Are We in Denial?

Part of my "job" includes interacting with pastors and church leaders. It is a part of the work that I really enjoy. Sometimes I have opportunity to present information in a seminar form or maybe good books for them to read. It's always fun to give people things!

Those who know me well know that I am a positive outlook person. I am generally an optimist, looking for a positive outcome. Yet in my position as a mission strategist, I must also present the realities as I see them. And one big reality I see, is that the evangelical church in general, and Southern Baptist churches in particular, are declining in influence and in inpact on our culture.

Yet, most church leaders just keep on doing what they have been doing, hoping for things to get better. On pastor said he didn't finish a book I gave him because he disagreed with the author. Another said it made him angry at first, but he knew the author was correct in his assessment. The first pastor, and many of his colleagues with him, is in denial. We make excuses for why things are not improving, often blaming those we are trying to reach without acknowledging that we are simply trying to get them to do something for us that they are not particularly interested in doing, that is, come to our church. That denial represents a refusal to see the reality, the facts, the current trends, and all that goes with them. Most church leaders are doing the best they can to sustain their church system. They are busy with all the ongoing responsibilities of day to day and week to week church operations that they literally "don't have time" to do creative thinking and develop new insights. I long to give them "permission," or to get their churches to "give them permission" to stop doing a lot of things that have not significant Kingdom impact, so they can begin to explore new ways of seeking the Kingdom. That can only begin when we get over our denial.