5 Reasons Why Churches Plateau

1. They Settle for Mediocrity
I read a story this week about Ray Charles, the entertainer, who in 1946 learned that Lucky Millinder's band was coming to town.  Ray was super excited when he was able to get an audition with the band.  At his audition he did what Ray Charles does. He played the piano and he sang. Because Ray is blind he wasn't able to see the expressions on Lucky's face during his audition.  He had to wait until it was over for Lucky to speak.  When it was over the band leader said, "Ain't good enough, kid."  Ray left in tears. Looking back on that moment Ray Charles recalled, "After I got over feeling sorry for myself, I went back and started practicing so nobody would ever say that to me again."  Ray didn't settle for mediocrity.  He was driven to excel.

When I walk into a church I can tell if they have settled for mediocrity within minutes. If the paint on the walls is peeling, if the nursery has old toys, if the technology doesn't work well, if the preaching is so-so, if there are spelling errors on printed materials they've settled for mediocrity.  To breaththrough you need to raise the bar and start expecting excellence. The way you do this is by leading with and modeling excellence.  People will follow their leader's example.

2. They are Preference-Driven Instead of Purpose-Driven
Instead of making decisions based on the purpose of the mission they make decisions based on the preference of the membership.  Churches plateau because they start to operate as clubs where people get what they want rather than doing what God wills.  Gil Rendle raised an important question at my DS training.  He asked, "Who is your client?"  Stop for a moment and answer that question.  As a pastor, as a leader in the church, who is your client?  Many of us would say the people who are members but that is the wrong answer.  The correct answer is the mission.  Churches exist to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  Mission trumps my needs, my desires, my wants every time. To breakthrough you need to focus on the purpose of the mission not the preferences of the people.

3. They are Inward Focused
When a church is preference-driven it is almost always inward-focused. Churches plateau when they stop looking like the community around them, when they no longer move out beyond the walls of the church, when budgets reflect no outreach, and when the preference is to care for us inside rather than reach those outside. I'm not saying the people inside are not important.  They are!  Healthy growing churches have found balance in caring for their members while still reaching beyond themselves into their community.  There is, however, a gravitational pull toward being inward focused which means an intentional plan needs to be created to shift the culture toward outward focus.  To breakthrough you need to start changing the culture so that it becomes outward focused.

4. They Fail to Innovate
The world is changing yet the church, in many ways, looks the same today as it did when I was kid 50 years ago.  Churches in plateau are stuck in the past.  They haven't managed to step into a new era because they think that what worked then will still work today.   William Pollard wrote, "Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow." Churches need to become incubators of innovation.  We need to start taking risks to try new things to reach new people, stepping outside our comfort zones, experimenting with different ways of doing ministry, and yes, failing.  It's okay to fail as long as you learn from your failure and apply what you learn to your next step in innovation.  We need to imagine new ways of being the church and doing ministry so that we can again become relevant and credible in an ever-changing world.  To breakthrough you need to start something new, adapt something that is, and then repeat.

5. They Stop Inviting
Churches plateau because they stop inviting people.  Here's a scary statistic from Thom Rainer: Only 2% of church going people ever invite someone to church in a given year.  Seven out of ten unchurched people have never been invited to church in their whole lives.  Churches plateau because they stop inviting people.  We need to become invitational opportunists. That is, we need to seize every opportunity to invite someone to church so that they might know the love and grace of the Christ, connect with other Christians, and begin a journey of inner transformation that leads to changing the world. To breakthrough you need to lead the charge in inspiring and encouraging and expecting people to invite others to your church.

Today I want to invite you to look at your church. Are you plateauing?  Do you see your church reflected in these 5 reasons why churches plateau?  If so, begin the work of changing the culture by expecting excellence, focusing on the purpose of the mission, shifting toward an outward focus, becoming an incubator of innovation, and invitational opportunists.  Doing so will get you off the plateau and moving upward again.