A star is a celestial ball of continuously exploding gases. The powerful thermonuclear explosions emit heat and light and all the good things essential to life. But there is this strange phenomenon that occurs whenever a star dies. The star begins stealing back all the life and energy it once released into the universe. The star begins collapsing into itself. Its once expansive, life-giving mass, begins compacting into a singular point deep within its inner core. The compaction generates a gravitational pull that is so strong nothing can escape its grasp, not even light. That is why a dying star is called a black hole.
Black holes are truly black. The gravitational pull of the dying star distorts the light emitted from neighboring stars. If light rays from neighboring stars venture too close, the gravity of the black hole traps the light. It is thought that time and space and mass cease to exist within a black hole. The star and everything within it becomes this great expanse of infinite nothingness.
When Churches Become Black Holes
Dying stars and black holes don’t only exist in deep outer space. They exist on earth as well. There is this strange phenomenon that occurs whenever a church begins to die. The church begins collapsing into itself. Its once expansive, life-giving mass, begins compacting into a singular point deep within its inner core. The church begins stealing back all the life and energy it once released into its community. The gravitational pull of a dying church becomes so strong that no light can escape; not even the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, the church refracts and distorts the good light emitted from neighboring churches. The church becomes a black hole, a great expanse of infinite nothingness which no longer fills the universe with life and in which no life could possibly exist.
Robert Lewis in his book The Church of Irresistible Influence describes it well. "The church begins to believe it exists to meet the needs of its own members. A toxic self-absorption develops where "us" becomes all that matters. Spiritual impact is rarely contemplated beyond the borders of the church property. Like a star that has collapsed into a black hole refusing to release its light, the dying church unknowingly starts to exist for nothing bigger than itself.
So what happens within a dying church that causes it to become a black hole?
In dying churches, the leadership board becomes unaccountable.
I was privileged recently to listen to Don Cousins describe the realities that cause a church to stop emanating life and energy. Let's start at the inner core. First, such churches become led by a board. A group of men gather monthly, focusing a majority of their time and energy around administrative issues. They carry great authority and control everything, but carry only minimal responsibility. They make decisions in a disconnected manner that stifles the life and health of the church.
The board becomes more and more unaccountable for remaining in Christ. They are not being regenerated by God’s Spirit in character, are not revitalizing God’s family through discipleship, and are not rescuing God’s world through evangelism and outreach. An inner death begins in the core of the leadership board and quickly spreads throughout the whole church.
In dying churches, the church staff ("the" minister) does all the ministry.
Second, such churches have a staff serving all the church members. An individual or a small group of people are hired to do the work of ministry. They carry the pastoral load of the whole ministry while the congregation and board watch from the sidelines. The staff is given minimal authority, yet have the great responsibility of meeting the needs of the whole church as well as the needs of the community in which the church exists.
In dying churches, the congregation becomes consumer-oriented.
Third, there is a congregation who is being served. The congregation takes the role of the consumer and critic. People come to church, absorb ministry, and then like Siskel and Ebert, give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down depending on their experiences. The average member believes he or she exists to be served.
Dying churches ignore the needs of the world.
Fourth, such churches leave the world around them ignored. The church collapses into itself. Its focus turns inward. A black hole forms. The church ceases to emit life and distorts the light of gospel of Jesus Christ.
Dying churches are multiplying at extraordinary rates. The challenge is to reverse the gravitational pull so that churches like Lakeside, emit life and light to the world. Again, Don Cousins describes what a healthy, vibrant, life-giving church must become.
Life-giving churches are Elder-protected.
First, life-giving churches must become board protected. Instead of leading primarily around administrative issues, elders must have a ministry of word and prayer through which they care for the flock. They must lead at a macro level, entrusting administration to others instead of micro-managing every facet of ministry. Elders must become role models of what it means to remain vitally connected to Christ, to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, to revitalize the Church through discipleship, and to rescue the world from the power of Satan through outreach and evangelism. In other words, the church’s core, the elders, must be infused with life and health.
Life-giving churches are Staff-Led.
Second, life-giving churches must become staff-led. Gifted people must be given the responsibility and authority to lead an appropriate area of ministry, within the parameters set forth by the elders. The staff must equip the church to be ministers, instead ofkeeping people from being contributors.
Life-giving churches are Service-Oriented.
Third, the congregation serves! Every member becomes a contributor instead of just being a critic and consumer. Members are equipped to serve on the frontlines of ministry and to faithfully administer God’s grace in its various forms.
Life-giving churches are Mission-Minded.
The result of all these factors is a world which is served instead of a world which is ignored. The church becomes salt and light, focusing outward instead of inward, and is concerned with meeting the needs of the world Christ died for instead of meeting its own organizational needs.
So, how does a church become a life-giving church? We know what needs to happen on a leadership level. Elders need to remain vitally connected to Christ. They need to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. They need to revitalize the church through disciple-making. They need to rescue the lost by doing and promoting evangelism. We know what needs to happen on a staff level. The ministry staff must unapologetically fulfill God’s expectation of equipping every member of the church to do works of service.
But what needs to happen at a congregational level? What is your role as a congregation? For instance, beyond attendance and giving, what is expected of all of you? Of course I realize that for some of you, I may have just made a huge assumption. Depending on your church background, you may not believe much of anything is expected of you beyond attendance and giving. Yet something more is expected of you! And that expectation isn’t my expectation. It's God’s expectation. If it was just my expectation, you could dismiss it!
Traditionally, churches sum up this expectation with one word: membership. Unfortunately, membership can mean whatever we want it to mean. For some it means, "I’ve joined a club." For others it means, "I’m entitled to benefits, to having my needs met, and to having my desires fulfilled."
But what if we stopped thinking of ourselves as "members" of a club and instead began seeing ourselves as "contributors"? Contributors are expected to make a contribution, to invest, to sacrifice, to give, and to serve. From a biblical standpoint, church membership is about making a contribution.
Every Member Serves
In 1 Corinthians 12 the foot, the hand, the ear, the eye, and the sense of hearing are all making a valuable contribution to the body of Christ. In 1 Peter 4:10 we're told, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 2:5,9 tells us that we are to be built into a priesthood, a priesthood of all believers. Matthew 20:28 (NIV) says, "Just as the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus is the head of the Church. We should have the mind of Christ on this.
Jesus Christ was a contributor. Every "member" is to be an active "contributor". There is no place for members who function like parasites, sapping time and energy and resources and life away from the body. They rarely give. Rarely serve. Rarely sacrifice. Rarely invest. They are always consuming time and energy and resources. God’s expectation for every member is that he becomes a contributor.
Most churches aren’t organized in a way that allows the average person to be a contributor. Most churches have a worship hour. You come, you absorb, and then you leave. And many churches have a Bible school hour. But again, you come, you sit in a chair, you absorb teaching, and then you leave.
Is it any wonder churches become black holes? "Here, sit down and listen. Absorb." If you're lucky, someone asks you to usher, stack chairs, work in the nursery, hand out bulletins, prepare communion, or something like that. Meanwhile, a handful of people feverishly do the work of church. They serve. They administrate. They organize. They build. They pray, preach, counsel, pastor, care, and comfort. They follow up. They evangelize. They baptize. They disciple. They meet practical needs. They go to hospitals and prisons. They reconcile marriages and families. They take risks. They minister in the trenches. A best case scenario is that most churches are functioning at one tenth or one hundredth of their potential. Congregations aren’t being mobilized for ministry.
At Lakeside, we are trying to break the traditional church mold. Being a Christian is not about attending church and Bible studies, though these things are important. Being a Christian is about being a contributor: serving, giving, sacrificing, and ministering. So how can we effectively organize our church so that every member can be a contributor? Well, we have two proven strategies.
Some strategies for turning members into contributors:
Strategy #1: Lifestage Ministry
Our first strategy is what we call Lifestage Ministries. Our Lifestage Ministries are in their development stage. Our goal is to create a number of mini-congregations, or mini-communities throughout our church. These medium-sized communities form around common needs, or life stages. Young couples meet with young couples. Singles meet with singles. Parents of infants meet with parents of infants. Empty-nesters with empty-nesters. Students with students.
Each Lifestage fellowship is responsible for meeting the needs of their respective Lifestage members. In each Lifestage, a leader equips people to do the vast array of activities traditionally limited only to professional clergy and pastors. Contributors, not members, within a Lifestage ministry learn how to effectively teach God’s word, share their testimonies, lead someone to Christ, baptize them, disciple them, encourage them, pray with them, visit them in the hospital, follow up, meet needs, promote reconciliation, offer counsel, answer their questions, and somehow reach them.
The idea is that mothers most effectively reach mothers, parents most effectively reach parents, seniors most effectively reach seniors, and teens most effectively reach teens. Singles are the most passionate about meeting the needs of singles. High school students are the most passionate about reaching their friends for Christ. Instead of pushing all this ministry through the bottleneck of a professional pastor, Lifestage ministries mobilize the whole church to directly do front-line ministry!
Each Lifestage ministry has teams that meet the specific needs within their life stage. First, they organize Bible teaching. For example, a student Lifestage ministry would brainstorm, "How can we make the Bible relevant to the needs of our peers? How can we present the gospel clearly? How can we teach the whole counsel of God?"
Second, they organize fellowship. A singles Lifestage ministry would ask, "How can we connect the singles within our church together? How can we deepen relationships? How can we live out the one-another commands of scripture? How can we share in life together?"
Third, they organize pastoral care. An empty-nester's Lifestage minstry would ask, "How can we provide encouragement and counsel? How can we more effectively pray for one another’s needs? How can we get in each other's homes to respond more effectively to needs?"
Fourth, they organize outreach. A parent’s Lifestage ministry would ask, "How can we build bridges to families in our community? What events? What ministries? What services? What salt and light touches would attract people to Christ? How can we follow up and reach out to those parents who visit our church each Sunday?"
Imagine the life that would flow if an entire congregation were mobilized in these ways! We're talking revolution. There is a church in Ohio which has over sixty Lifestage ministries. They grew from having a few hundred to mobilizing thousands of people into becoming contributors within their church and greater community.
Strategy #2: Life Groups
Our second strategy is what we call Life Groups. We began developing our Life Group ministries a few years ago. A Life Group is a small group of people who meet together for the purpose of spiritual formation. A Life Group isn’t based on life stages so much as on spiritual maturity.
One Life Group might consist of unchurched people who have questions about God’s existence, the Bible, Jesus Christ, suffering and pain, evil, Christianity, etc. Another group might consist of new Christians who are eager to be established in the basic teachings of scripture or who are eager to become consist in basic habits like Bible reading, scripture memorization, prayer, daily devotions, or evangelism.
Still another group might consist of mature Christians who are eager to go deeper and be accountable for loving God and loving people. Another group might consist of emerging leaders who want to remain in Christ, be regenerated by God’s Spirit, revitalize the Church, and rescue God’s world. A group could consist of people sharing a common struggle such as divorce, personal loss, depression, addiction, or abuse.
Like the cords of a rope woven together, they band together and draw strength from one another. Life Groups are no larger than eight to ten people and they meet in individual homes. They push ministry out into people’s homes, which are sprinkled throughout the community.
Strong churches must have Lifestage Ministries and Life Groups.
There is no strong, vital, life-giving church that doesn’t have both of these pieces working. God blesses these strategies because they are faithful to his purposes. Philippians 2:12-15 (NIV) tells us, "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God, without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."
We are to shine in the universe as God stirs within us a desire to act according to his good purpose. The question is whether or not you are shining. Has God placed a desire within you to contribute? To serve? To invest? To give? To sacrifice? Is God knocking on your door this morning saying, "You're barely twinkling! You're selling yourself short! It's time to take the next step! It's time to get involved in a Lifestage Ministry. It's time to sign up for a Life Group. It's time to discover a deeper purpose."