"GROWING A CHURCH FROM GOOD TO GREAT"
by Steve Pike
J
esus gave us a vivid picture of the sort of church he had in mind when he said that he would build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. This bold statement of Jesus leaves no room for the idea that a church prevailing against hell will be weak, stagnant and impotent. The prevailing church that Jesus had in mind is characterized by strength of purpose, spiritual health, and intentional incursion onto hell’s turf. In spite of this virile scriptural model given to us by Jesus himself, it appears that the vast majority of churches are content to settle for a much lower standard of church life. As a result, the body of Christ has many “good” churches but only a few truly great “prevailing” ones.In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins writes, “Good is the enemy of great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government.” I would add that we have only a few great churches, principally because we have so many good churches. We have accepted good as the norm, and lost sight of the standard of great that Jesus himself gave us. After a careful study of companies that moved from being good to being great, Jim Collins discovered some common denominators that helped them successfully through a process of transformation. The application for helping churches move from good to great is obvious. The following paragraphs contain a summary of Collins discoveries and their application to the emergence of a “prevailing” church.
First, decide who is going to help lead the transformation.
It is very interesting that the first ministry action Jesus took was to pick his team. He selected the disciples and immediately began the process of replacing their reliance on a dead religious system with a powerful new vision of the Kingdom of God. In the same way, the first step in moving a church from good to great is to identify the team of people who share a sense of holy dissatisfaction with the status quo and begin to build in them a new vision of a prevailing church.Second, this carefully selected team must confront the brutal facts.
Jesus did not mince words when he exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his day. He said openly what many people thought privately. He honestly revealed the problem of religious action without real faith. To move a church from good to great, the transformational team must fearlessly identify the gap between church as Jesus intended it and church as usual.Third, this transformational team must identify the one thing that your church is best equipped to do and then lead the church to do it with passion and excellence.
Jesus understood his mission and did not allow himself to be sidetracked by anyone, including his own mother. Every step of his ministry moved him slowly but surely toward the cross. Many good churches try to do too many things, end up doing none of them well, and often are sidetracked by peripheral issues related to their lack of focus. Great churches discover the unique role that God has given them in their community and they deliberately move toward that calling with every step they take.Fourth, the transformational team helps to facilitate the creation of a culture of discipline.
Jim Collins discovered that sustained greatness depends “upon building a culture full of self-disciplined people who take disciplined action.” Jesus created a culture of discipline by calling his followers to leave behind other pursuits and focus their energies on the task of building the Kingdom. He called them to take disciplined action by making disciples of others and teach them to observe everything he had commanded them. A church that moves from good to great will be composed of disciples who focus their time, talent and treasure on disciplined, Kingdom building actions.Finally, don’t follow fads.
Companies that moved from good to great avoided fads and bandwagons. Instead they used “carefully selected technologies” to move their vision forward. Jesus did not use the most common teaching methods to deliver his message. Instead he used carefully selected stories and parables to create a fresh vision of the Kingdom of God. Churches that move from good to great will not run around looking for the next best idea. Instead, they will carefully choose the best tools (old and new) for moving their God-given vision forward.Let’s refuse to be satisfied with being good. As God empowers us, let us move forward in his anointing and build healthy, great churches that more accurately reflect the vision of the prevailing church that Jesus gave us. While it may be true that the task of moving from good to great is a daunting one, it is just as true that you are never alone in this endeavor. Jesus has promised to always be with us. He is building His Church and he has designed it to prevail.
Your District staff stands ready to assist you through a process of transformation. For assistance in thinking through what a transformation process might look like for your church or to schedule a church assessment or consultation, contact Steve Pike at (719) 522-0195. Visit our website at