5
Significant Attitude Differences That Separate Growing and Declining Churches
Carey
Nieuwhof
So what’s
the difference between a growing church and a declining church?
Well there
are many, but one of the biggest differences I see is the attitude of the leaders.
The leaders
of growing churches almost always share a common attitude.
So do the
leaders of declining churches.
And the
attitude has a huge influence over the results each
church sees.
Attitude may
or may not be everything, but it’s close.
Here are 5
attitude differences I see again and again in growing churches and declining
churches.
1. We
Can vs. We Can’t
2. Them
vs. Us
3.
Principles vs. Preferences
4. Proactive vs.
Reactive
5. Now vs.
Eventually
Growing
churches act. And they act now.
Declining
churches don’t.
Declining
churches don’t actually say they won’t
act, they’ll just say they’ll get to it ‘eventually’, or someday, or ‘when the
time is right’—which means never.
By contrast,
as I outlined here, great leaders and great teams banish the word ‘someday’
and other words from their vocabulary.
If you want
to be effective, you act.
If you want
to be ineffective, you don’t.
Talk without
action has little value. And too many church leaders specialize in talk.
In addition,
too many church teams meet for the sake of meeting.
If you can’t
remember a the last time you made a major decision that changed the course of
your church, your leaders are wasting their time.
If you talk
about the same issues meeting after meeting with no resolution, you’re spinning
your wheels.
Does that
mean you have to act on everything? Well, yes and no.
If you’re
not going to act, strike the item off the agenda and move on.
If you are
going to act, act. Now.
Just make a
decision and move on with it. Don’t get stuck in the no man’s land of believing
the lie that talking about things solves things.
As my friend
Casey Graham says, action produces traction. So act.