10 Things the Church Puts Ahead of Reaching People

Tradition

You knew this one would get in here. Tradition has killed many a church. When churches pursue the past more than they pursue people, that church will die. Many times preachers will preach on the last seven words of Jesus, the seven phrases Jesus said while on the cross. I’ll never forget what a Bible college professor told me once. He said, “Do you know what the last seven words of a church are? We’ve never done it that way before.” Instead of operating as an Emergency Room for the spiritually sick and needy, some churches prefer to operate as a museum, faithfully attempting to preserve American culture as it existed in the 1950s. If the 1950s ever come back, those churches are going to be perfectly poised to reach their world. Until then, they’re going to struggle.

Music Preferences

This one splits up more churches than perhaps anything else. We’re fine reaching the next generation for Jesus, as long as they like our music our way. That’s putting music preferences above people. And I’m not saying the contemporary music is the final answer. It’s not a particular style of music but the heart behind it that’s willing to give up musical preferences to reach the next generation for Jesus. With my background in youth ministry, it’s no surprise that I’ve been a strong advocate for modernizing worship music in churches today. But I also say this often, “When I’m older and I’ve got great-grandkids running around, I’m not sure what kind of church music they’ll prefer, but I guarantee you I won’t like it.” The question is will I be willing to put reaching others ahead of my musical preferences? Many churches can’t get past this hurdle.

Programs

Cleanliness

Some churches aren’t willing to do the heavy lifting required, they’re not willing to roll up their sleeves and embrace the messes of the world. We want them to clean themselves up and get their baggage taken care of before they enter the church. But if we’re not willing to get a little dirty, and if we’re not willing to let our churches get a little dirty, we’ll never reach the world. Several years ago as a youth pastor our youth group exploded in growth. We had to move into the sanctuary because it was the only room big enough for us. Great news, right? We had some older ladies that were so concerned about the ‘riff-raff’ messing up the sanctuary that the morning after our weekly youth service they would come and look up and down the pews for nicks or scratches to charge my budget for. They weren’t ready to embrace the messes.