Carey Nieuwhof gave a talk at the BGAV on November 15, 2022, and he had us take a look at the church in 2032, to see what that church did in order to survive and thrive in the decade prior.
A key lesson is that everything has changed. The methods of the past will not take us to where we must go in the future. Will we adapt or die?
It’s 2032. Here’s What’s Left of the Church.
Christian America Died. And the leaders who kept looking back never moved forward.
Growing churches are now digital organizations with physical locations. Dying churches saw digital church as an obstacle, growing church saw it as an opportunity.
The majority of church attendees are no longer in the room. Dying churches confined ministry to the building, growing churches did not.
On-demand access now greatly surpasses attendance of live events, on-demand access reaches people when they’re ready, not when we’re ready.
Growing churches shifted their focus from gathering to connecting.
Community and connection matter more than content consumption.
Your pastor of discipleship had an epiphany in the middle of the night not all too long ago… making change in the church can often be like reading one of my favorite books as a child, Green Eggs and Ham. Let’s look at the two characters in this story.
Sam-I-Am is a pushy little pastor who embodies the spirit of global evangelism, relational discipleship, and life transformation by encouraging his people to always ask the question, “How can we make this church better than it already is?” and reach more people with the gospel. The summer of 2022 may appear to be an endless barrage of “time for change” and “something new is about to happen” language that the average church member may feel like the other character in the story. In Dr. Seuss’ story, Sam-I-Am is essentially breaking down the other character’s will to resist green eggs and ham by pestering him endlessly. I trust that “pestering” is not your actual feeling, but your discipleship leadership team is hoping that the congregation will see the ultimate benefit of this new schedule, which puts the church in a position of growth and simplicity. Sam-I-Am’s marketing scheme is simplicity itself: he keeps asking the other fellow whether he would like to try his strange, unappealingly colored product in a number of various and increasingly preposterous scenarios: here or there, in a box or with a fox, in a house or even with a mouse. How many of our people in your classroom have simply discounted the time change all together, even before we have done one day of the new schedule? They’re saying, “I do not like green eggs and ham, Sam-I-Am, you leave me be.” I seem to remember a line from my past, regarding the seven last words of a dying church — “We’ve never done it that way before.”
The other character in the story is twice as tall as Sam-I-Am but otherwise remarkably similar in appearance. His first words are that he doesn’t like Sam-I-Am, which seems to indicate that he has been the target of the little marketing genius’ advertising strategy before. It appears that from the start, Sam-I-Am is the enemy to be avoided, like he’s saying, “I’m not buying what this guy’s selling.” Pastors are like that. We come up with all sorts of ideas to reach people with the gospel and make church a better experience for outsiders, always asking the question, “What can be done to make church better” and “to reach more people?” The larger character starts out with a cold resistance to Sam’s non-stop sales pitch, but ultimately makes the worst mistake any consumer can ever make: agreeing to try the product as a means of getting the sales guy to finally stop. After tasting the unpleasantly colored ham and eggs, he discovers it tastes delicious and becomes a devoted and, likely, a lifelong raving fan of future ideas by Sam-I-Am.
I hope that months and years down the road, we can look back at the summer of 2022 and come to the conclusion that all the turmoil surrounding time changes, class schedules, worship style, and church leadership, perhaps seeing that none of these brought down the church like we feared it would. Perhaps the changes made this summer will actually benefit the vast majority of the congregation. We feel this schedule fixes the problems discovered with the 2021 schedule. We are positioning ourselves for growth. We will become proactive rather than reactive when it comes to people showing up because they sense God is at work here. We have to ask ourselves the hard question, “Will God show up here if we don’t follow his leadership?” Are we not really saying, “We just want to go back to Egypt no matter what may be waiting for us in the Promised Land.” So, here is the parable, “Try green eggs and ham, maybe just try them. You may just like them, we will see.” My friends, maybe, just maybe, this new schedule will work out very well, so the question that each of us must ask ourselves, “Why am I so unwilling to give it a go?”
I hope that Sam-I-Am, the pastor who is trying to help the congregation experience something new (to see if this schedule really does work better), that perhaps he will have earned your trust, acknowledging that he had your back all along, just encouraging all of us to grow in faith, follow Jesus closer, look at the needs of others more than ourselves, to reach people who have not yet walked through our doors, for us all to serve enthusiastically in ministry, and to intentionally welcome people with the love of Jesus as they enter this place. Even Jerry said, “The best is yet to be.” He did not say, “This is the best it will ever be.”
[ Borrowed from an idea from Timothy Sexton, at gradesaver.com ]
What is your vision for the world? Jesus clearly expressed His vision as He taught His disciples to pray: that God’s kingdom would come to characterize the world He created. He calls us to continue to pray that God’s “will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Is this your vision, too? How can you be part of bringing God’s kingdom to life in your spheres of influence today?
This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” — Matthew 6:9-13
At King’s Grant, we are experiencing several events to help bring God’s kingdom on earth: Winter Shelter January 23-30, Ken’s January Bible Study on Desiring More (our journey toward personal holiness), the Pursue series (the intensity of our faith), Wednesday Life Groups this next semester (starting back January 30) and Billie Todd will be leading a Wednesday evening class on prayer beginning January 30 at 6:00. All this is designed to develop community, faith, and love.
Continue to pray for God’s will to be done in your life and in the life of the church.
[Part of this post is from the January 11 Lead Like Jesus devotional]
We hope you will join us for our local “Back to Church” on September 9. Graded classes will promote to their new classrooms (9:45), we will have a children’s celebration before classes begin, we are excited about the beginning of our new Gospel Project curriculum, and have a place for every family member.
With an M3 emphasis (member, minister, missions), what are the possibilities of actually recognizing all three components of the vision during September? Below could be a potential schedule. Take a look and let me know your feedback. We will also discuss this tomorrow in staff.
Celebrating M1. On Sunday, September 9, celebrate “Back to Church” Sunday, emphasizing the first of our core values – COMMUNITY, represented by M1 (MEMBER). An invite card will be handed to every member to use with inviting others to visit KGBC.
Celebrating M2. On Sunday, September 16, emphasizing our second core value – FAITH, represented by M2 (MINISTRY). During this day we WILL celebrate and give special thanks to all who serve through KGBC.
Celebrating M3. On Sunday, September 30, emphasizing our third core value – LOVE, represented by M3 (MISSION). This will be our Mission Sunday, sharing the call and opportunity for everyone to live a missional life.
Our Vision Statement: We exist as a community of faith to extend the love of Christ and his kingdom in Virginia Beach and to the world.
