Monday Morning Insights

Photo of Todd
    .

    LeadingIdeas (by Alan Nelson):  Why Churches That Want To Change, Don’t

    Bookmark and Share

    Ever since my work on “How To Change Your Church,” I’ve been perplexed at how many pastors and lay leaders say they want to change, sometimes even hiring consultants, yet how few really ever get around to implementing the changes.  Like so many teenagers on the last night of camp, we make tearful confessions that seem to evaporate with the light of day.  They give lip service to improvement but for the most part, they’re preoccupied with tending business as usual.  I got fired by a church one time that swore it was ready for something new, but when they saw it, they found it too hard to swallow.

    Is this the lukewarm issue Jesus talks about in Revelations?  Is it the same thing as being unwilling to leave an ailing parent or a parcel of land in order to follow the Master?  I don’t know, but I’m convinced that human nature negotiates whatever it can to make us think that we want to change, so long as it doesn’t get to a sense of urgency.  Such good intentions cause us to believe we’re making progress, when we’re not.  If I really felt urgent about my health, I wouldn’t be carrying around this extra 20 right now.  Obviously, losing weight isn’t an urgent matter to me right now, even though I’d like to be thinner.

    When people face terminal cancer, life gets urgent.  When planes crash into trade towers, security becomes urgent.  When the company is about to go bankrupt, financial restructuring is urgent.  But until then, and sometimes even then, we just can’t bring ourselves to doing things differently.  William Bridges said that 90% of leaders sell solutions.  Big mistake.  Sell the problem!  Only then will adults sense a need to change.

    So if 70% of significant change plans fail because of a diminished sense of urgency, what can we do to turn up the heat?  Kotter provides some ideas in his book.  While I’m tempted to translate his solutions into the church-ese, I won’t.  If I could summarize it in an article like this, it wouldn’t be the best book I read in 2008, would it?  So in spite of good intentions for the new year, assume they won’t transpire without a sense of urgency.


    The best church/ministry book I read in 2008 didn’t even mention the words God, church, ministry, Jesus, or faith. That’s because it was a business book, written by leadership and change expert, John Kotter. The book is: “A Sense of Urgency.”

    I got to know Kotter by reading his book, Leading Change, which then motivated me to read everything else I could from him. Kotter is a former Harvard Business School professor who discovered that years after writing his classic change book on change, 70% of organizations that attempted change failed. The #1 reason was that they lacked a sense of urgency. I read the book on two plane trips, marking nearly every page, nodding my head and saying to myself, “Yes, that’s the church. That’s the church. That’s the church.”

    I talked to John by phone after he returned from a recent trip to Europe, for an article and book I’m writing. Although I don’t know John’s spiritual or religious upbringing, I was impressed with his ability to relate his findings in the corporate realm to the church...

    Comments

    if you want a Globally Recognized Avatar (the images next to your profile) get them here. Once you sign up, they will displayed on any website that supports them.

    1. Pat on Mon, December 22, 2008

      I facilitate a group of employees on my job and had them read one of Kotter’s books entitled, “Our Iceberg is Melting”.  Good stuff and very translatable to the Church.//


      One of my personal frustrations with the church is sitting through meetings where lots of good ideas and solutions are proposed (people even speak of issues with conviction) yet we walk away having made no decisions.  Drives me crazy!  But I feel like God is using this to challenge me in two ways:  1) in the area of patience and 2) in motivating me to be a change agent rather than wallowing in frustration and discontent.

    2. Alan on Mon, December 22, 2008

      Pat, I hear that a lot, especially from business leaders who volunteer their time to serve in these roles.  Most end up giving up after a term or two of this, never to return.  Persevere.  Find a way to come along side your sr. pastor and perhaps begin tweaking how meetings are run, with next steps assigned, accountability, and measurements.  Merry Christmas!

    3. Pat on Mon, December 22, 2008

      Thanks, Alan.  I’m going to do my best….

    4. Bill on Mon, December 22, 2008

      Sounds like a good book, thanks for the tip. I just heard a podcast from Andy Stanley saying the same thing: don’t spend so much time on goals, define the problem as a problem to be fixed and look for solutions. People will gravitate toward solving problems with more conviction than they will toward meeting goals. I’m glad I caught this review, thanks!!

    5. Alan on Mon, December 22, 2008

      LOL, you two rock.  I just couldn’t help but write a piece for next week, on the fact that in the first 12 hours of this posting, the Ted Hggard and woman caught in adultery articles got more than doulbe the viewings of this one on church change.  Seems to reflect what the article itself was about.  Go figure.  Merry Christmas!

    6. Stewart on Mon, December 22, 2008

      Kotter was mandatory reading in a bunch of doctor of ministry classes at Fuller. “Leading Change” is probably the most comprehensive book he’s written on the subject. Not only is it easily applicable to church stuff, but his “solution” mirrors biblical principles of repentance before new life.


      And, yes, there is great irony and sadness about the Haggard and Woman Caught in Adultery stories drawing so much more interest. I guess it’s easier to kick others when they are down than it is to humble ourselves and admit we need some changes ourselves.

    7. Selma Johnson on Tue, December 23, 2008

      Alan


      I’ve read several of Kotters books including the one you mentioned.  You are right on target about “urgency”, only if church leaders wouldn’t get so “bogged down” in the little picture and take a good look at the “big picture of the church and the future and act on the urgency instead of saying “we want change” but what if…...........


      Loved your article,keep reminding us of how important “change’ is.  Great job!

    8. Page 1 of 1 pages

      Post a Comment

    9. (will not be published)

      Remember my personal information

      Notify me of follow-up comments?

    Sponsors