The Church doesn’t suck

Imagine I just walked up to you and say, “Hi, I am a part of this basketball team but we have issues. Our coach is clueless and everyone on our team has a bad attitude. We have nowhere to practice, no chance of getting better, and we will never win a game. We hopelessly suck. Wanna join the team?”

I’m willing to bet your answer would be no.

Recently, I attended a church leadership conference that was geared towards young leaders. The speaker line-up consisted mostly of prominent young leaders from growing churches all around the nation. Pen and notebook in hand, I was ready for God to speak something fresh into me. I was disappointed and disheartened by what I heard.

The common theme from most of the speakers was that the church of America was losing. Not enough people are coming to Christ. Christian leaders are failing daily. Churches are spending money on the wrong things. Churches are too much into the culture. Churches are not into the culture enough. Pastors are preaching the Gospel the wrong way. The church has lost its creativity. Church attendance is on the decline. Churches have lost their passion for global missions. Modern churches are all about show, not discipleship, about crowds, not transformation. The church has lost its focus. The list went on.

I was shocked at the lack of faith within the content. I think what alarmed me even more was that my peers were eating it up! I watched as young pastors reached for their iPhones to tweet the latest “one-liner” while responding to the speakers with a chorus of “mmmmm’s” and the occasional, “That’s good.” I left the conference with the feeling that as a whole, the American church sucks. We are underperforming. We are not winning the game. We have lost our focus and if we don’t change, we are doomed.

The following Sunday I returned to my sucky, under-performing, non-missional, game-loosing church. I watched as my pastor preached the Gospel “the wrong way” by giving an altar call. What happened next shouldn’t have happened. I saw people stand up from their seats and walk to the front of our sanctuary to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Some of them were so moved by the decision they had just made that they were weeping. Shortly after, in the following service, I watched an entire family who had recently come to Christ go public with their decision through baptism. The same Sunday, I read twitter posts from other pastors in and near by our city and they were sharing the number of people saved in their church and stories of transformation.

I thought to myself, “We are not losing.”

When Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16 that he was going to build His church, I believe He also meant that He would empower it. Sure, as our culture shifts, the church and those called to lead it will need to change, and I believe that the grace of God will empower us to do so. But I feel that amongst young leaders, too much energy is spent being hypercritical towards a church that never belonged to us in the first place. Are people repenting of their sin and coming to Christ in your church? Are those who are hurting and those who are poor experiencing the love of God through your church? Are people being set free of addiction and bondage? Is there heart transformation taking place? Yes? Good. Then I challenge you to narrow your focus. Focus on What God is doing where you are. Celebrate it. Preach it. Pray for more of it. Guard your words. Keep sacred the thing that God is doing.

I’ve never heard of a CEO who always spoke about how much his company sucks. That would be labeled as “Bad Leadership.”

I love what happens in Joshua 10. Israel is up against the five Southern Kings and these guys knew how to throw down. The enemy had state of the art weaponry and more than enough troops to overwhelm Israel. The Lord speaks to Joshua before battle and tells him not to be afraid. Then, the seemingly weak and under-equipped Israelite army is not only winning the battle, but also chasing the enemy away. The five Kings, once powerful and mighty, fled to a nearby cave. Joshua eventually captures them and calls his commanders to place their foot on each of the king’s necks. He then says this to his commanders:  “Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged, be strong and courageous, for the Lord is going to do this to all of your enemies.” (Joshua 10:25 NLT)

Joshua was not a man who did the right thing at the right time. No, Joshua was man of faith. He was a leader who capitalized on crucial moments of victory and used them to remind his men that they were on a holy mission, one that the Lord himself was part of. They were on the winning team. I can only imagine that during the battles to come, these same commanders thought back to when they placed their feet on the necks of the five great Southern Kings and remembered that the Lord was with them.

Why consider the odds when the odds do not matter? Nothing is too great for our God.

Young church leader: What an awesome responsibility we have been entrusted with. Steward your leadership well. Yes, be aware of needed change but trust that you are being divinely aided in the process. Lead from the overflow of your walk with Jesus, not from a discouraged imagination. Run from idol speech. Remember where you have been, the victories you have experienced in Christ, and you are part of the army chasing the enemy away.

I am a part of this church and we are on a holy mission. Our Pastor is spot on in the pulpit. Everyone in our church is participating in the vision. Those who are lost are coming to Christ and we are advancing the Kingdom of God in our city. We are not perfect but we ARE winning the game. Wanna join the team?

Young Leader, defend your church. Serve your church. If you have a problem with something or someone in your church, humble yourself. Don’t participate in the cacophony of church negativity. Combining relevant church buzzwords with faithless conversation will not get anyone saved. It just produces an unhealthy angst and bitterness towards the things of God in your heart and it will rob you of your passion and calling. Watch your tongue when it comes to your church. Feel the heat of hell and preach the Word until your whole city is saved. Pray for your pastor and remember this…the devil and all of his kings have been placed under your foot.  You are on the winning team.

“If the church is central to God’s purpose, as seen in both history and the gospel, its surly to be central to our lives. How can we take lightly what God takes so seriously? How dare we push to the circumference what God has placed at the center.”

-John Stott

Dana Gagner graduated from Southeastern University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Dana grew up in St. Pete, fl and married his high school sweetheart, Grace.  They have served as Youth Pastors for the past 4 years and are currently the student pastors at Church in the Son in Orlando, fl. He loves big dogs and has a driving passion to see students encounter and know God.