Does your church have Momentum ?
{MOMENTUM} – Forward motion fueled by a series of wins.
I’m at Catalyst One Day today, and Andy Stanley just knocked it out of the park with his first session. He talked about momentum. I like momentum. allot.
He had much to say about this topic, but one thing he talked about is how the consumer product companies really have this figured out. Look at the picture above – “new and improved toothpaste” – really? New? Improved? How? How do you “improve” toothpaste? I mean really? (He also showed some toilet paper that was “new and improved” – I mean really….)
The fact is, these companies know that when you give people something that is “new” and “improved” that creates momentum. People REALLY do like “new” things. (Next time you are at the store try to count how many products say “new” or “improved” on the box. Starting to get the picture?)
What is your church doing that is new? How is your ministry creating (and sustaining) momentum? Let’s hear it!
I think I know what you mean, and I can't disagree with the need to improve our presentation of biblical truth and make it fresh and relevant. However, the problem I see is that many churches are taking this Madison Avenue approach too far. "New" becomes a new gospel—prosperity, liberation, feminism,or social gospel. "Improved' often means taking away the meat and leaving only the milk of the biblical truth. We then see ill-equipped Christians who are swayed by every "wind of doctrine. "
I struggle with this dilemma in our own church which is very much in need of momentum, and i would be very interested in ideas on how to walk this fine line.
To quote Andy Stanley "David kills Golitah every single time. The story never changes. Jonah always gets swallowed by the big fish – every time." The content is ALWAYS the same – it never changes. We always preach truth. What changes is the presentation. (Let's be honest, there are allot of REALLY boring "pastors" out there.) That's a shame. If we are going to bore someone, let's not bore them with the Bible. It's to amazing. To alive. To awesome. It is the furthest from boring! What we have to do is give people TRUTH, but in a way that doesn't put them to sleep!
(being a full time communicator, I am a huge fan of this. I'm big on (and I think we all should be) becoming better at how I present the truth.)
I want to be better at using visuals, better at painting word pictures, better at presenting truth!
Jesus is always the only way to have our sins forgiven and be made right with God – ALWAYS! What must change is the way we present that to people. Let's not bore them to hell….