, however, both partners may be taking one another for granted. They have not become different persons, yet their perception of one another has changed.
Many tend to place a high value on feelings, which sometimes are produced by the excitement of something new. With the passage of time, the newness wears off, and the feelings naturally fade. People begin to see each other as an ordinary part of life with diminished value. Both marriages and churches are in danger when this happens.
Even Jesus’ hometown people perceived him differently, and he was unable to do many miracles there. He was not so special in Nazareth after thirty years.
This can happen in a church with long-time attenders. Some continue to be enthusiastic as they discover new gifts and rise to new ministry challenges. Others would rather be loved than love, be served than serve. They attend, but they perceive their church as humdrum and commonplace, and therefore insignificant.
Self-esteem suffers when we see ourselves as ordinary, perhaps even substandard; it is strong when we see ourselves as special and unique. A church will quickly lose its growth momentum when congregational self-esteem begins to slip.
Raising Church Esteem
How can we raise a church’s self-esteem? Some external actions are relatively easy to identify and implement. Other remedies deal with underlying attitudes and are more difficult to develop.
A church’s self-esteem begins in the mind and heart of its pastor. The pastor’s attitude will eventually permeate the congregation. It’s a subtle process that takes time, but it happens. Therefore, church leaders must esteem both themselves, as persons of unique worth in God’s eyes, and their church family, which has unique worth and a special mission for God.
For several reasons, the previous year had been a time of questioning my own worth as a person and competence as a spiritual leader. This doubt bled my confidence in the church along with my own self-confidence.
After Vicki’s phone call, I planned a week away for prayer, reflection, and the study of a growing church. I noticed its pastor and staff respected their church and had confidence in its future.
One highly competent spiritual leader in the Old Testament also demonstrated this vividly. Nehemiah, when invited to a peace conference, explained he could not go, saying, “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down” (Neh. 6:3). Church esteem buds in the heart of a pastor who sees his church’s mission as a great project, carried on by great people, utilizing the power of a great God.
When this esteem is present, it is important to help build it in others. Some happens spontaneously as overflow from a pastor’s full heart, but I have also cultivated intentional methods to build esteem for individual members and the church body alike:
I purposefully teach and preach that God considers us his redeemed people, called to be his special instruments to build the Kingdom of God. Solid biblical footings shore up sagging spirits.
I publicly recognize what the Lord is doing in the lives of individuals, either from the pulpit or in the church newsletter. I find no harm in recognizing the channel through whom the Spirit works, as long as God receives the glory.
Many churches use certificates presented to not only leaders, but servants-those who drive the youth to outings, clean the building, sing in the choir, and work in the nursery.
Along with recognition of service to the body, we’ve learned to publicize the way God is working in people’s lives. Last week a young believer shared how it had been over a month since she had stopped taking medication, with her doctor’s approval, for her once-daily seizures, and she had not experienced a single recurrence. To celebrate God’s power like this not only gives God glory but also raises the esteem of the church family, which begins to see itself as a people among whom God’s Spirit is working.
I also privately recognize people’s service with personal thank-you notes or phone calls.
Our church owns a two-acre lawn that traditionally has been difficult to keep trimmed with volunteer labor. This year one family made it their ministry, and did it well. Believe me, I made sure they were thanked both privately and publicly!
I try to recognize ministries of the body as a whole. Recently, one of our laymen was in the hospital with a severe back problem. Members visited and prayed for him and dropped off food for his family. He felt deeply loved. We made no bones about openly celebrating the love for one another that God had given our church family.
I continually challenge members to try new ministries and discover new gifts. And we provide training to help them become fruitful.
One young friend became active in a church that enlisted her as a Sunday school teacher. Although only a young Christian, she was given a teacher’s manual and thrust into the class with no training or previous experience. Before long she quit in total discouragement and eventually dropped out of the church.
By contrast, a young believer in a different church expressed a desire to minister to elderly people. Her pastor gave her a few names of people in a local nursing home who needed personal visits. She began to visit them each week, and several people in a small-group Bible study gave her encouragement and suggestions. For several years she carried on this ministry of love, and in the process gained a sense of confidence that the Lord could work through her. She continues as an excited, growing Christian-happy with her church.
The Way We See It Shapes It
We can perceive our churches in vastly different ways-either as a top-notch unit of the worldwide body of Christ, with great people, special leadership, God’s gifts, and a unique mission; or we can view it as a bunch of dull, ordinary people with everyday gifts and a second-rate capability for doing God’s work.
Our mental image of the church will likely determine the outward reality. This vital perception will either promote or undermine its growth. I thank God I came out of the spiritual doldrums and learned to esteem my church as God’s gift to our community and his world. It was the needed first step in removing a hindrance to the Spirit and restoring a healthy climate in our church.
Dave Owen is pastor of Millard Community Church in Omaha, Nebraska.
MY ODD ANOINTING
In seminary I was impressed with the way Jesus used unusual means to make powerful points-for instance, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.
I tried taking my cue from Jesus in my first church after seminary. I figured communication would be enhanced by working with live animals.
Like a turtle.
A turtle makes progress only if it dares stick out its neck. That’s a pretty good posture for Jesus’ disciples, too, I thought. So, my first week there, I asked the kids to find me a turtle. That week, some girls found a turtle and brought it to church, and an elderly couple, while taking a drive in the country, had to slam on the brakes as a turtle ambled across the road.
Eureka! I had two turtles!
The next Sunday I stood before the congregation, trying to exude proper Princeton decorum. With my black Geneva gown accented by red piping, I looked like I came from John Calvin’s academic stock. Calling the small fries forward, I began my talk.
As I held up one turtle for everybody to see, I tapped on its shell. He ducked into it, obviously not going anywhere. “That’s like a person acting as if Jesus weren’t walking beside him,” I observed.
The turtle, meanwhile, hidden in its shell, spotted all the strange faces and got a bad case of nerves. In front of the whole congregation, the poor creature urinated all over my new robe.
The congregation absolutely howled. The colonial sanctuary, built in 1843, never shook as much as on that Sunday.
My speech professor at Princeton had advised us, “When in trouble, breathe deeply, back up, and begin again.” Always the obedient pupil, I did as he said. I acted as though I were not drenched and quickly returned the turtle to his box, commenting that strange faces do funny things to shy turtles.
Picking up the second turtle, I started again. I tapped on the shell, this time holding it well away from my robe. The turtle ducked inside and . . . held its composure. Relieved, I asked, “What happens to a turtle that refuses to stick out its neck?”
A tyke shot up his hand, exclaiming, “It goes tinkle-tinkle!” That brought the house down again. Turning beet red, I thought my ministry had been destroyed in its second week.
But God can teach a proper Princetonian a few lessons. The nervous turtle made the people see that the new preacher was all too human. Just like them. And they accepted me, stains and all, although they did tend to shy away from my new robe.
-Jack R. Van Ens
Arvada Presbyterian Church
Arvada, Colorado
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