Your Voice

4 steps for better church health in a time of unhealthiness

By Rick Lance
Executive director, Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions

For at least a year now, we have been coping with a pandemic that has taken the lives of a half-million Americans and millions of others across the globe.

We are still facing some uncertain times. However, there are hopeful signs that this extended pandemic may be abating soon.

During this time, churches have had to adapt in ways never before considered. Mostly the news of these efforts to adjust and adapt are positive. Some churches are struggling more than others.

As we continue to face the uncertainties of this pandemic, I would like to suggest we view the future of church life in terms of church revitalization. What I am offering as a strategy is for us to look at this recovery period as a two- to three-year timeframe.

The natural thought is that when the cloud of uncertainty leaves us, we will bounce back into the pre-COVID period; that is, we will be back to an old normal.

I do not see that in the near future. In my mind, every church will have to have some kind of church revitalization experience. If that is the case, then we must develop the healthiest mindset for the future through four areas:

Prayer

Like many of you, I have struggled to maintain a prayerful mindset during this time of unhealthiness. One would think that would not be a problem, but it can be for sure. Fear, frustration and fatigue have been some of the challenges to a healthy mindset during this period.

Uncertainty always creates a sense of fear and anxiety. That is a natural response, and we should not be ashamed to admit it. Prayer can be so therapeutic when we experience these emotions.

Prayer has a way of helping us stay connected to the One who knows the future. Prayer brings us together in almost inexplicable ways. The small things remain small, and the main mission looms large before us.

Patience

As we pray we can develop a sense of patience with ourselves and with others. In the future, our patience as church leaders will be tested even more than in the past.

We will expect a quick comeback from the days of the COVID period. I am inclined to believe that will not happen as desired.

Coming back to in-person worship and small groups like Sunday School will take more time than we may think. Be as patient with yourself and others as you can be. Patience almost always pays off.

Perseverance

Closely aligned with patience is the virtue of perseverance. When we are frustrated and fatigued, the tendency is to give up or back off. We have to develop the mindset of perseverance in order to withstand this tendency.

The Bible is replete with examples of perseverance. Moses and the children of Israel persevered in the midst of a prolonged time of living in the wilderness. There they had an extended course on how to depend upon God and to prepare for the promised land.

Perhaps this pandemic has been our wilderness experience preparing us for better days of service ahead. I pray that is the case.

Prudence

When I am asked “How can I pray for you?” almost without exception I say, “Pray that I will have sense enough to pray for daily wisdom, for I am wisdom-challenged.”

That response is a genuine one. Just like you, I can feel overwhelmed with all that is happening around me that I feel a bit helpless — but never hopeless.

Praying for wisdom, as admonished by James 1:5, will keep us centered. This kind of praying will remind us that God is still on His throne. No pandemic has changed that reality. It will also help to be humble before God.

This mindset of prayer, patience, perseverance and prudence is something of a template of thinking that can help us approach the future in a healthy, Christ-honoring way.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Adapted from an article originally posted at ricklance.com.

A far greater glory awaits

Because of God’s grace and the hope founded upon it, Paul reaffirms that he does not “lose heart,” and he assures his readers that they need not do so either.

All of our sufferings take their physical toll. As Paul acknowledges, our outer nature is “wasting away.”

But the toll on our outer nature cannot touch our inner nature where the Holy Spirit dwells.

No doubt Paul’s troubles and sufferings were intense and unending. But from the eternal standpoint, the apostle deemed them as light and “momentary” compared to the “eternal weight of glory.”

Paul’s afflictions and their physical effects are plain to all who observe him. But no worries, replies the apostle, for they are only transient.

Paul is grounded in the truth of eternal life, and he is therefore occupied with the unseen and eternal.

The late Jim Barnette from Sunday School commentary he wrote on 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 in Feb. 20, 2020, issue of TAB

“I’m just happy to give what I can to support missionaries.”

Brody Brewer
12-year-old missions supporter at Pathway Church in Redlands, California

Is my life compelling evidence that there is a living God of the Bible? The incarnation and resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s undeniable evidence to man that He is alive and well.

But the question remains, “Is my life compelling evidence that God is alive and that He loves me and a lost world?” Is your life compelling evidence that He is alive? When people meet you and when they get to know you, do they stand in awe of a living, loving God living through you?

George Yates
Church health strategist, Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions

Maybe you are like me and see prayer as an area of your life that is deficient, in need of repair, or just ordinary.

The good news is that God wants to teach us to pray, and He invites us to spend time with Him to better appreciate, understand and utilize this precious gift.

Stan Parks said, “Your prayer life now is ordinary to you. Add something to it to make it extraordinary for you. Then keep repeating that process.”

Pastor Darryl Brunson
Expedition Church
Livingston, Montana

The word “lost” refers to any who exclude God from life; “saved” means, among other things, that our life has been reunited with God.

This truth is but one ingredient or facet or essential for effective Christian ministry. Other essentials include discipline, vision, wisdom, decision-making, courage, forgiveness, humility, integrity, zeal and insight.

Let us not fail to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and forever. Amen” (2 Pet. 3:18).

Morris Murray Jr.
Jasper, Ala.

The only thing you contribute to your salvation is the sin that made it necessary.

Pastor Matt Mason
The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham

From the Twitterverse

@drbobterry
While Jesus is representing me in heaven, may I reflect him on Earth. While he pleads my cause, may I show forth his praise. — God Enjoyed

@JackieHillPerry
“Enoch walked with God.”
“Noah walked with God.”
“Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared … and said to him, “… Walk before Me.”
“… whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.”
Walk with God Saints.

@RevKevDeYoung
The promises of God are so inviolable that no threat — from outside the church or from inside — can render them null and void. Surely that is good news.

@CSLewisDaily
“If you’re thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you’re embarking on something which will take the whole of you.” — C.S. Lewis

@MattSmethurst
You may face hardship this week. God has not promised you ease. But you won’t face it alone. God has promised you Himself.

@Rgallaty
“Revival is falling in love with Jesus all over again.” — Vance Havner

@SamGreer_PSG
More gospel conversationalists and less gossip conservationists.

@JustinEGiboney
When we talk about what the church needs to do to survive, it’s important to define what’s meant by survival. Gaining greater numbers while denying moral convictions and not calling congregants to personal transformation is death not survival.

@MichaelHyatt
You really can achieve more by doing less. The key is to set hard boundaries, cull your tasks and activity list, and cultivate other interests.

@bigvox
As we all head to worship on this Lord’s Day, let us not make one classic mistake … thinking the message we are about to hear is something someone else needed to hear.

@DrRobertSmithJr
“Our allegiance must not be to Capitol Hill, but to A Hill Far Away … not to the White House, but to our Father’s House.”