“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.” II Timothy 4:2
“Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among thorns.Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, Circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem…” F/Jeremiah 4:3,4
Six weeks ago, I introduced the idea of a revitalization playbook. The playbook will not be a step-by-step manual for church renewal, for I don’t believe that creating a universally applicable, chronological, revitalization plan is possible.
My intent is to create a resource to draw from, like the playbook of a football team which has a listing of the plays which it has practiced extensively.
Click here, for the introductory post on The Possibility of Church Revitalization.
I do believe that the first three plays can be scripted.
First, you must help your people to face the true condition of their church (click here for this post). Second, you must help your congregation to take responsibility for the condition of their church (click here to read this post). Third, as a revitalization pastor, you must lead your people to begin praying for revitalization (click here for this post).
After these three scripted plays, you can choose plays based on the needs of your congregation, the wisdom of your leadership team and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Last week I presented a fourth play. It’s not necessarily the fourth play that you should run in your church, but it’s definitely an important strategy: Give your congregation a simple dream of a revived church. You can read about it by clicking here.
Why bold, serious preaching is necessary
In our extensive blogging and podcasting about church revitalization in recent years, I’m sorry to say that preaching has been de-emphasized (“de-amplified” in the latest parlance). It is not illegitimate to talk about removing pews, improving our coffee, giving people whole doughnuts, shorter services, better worship bands, etc., but real, heaven-sent revitalization is more likely realized with serious prayer (the third post of this series) and solid, careful, humble, Bible exposition.
In my seven interim pastorates, four of them in churches which were quite troubled, I relied heavily on what could be changed by way of careful, relevant preaching. God used it. I was not disappointed with its effectiveness. These sermons were not my “greatest hits” and I didn’t become these churches’ favorite pastor. Some of my messages sucked all the air out of the room and made my dear wife want to hide beneath the pews, but God used them powerfully and I am oh-so-grateful for that.
The teaching and preaching of the Bible has always been God’s primary method for:
- Feeding the people of God – In Acts 20 the Apostle Paul talks about “not hesitating” to preach anything that would be helpful,” “not hesitating” to proclaim “the whole will of God” and the ability of the “word of his grace” to build people up.
- Correcting error and rebuking sin – II Timothy 3 says that Scripture is “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”
- Bringing God’s people back to obedience and covenant faithfulness (Read the wonderful accounts of Ezra nine and ten and Nehemiah nine.)
Consider the letters of the risen Christ to seven actual churches in Revelation two and three. The glorified Savior failed to mention adding services, new carpeting or improved parking. Rather, He used His word to commend, correct and call His people to repentance.
If you are the pastor of a troubled church, a church in need of revitalization, a church on the right side (the downward side) of the church lifecycle, I can confidently say that God wants you to humbly but boldly address your church’s problems, faults, weaknesses and sins from the pulpit.
The status quo will not do. If you have been a people-pleasing, sheep-petting pastor, it’s time for you to repent first. If you keep doing what you’ve always been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always been getting. Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way while expecting a different result.
If the assessment of your congregation that you (or an outside consultant) completed has indicated that your church is worldly, selfish, cold, gossipy, apathetic, unwilling to change, unconcerned about the fate of the lost or unconcerned about God’s glory, these are sins that you need to address now.
In those restaurant renovations that we see on television, the establishment is literally shut down for a while as the building and the business are transformed into something new and fresh.
In some church renovations, the doors are literally closed for a few weeks as God’s people seriously examine their ministry and their lives.
In other situations, while we don’t literally “go underground,” we stop inviting guests and focus hard on our internal problems for a time, knowing that we’re going to miss the opportunity of gaining a few new adherents, while confident that God will pour out His blessing on our revitalized church. And God’s pleasure can make up for lost time very quickly. Click here to read about The Surprising Secret of Church Growth.
In a seriously troubled church, there is no revitalization without bold, serious preaching.
What I mean by bold, serious preaching:
1. Bold, serious preaching should be solidly expositional
I am not suggesting a life-long ministry of reacting, week after weary week, to the latest sins of your congregation, endlessly flogging the saints with the Bible. In fact, a solidly expositional ministry – teaching what the Bible actually says, with painstaking exegesis and the best hermeneutical principles – is the best means of growing a strong and godly church which does not need to be “flogged” with the Bible.
But if your church is seriously troubled, headed down the wrong side of the church life-cycle like a train going downgrade, you may need to take a break from your series through Leviticus and address some urgent concerns.
And yes, you can address your concerns with a series of topical sermons, but it’s often possible for pastors who are committed to preaching through books (or large portions of books) of the Bible, to address their congregation’s urgent concerns with their preferred methodology:
- Romans 1-3 for a church which seems to no longer believe in the exclusivity of salvation through Christ
- Revelation 2 and 3 for churches which have grown apathetic or worldly
- The letter to the Ephesians for congregations which have forgotten the greatness, the power and the significance of the local church
- Philippians for churches which have lost their joy or need to face tough times with heaven-sent confidence
2. Bold, serious preaching must be breathtakingly relevant
Some pastors have applied their preaching so sparsely for so long (“I just teach the Bible and let them apply it themselves”) that their hearers are shocked when they actually address them directly and honestly, with the expectation that they will obey “the Word of the Lord.”
If you want your people to start praying for their lost neighbors, tell them (and teach them how).
If you want your people to stop gossiping, tell them (and teach them how to handle their conflicts Biblically).
If you want your people to start welcoming guests with the welcome of God, tell them (and teach them how to do it).
In a seriously troubled church, there is no revitalization without bold, serious preaching.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
- Has our study of our congregation unearthed serious flaws and sins? If so, what are they?
- What would Jesus likely say if He was writing a Revelation two-or-three-style letter to our congregation?
- Is repentance needed on our part, as church leaders, before we can expect the congregation to follow?
- What kind of sermon series (or which book of the Bible) is most needed by our church right now?
