Blog: Max Dawson
May 15, 2017
I put out these emails every Monday (Max’s Monday Musings) and Thursday (Max’s Thursday Thoughts). I write them to help and encourage the people of God.
For the next several weeks I am going to focus on leadership issues. I have already published a couple of messages on that topic in the past week. I have now decided that I will take a little while and focus exclusively on leadership. If you have a question about leadership, or if you would like for me to address a specific quality of leadership, just respond to my email with your question. While I may not be an expert on leadership, I have learned a number of things in my 30 years as an elder and in my 47 years of preaching the gospel. I think I have learned some things that may help others.
The need for leaders among God’s people is more apparent than ever before in our generation. While some churches are thriving and doing very well, many others are not. Many congregations are no longer growing. Some have closed their doors. In some communities where there used to be a faithful, prospering church, today there is none.
There are three things that we can typically identify when we see a local church in decline. Please think about these things in respect to your congregation.
1. No serious evangelism being done. We like to talk more about evangelism than we like doing it. When a church does not do evangelism, its days (or years) are numbered.
2. No serious efforts at keeping young people. Of course we don’t want to lose our kids to the world. But the fact is, a sizable number of our young people will leave the Lord before they are 25. If you don’t ground, prepare and train your young people, you will lose most of them.
3. Brethren fighting one another within the local church. What happens when infighting takes place? Splits. Divisions. Driving converts (if you have any) away. People becoming generally discouraged. Why are brethren so quick to take sides against one another? It is a killer to evangelism. It is a killer to a church’s survival.
THE FINAL WORD
Now, at this point, someone may say, “I thought you were talking about leadership–not why churches decline.” Right! Churches decline because of lack of leadership.
Can we not see that the three things above are leadership issues? Why are churches not taking seriously the work of evangelism? Lack of leadership. Why do we allow generations of young people to just drift out into the world? Lack of leadership. Why do brethren fuss and fight with one another? Lack of leadership that provokes people to be more like the Master, Jesus Christ.
Leaders have vision, goals and objectives. Leaders influence people in the Lord’s way. Leaders are able to see what needs to be done and then do it! But too many churches have no vision or goals for the future. Some don’t plan beyond next Sunday’s service.
We can do better than that. I hope these simple emails help us do better. We are capable of so much more than we are giving to our God.
So, for at least the next several weeks, watch for more on leadership.
Blessings to you, my faithful friends,
–Max