If we are not pliable and flexible in this present era, if we don't adapt, we're going to die. When you think about so many of the companies—Polaroid, Blockbuster—they had the technology, they had the opportunity, but because they were so accustomed to doing things the old way, they refused to invest in what was new. As a consequence, they got left behind. Ministry is the same way. If we don't really discern the present time and make the adaptation and have flexibility, it's possible that we'll end up like Polaroid and Blockbuster.
The church as we knew it prior to 2020 is no more. COVID has changed the church and society forever. Many of us tried to rush to get back to where things were in 2020, but that church, that society, that culture exists no longer. All the trends, all the models we had before 2020—they are dead now. We live in a society now where, if we're not careful, our churches are more likely to be like Blockbuster and Polaroid.
Every member of your church is now a church hopper. Since the onset of the internet and pandemic, there are people in your church who listen to other voices besides yours. With digital media, podcasts, and online content, your members are not just following you—they know what's happening in other churches across the world. If you're not feeding them, they're going to find it somewhere else.
In an instant, the world changed. If the church repeats history, she'll catch up in 20 years. At that point, she'll be extinct. Churches that survive the next 10, 20, and 30 years will be those that aggressively adapt quickly to new landscapes to stay ahead of the curve.
[00:13:00]
Who are we attracting and who are we trying to attract in terms of ministry? Those are questions you have to ask yourself now. Are you attracting couples, teens, young people, women, men, senior adults? If you don't know who you're attracting, you can't know who you're trying to reach.
The gospel is still the power of God unto salvation. Even in these changing times, the gospel of the Lord Jesus is still the power of God unto salvation. How you dispense it, how you communicate it may differ, but the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. We can make no disqualifiers or disclaimers—unequivocally, we must continue to lead with the gospel.
Brokenness is more pervasive and pronounced than ever. We see avenues where people express their pain now more than ever before. Depression, mental health struggles, suicide rates—brokenness is on the rise. Yet, at the same time, it seems the impact of the church is waning. Could it be that we have not risen to the level to match the brokenness?
We have too many blockbuster churches and blockbuster ministries in a Netflix age. We're still operating as CD and DVD and 8-track churches in an MP3 and digital world. If we don't make the adaptation, we're going to continue to attract what we're getting.
Many who experience extreme excess apart from God will discover a haunting emptiness. There are people who have been blessed apart from God, but they're empty. We need to be able to speak to people who are not wealthy, but also to those who are wealthy apart from God. That's a form of brokenness too.
Sometimes those of us who work in liberation and social justice ministry are so prophetic that we're not priestly. It's one thing to speak to the structures and systems that disenfranchise, but there are people in your church who are struggling just to pay the bills or battling cancer. If all you're doing is being prophetic, you might miss the priestly needs right in your congregation. We need both.
We need to start a renovation, not necessarily a revolution. I'm talking about renovation—looking at every aspect of ministry and asking, how does it look to someone from the outside? If you don't make the adaptation, you're going to continue to attract what you're getting.
When people walk up to your church, they need to see themselves. If they don't see themselves at the door, in the parking lot, or in the greeters, they're not going to feel welcome. The reason why our church got younger 21 years ago is because people saw someone who looked like them. Whatever you platform, you promote.
Excellence is not an accident. We don't get to excellence accidentally—it's a process. You may not like what you see when you do a secret assessment of your ministry, but take responsibility. If it's not your fault, you can't change it. Take good notes, feel the pain, and make the necessary changes.
Are insiders holding the vision hostage? One of the biggest challenges is not the enemy outside, but insiders—those who've been in position and gotten comfortable. Sometimes the limits of the few are projected on the new, and that can kill creativity and vision.
Do not platform, promote, and pour into your assassinators. Allocate your resources to vision, growth, and strategy. If someone is killing your vision, don't invest in your own assassination. Make adjustments and pour into those who are taking you higher.
Do not allow your creative culture to be swallowed up by those managing systems and the folks on your staff who administer maintenance mode. If you let your organizers control what happens, you're not going to get anything but the same thing you've been doing. Nothing can kill creativity quicker than the people already on your team who think they know everything and don't want to change.
Redefine vision. Re-look at your vision again. Don't assume your team knows the vision—revise it, re-communicate it, and catch the vision again. Sometimes you have to pump life into the ministry by cutting off what is dying. If you don't adapt, you're going to die.
If you don't hear anything else I said tonight, hear this: sometimes vision people are not organizers, and organizers are not visionaries. If you let your organizers control everything, you're not going to get anything but the same thing you've been doing. You have to find a way to not let your creatives get handcuffed.
If you don't adapt, you're going to die. I hate to be as blunt as that, but there are no other options. Adapt or you're going to die. Are you going to be Blockbuster and Polaroid, or are you going to be Apple and Netflix? There is no other choice.
