~Going Deeper~ Part 3

You Blame Outsiders and External Factors
We live in a culture where no one is responsible for anything that happens to them. If you don’t believe me, invest a couple of hours watching one of the multitude of judge shows on television.
It’s amazing that people instigate litigation as a result of something that happened because of a decision they made. On television, blaming others is entertainment. In the church, it’s tragedy.
There is a tendency among church leaders to blame their ineffectiveness on the changing community, the struggling economy, or the big church that obviously watered down its message in order to reach people who are interested only in being entertained. Staff meetings must look a lot like the talks that take place every fall in the locker room of the Chicago Cubs: "This was going to be our year, but the other teams got hot, our star player got hurt, and the wind was blowing in more than out." Maybe it’s time to man-up and say, "We didn’t get the job done, and we’ve got to figure out a new approach."
I’m amazed at the "new" ideas that come from some Christian organizations that experienced their best years in the ’60s and ’70s. If you look closely, those new ideas look a lot like old ideas with new packaging. They are hoping to recapture their past glory by repositioning their past products. Good luck with that!
The problem, according to the organization’s leaders, is the increase in competition. In other words, if people didn’t have so many options, they’d be perfectly fine buying subpar products. Victims, huh?
Victim-thinking will only lead to bitterness and competition. Leaders who blame outsiders and external factors actually are confessing their own failure to think creatively and inspire their team. Churches in their leisure suits are victims of the changing taste in clothing. When the world returns to thinking the way they thought forty years ago, they’ll be dressed for success. Until then, they’ll look sadly out of place!

What a great point today!
In His Grip,
Pastor J