Incramentalism

Wow this one may get me in trouble, but well you know I am going to write it anyway. 

I am reading a book by Bill Hybel's pastor of Willow Creek in Illinois.  The book is full of leadership nuggets that span Bill's pastoral career of 20 plus years of ministry.  

The last chapter stopped me in my tracks.  I want to give you some of the quotes, and then some of the stuff that is bouncing around like pong in my head right now.

"Over time, church leaders and congregations alike are dismayed to learn just how much energy and enthusiasm it takes to keep the machinery of a growing church chugging along."

"The biggest financial dream is a 3 percent increase over last years income, because anything more than that would be going out on a wild limb of faith.  Very slowly, and quite subtly, you find yourself increasingly satisfied with nothing more than incremental growth.  And from there things really start to go downhill."

"Incremental thinking, incremental planning, incremental prayers--it's the kiss of death. Don't fall for it."

Now this is where honesty hurts.  Speaking as a leader working for change in the church I am in, honestly it needs to be heard that this is the funk that as a church we are in.  We as a whole student ministry, everywhere, expect what is incrementally predictable.  Meaning if one or two come to Christ in a month then obviously we have done our job (insert statement about how overjoyed we are about the 1 or 2 who come to Christ or join our church).  

Be honest.  We are in a season of plateau, we have been there and made great friends with it.  We are no longer praying big God size prayers.  Realistically we are doing church as if we were tired, and reality is that we are.  Living within the predictability of what you should annually expect growth wise has rendered the church into a stooper that is slowly leaking away the passion of the "body."  

If we continue to pray incrementally, think incrementally, and plan incrementally we will never recover.  As Hybel's says "It's the kiss of death.  Don't fall for it."

Think about it.

When is the last time you hit our Church parking lot feeling as if Jesus himself were about to speak to you?

When was the last time you took a God size risk (by the Holy Spirits prompting) and knew that if God did not intervene, you would be ruined?

God please disturb us.