Homegrown Leadership

I always hate to start something this way because it makes me seem so… well… old. But here goes. Back in the day… see? I’m sounding older already. Back in the day, it seems that all you had to do to have a good church was to have a good preacher. If your church had a good preacher, people from the community would come to your church. It was that simple.

But things changed. Soon, it was no longer good enough to have a good preacher. You had to have a better preacher than the church across town. If my preacher was better than your preacher, my church would eventually “spirit away” people from your church. That’s how Christians say “steal”. And we began the era of competition between churches.

In the mid 80’s, as contemporary worship gained a foothold in the church, more emphasis was placed on the style of worship than in times past. This continued into the 90’s as worship wars broke out among the faithful.

As time progressed, this new style of worship also brought with it some additional new accessories to go along with the music. That old center speaker hanging over the podium gave way to line arrays, dual subs, and mountains of amps. Even the podium disappeared. Flashing lights, haze machines, and ever-changing backdrops has become the norm in “cool church.”

Now, in order for our churches to attract others, we not only have to have a better church than the one down the street, but we also have to compete with life for the time, money, and energy of people to fill our churches. Having a good message is now a perk, not a priority.

So what’s next? As we look into the future from nearly 20 years into the new millennium, what does the church of the future look like? I would like to offer 3 suggestions for the evolution of the church.

1. Authenticity will be the earmark of the church, not hype.This new generation of believers knows BS when it’s being sold. They have been the subject of targeted marketing nearly their whole lives. And they don’t like it. The church will have to move away from the facades of worship and begin to respond to God in true worship. This is not an indictment of contemporary worship. I was a pioneer of contemporary worship. I’m talking about substance, not style.

The days of drawing people through flashing lights and skinny jeans will fade. Not that those things are bad. They just aren’t enough. The next generation is looking for the supernatural, not the cool. Unless we offer them a supernatural solution to their lives, they won’t be interested.The church will need to find new ways of creating opportunities for community. The early church was all about community. Read the first 7 chapters of Acts. The church was built on community. God has always been in the people business. Our focus will need to return to connecting people with each other and to Christ in authentic ways.

2. The church will get back to its mission. People want to be part of something bigger than themselves. This is also true for the next generation of believers. In fact, Millennials will devote their lives to it. We will need to get back to being dealers in hope, not hype. If anything in this world offers hope, it’s Jesus.

People are sick of the constant judgmental attitudes of Christians. Even other Christians are sick of it. Is suicide a sin? Should Christians vote Democrat or Republican? Should a Christian bake a cake for a gay wedding? I don’t know and I don’t really care. It’s my job to make disciples, not judge sin. According to the Bible, The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and God judges it. It’s not my job to convict people of their sin, nor judge them because of it. The light of my life will expose it. That’s enough for me. If I make disciples, all the other things will take care of themselves.

The church has to get back to the mission of making disciples. For too long, we’ve been content to make converts. Making converts is much easier than making disciples. Making disciples takes more time and a little effort. But it’s our Christ-given mandate. Make disciples. Our evolution involves setting aside things that don’t involve making disciples and focusing more of our effort on our mission.

3. We will set the standard for innovation. Unfortunately, the church is usually 10-20 years behind the changing culture. There was a time when the church was the benchmark for new ideas and innovations. We serve the God who created everything. If anyone should model creativity, it should be Christians! Astronomy, our calendar, and the optics used in telescopes and glasses were all Christian inventions. The church once led the way in art and music.

In recent times, however, we have been content to imitate. We try to imitate the entertainment industry in our churches. We look at other churches who seem to have it going on, and we attempt to imitate what they are doing. We have replaced innovation with imitation.

The next generation of believers is innovative. They are creative. Most of our recent innovations have been for the benefit of the Christian community. Apps that make it easier to pray, witness, study the Bible, and journal, for example. All great things, but they only benefit believers. This new generation of Christians will evolve Christian innovation to benefit mankind, not only Christians. Christian music will become the standard that secular artists will attempt to imitate. Christians will once again be the leaders in technology, art, and education.

What do you think? Are there other areas of evolution for the church? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.