In reviewing a church’s history, it’s much more likely to find them an evangelizing church during their early years than their later ones. Frankly, most churches lose the evangelistic passion that marked them in their beginning. Here are some reasons why:
- In their early days, reaching lost people is part of their vision – but that focus decreases as the church grows. No longer are they driven to evangelize as much once the church reaches critical mass.
- As the church matures, leaders give their attention to internal matters. Questions like what type of polity will we have, when will we build (if we do), what curriculum will we follow, and others divert attention from evangelism.
- Pastoral care requires more time as the church grows. It’s really a simple formula: more people in the congregation = more needs to meet and more requests for care. It’s tough to meet those needs and evangelize, too.
- Leaders fail to equip others to help them do ministry. Instead of delegating work so they can keep casting vision for evangelism, they wind up carrying all the responsibilities themselves. Evangelism almost always takes a back seat then.
- Fellowship—as great as it can be—becomes self-protective. That is, the church loves to be together because it feels like a “safe place” from a messed-up and chaotic world. Churches in protection mode seldom invite outsiders to join them.
- Transfer growth takes their attention off evangelism. The church might well be growing, but it’s growing by…
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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.