Deep Change or Slow Death…The choice is yours.
As I started reading Robert Quinn’s Deep Change Field Guide I could not help but see my dissertation problem looking up at me from the pages. Quinn is a business consultant at The University of Michigan Ross School of Business. As such he works with large corporations who are in desperate need of real change in their organizations or they will cease to be in business. So you may ask what does this have to do with church. I have seen so many churches who are faced with the same issue, change or die as a church. Most churches that are in this position are small, they may have had a heyday when they were effective and growing but they hit a critical point in the life of the church, made a decision to not change with the times and as a result, the slow downward spiral began.
Quinn’s book focuses on not only the reasons for an organization would be in need of change, but also the leadership which fosters a positive movement towards the change. In chapter two, Experiencing Slow Death, reading through all of the managers stories of why their particular institution did not make the changes I saw the reasons church members give for not wanting to make changes. In the first part of chapter two his story from a military academy rang true, the leaders were bemoaning the fact that so many of the students had been caught cheating in the school and were blaming society, “the officers believed that corruption in society was to blame. They argued that by the time some eighteen-year-olds arrived at the academy they were irredeemable.” [1] Quinn goes on to describe their reaction when he brought up the Vietnam era practice of bloating the body count reported to the media, and the practice in boot camp of encouraging the recruits to “help” the recruits who needed it on their tests thus creating an atmosphere of doing whatever was needed to make the officers look good. He finished with the question “Is it possible that there is a system here that requires the cadets to cheat, teaches them to cheat, and rewards them fro cheating” [2] The officers reaction is the same I have seen in churches, to ignore the question and continue to play the blame game.
It is this same kind of blame game churches continually participate in while trying to find a reason for their decline. There are some who would argue it is a purely spiritual battle, and while I will not dismiss this as a contributing factor, it is not the only thing to blame this attitude on. Paul writes in Romans seven starting in verse fifteen, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate.” when he speaks of his own fleshly nature which is sin. Is the issue a sin issue? Well, if you talk to enough church people they will tell you the problems with the church today lie within society. Whether it is same sex marriage, Democrat versus Republican, pro-life versus pro-choice, or any other myriad of issues facing the church, these are the things evangelicals will tell you are hurting the church. Like the officers at the Service Academy, they are deflecting the blame. My argument is they have brought the downfall of their congregations by their own actions, or inactions. Their desire is to have the church like it has always been, no matter that the church as they remembered was a radical change from the 1800’s, which was radically different than the 1700’s…all the way back to the beginnings of the church after Christ’s accession. The one thing you can say historically about Christianity, is that it has changed over centuries. No longer do we meet every day in the morning and the evening, we do not share a meal together every time we meet, the Psalms are no longer our song book. Yet, today’s Christians, who complain the loudest, would have it their own way. This is the seed of discord within the church I see as the most destructive, not wanting to follow the pattern of the church from a historical point, the greatest growth of the church has come from persecution.
If the problem is ignoring the true issues how does a leader move the attitude of the congregation to one of an outward focus instead of looking to fulfill each persons own desires. There has to be a revival of the Spirit, we have to become Spirit led instead of allowing our own flesh to lead us. It sounds simple but it is a very dangerous move for a leader to make. Quinn sees this as well, “people in leadership positions tend to resort to control and the processes of normal management. But they need to do the opposite: to learn, to envision, to join with their people in the process of deep change.”[3] Pastors have to have the courage take the hard road in helping the church become what they were meant to be, a light to the world, loving it as Christ has loved us.
[1] Quinn, Robert E. The Deep Change Field Guide a Personal Course to Discovering the Leader within. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2012. 27.
[2] Ibid. 28.
[3] Ibid. 35.
About the Author
Jason Turbeville
A pastor, husband and father who loves to be around others. These are the things that describe me. I was a youth minister for 15 years but God changed the calling on my life. I love to travel and see where God takes me in my life.7 responses to “Deep Change or Slow Death…The choice is yours.”
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Hi Jason,
I thought of you often when reading this book. Glad you are using this as part of your dissertation study. Sure seems to fit in well with the track you are taking.
Have a great summer my Brother!
Jay,
Hey yeah it really did seem like it was written for me, hope everything goes well for you this summer.
Jason
Jason, it seems many of us have found application from this book to our dissertation. I suspect this is because all of us are hoping to see our dissertation cause deep change in some people’s lives.
Kyle,
You are absolutely correct, that is why God has called us all to this program I bet.
Jason
Jason, I appreciate your post, though I am not able to agree with all of it. I love the idea of revival…it is such a great concept for bringing energy back to the church; however, as you have touched upon, what are we trying to “revive”? If I am just trying to salvage the modern day image of what church and worship should be, I have always felt we were lacking. The end of Acts 2 told that the new converts gathered from house to house “daily”. We also see that Paul preached throughout the night and people stayed to hear the gospel preached. Even as much as 60 years ago, there were great tent meetings that would draw people from miles and they would stay for days. Now, if the preacher goes past noon, he gets attacked for preaching too long.
You said, “No longer do we meet every day in the morning and the evening, we do not share a meal together every time we meet, the Psalms are no longer our song book.” Well, that is not entirely accurate; my congregation meets every Sunday AM and PM, Wednesday PM, there is a Tuesday Morning Bible class for those who are interested; we have Potluck dinners at the end of every month as well as numerous fellowship opportunities throughout the week. Here is the problem…most people just don’t show up anymore. The desire is gone and as you pointed out, the excuses are flying. So how did the church respond? Well, they started changing to accommodate the desires of the people instead of sticking firm to the desires of God. As soon as we started showing people that we could alter God’s Word and place His Will on the back burner to our own…well…we can all see its effects. So I said I could not agree with everything, here is my dispute: I appreciate reform, as long as we reform to the right instruction of God; I appreciate the idea of revival, providing we revive ourselves to the will of God; and I appreciate being led by the Spirit, as long as the “spirit” we are led by is the one of Scripture and not the one that makes me happy. We need to restore the Church that Christ formed through His early disciples and see that fire grow in us as it did in them. I don’t care about projectors, choirs, or what kind of chairs we put in the auditorium; I care that God’s people start looking like God’s people again.
Shawn,
I think we probably agree more than you realize, my point was I tell the people who wish for the “good ol days” of the church are just wistfull for their youth, if they truly want to go back to the original church, meeting every morning and evening, being martyred would be the way to go. That being said the revival I seek is not to the old ways but to obedience to God which we both agree I would suspect.
Can’t wait to see ya in China brother….
Jason
This is such a hard subject in that we can see that change that needs to happen in other people and organizations so much easier that ourselves. I am not saying this is you as much as it was with me. 🙂 Churches are one of many types of orgs that need transformation. I am glad you were able to recognize some aspects in this book that would be helpful to your dissertation.