Change Your Church for Good: The Art of Sacred Cow Tipping

Praise for

Change Your Church for Good

Change Your Church for Good: The Art of Sacred Cow Tipping is a great book! The truths and principles Brad gives in this book can be applied to any church or ministry, pastor or leader as they transition from where they are to where God wants them to be . . . without compromise. This book provides inspiration, practical help and hope . . . a definite must read for the church today!

~ John C. Maxwell

Author, Speaker, and Founder

INJOY Stewardship Services and EQUIP

I believe the church is the hope of the world and its future is in the hands of its leaders. One of the great needs of church leaders is to learn the art of leading transition. Brad Powell and NorthRidge have taken this leadership art to a new level. I highly recommend the example of Brad and NorthRidge Church.

~ Bill Hybels

Senior Pastor

Willow Creek Community Church

Brad Powell knows what it takes to reach people in the twenty-first century. His book, Change Your Church for Good, will blow your mind, open your eyes, and move your soul. Don’t miss the heart-wrenching look at transitioning your church for the better.

~ Dr. Jerry Falwell

Chancellor and President

Liberty University

Lynchburg, Virginia

Regardless of the size, age, location, or style of their church, all leaders know that transitioning a church is one of the greatest challenges they’ll face. In Change Your Church for Good, Brad Powell not only equips pastors to lead their church into the transition process, he also inspires and identifies with them through honest admissions of his own mistakes and trials he encountered as a new leader attempting to resurrect a dying congregation. If you dream of seeing your church transform into a community where people are meeting God, this book is a must-read.

~ Lindy Lowry

Editor

Outreach Magazine

I have known Brad Powell since he came to Temple Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, and began his ministry there. I have seen many changes—all for the good— which brought about renewal and growth in the church now called NorthRidge. Brad has his feet in the Word of God, yet his heart is attached to carrying out the Great Commission even though there are changes in society. He has suggested many outstanding ways to implement the Great Commission in the American church. May God use this book for His glory.

~ Elmer L. Towns

Vice President

Liberty University/Dean, School of Religion

Lynchburg, Virginia

Brad Powell offers hope without hype for all leaders who want to transition their church to a fresh new place of vibrancy and health. Brad writes with honesty and experience. His leadership at NorthRidge is a model that is transferable and will encourage you to lead your church through positive change.

~ Dan Reiland

Executive Pastor

Crossroads Community Church

Lawrenceville, Georgia

I’ve been studying and analyzing the church and church growth for all of my adult life. The church desperately needs to change its ministry methods to engage culture without compromising God’s Truth. I don’t know of a more successful model for this than Pastor Brad Powell and NorthRidge. Leaders and churches should take advantage of the lessons and insights Brad has learned through the NorthRidge transition.

~ John Vaughan

Church Growth Today

Copyright © 2007 by Brad Powell

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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All Scripture passages are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Other Scripture references are from the following sources: The Contemporary English Version (CEV) © 1991 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission. The New Century Version® (NCV). Copyright© 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Change Your Church for Good

ISBN-10: 0-8499-1875-8

ISBN-13: 978-0-8499-1875-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Powell, Brad.

     Change your church for good : the art of sacred cow tipping / Brad Powell.

          p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-8499-1875-9 (hardcover)

     1. Church renewal. I. Title.

     BV600.P69 2007

     262.001'7—dc22

2006035236

1 2 3 4 5 6 QW 11 10 09 08 07

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

EBOOK INSTRUCTIONS

In this ebook edition, please use your device’s note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response Here]. Use your device’s highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).

DEDICATION

To Roxann, my partner in life and ministry . . . thanks for making me better at both. Without your support, encouragement, investment, and love, my life and ministry would be in black and white . . . rather than in living color. Thanks for saying I do. And to my kids . . . you fill my life with joy and meaning. I love you all.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As I made clear in this book, no successful leader (or writer) stands alone. The truth is that I stand on the shoulders of many people. Though the words in this book flowed out of me, I am ultimately a product of the investment that others have made in me through their teaching, writing, example, and support. I owe them profound thanks. I’m both privileged and grateful to have such great people investing in me.

I also want to acknowledge those in our world who desperately need to see Jesus and discover His hope . . . I wrote this book for them. It is my prayer that God will use this book to help many churches become what God intends . . . a clear and compelling reflection of His love and truth . . . the hope of the world.

Finally, with love and thanks I acknowledge my NorthRidge family . . . especially those who, in the face of significant loss, chose to take the journey of change with me. It really has turned out to be Change . . . For Good.

CONTENTS

EBOOK INSTRUCTIONS

INTRODUCTION

Churches are Dying . . . but There’s HOPE!

Part 1—Here’s The Church

CHAPTER 1—FAILURE WAS NOT FINAL

If It Can Happen Here, It Can Happen Anywhere

CHAPTER 2—WELL-CONCEIVED

Hope of the World

CHAPTER 3—POORLY EXECUTED

It’s Not Working Right

CHAPTER 4—IT’S ALL IN THE DELIVERY

Change without Compromise

Part 2—Start The Wave

CHAPTER 5—YOU GOTTA BE CRAZY

The Right Leader

CHAPTER 6—CAN’T DO IT ALONE

Investing in Leaders and Building Teams

CHAPTER 7—GIVE THEM A REASON

Exposing the Necessity of Change

Part 3—Paint The Target

CHAPTER 8—HELP THEM SEE IN 4-D

Developing and Implementing a Ministry Charter

CHAPTER 9—CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

Communication, Communication, Communication

CHAPTER 10—KNOW WHAT’S KILLING YOU

Identifying the Essential Targets of Change

Part 4—Go For It

CHAPTER 11—MAKE IT FRESH

Creating Fresh Opportunities for Momentum

CHAPTER 12—THERE WILL BE CASUALTIES

Accepting Short-term Losses for Long-term Gains

CHAPTER 13—DOUBLE YOUR INVESTMENT

Hard Work and Huge Faith

CHAPTER 14—STRAIGHT AHEAD

Staying the Course

Part 5—Hope Of The World

CHAPTER 15—A LIFE IS WAITING

Lost People Matter to God

THE ART OF SACRED COW TIPPING

DEFINITIONS

Sa·cred Cow (sà’krid kou)—an unMOOving, irrelevant, and/or ineffective tradition passed from generation to generation to generation to generation to generation. . . .

Cow Tipping (kou tip'in)—the act of pushing a cow UDDERly over while it is sleeping.

The Art of Sacred Cow Tipping (th. ärt uv sà’krid kou tip'in)— the skill of successfully moving churches from the MILK of traditions to the MEAT of Truth, awakening them to be . . . the hope of the world.

INTRODUCTION

Churches are Dying . . . but There’s HOPE!

I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT. It was obvious this church building had been built with a deep desire to honor God and help people. It had been beautiful . . . all white with the cross placed purposely atop the bell tower to be seen for miles. It had once stood proudly as a guiding light and symbol of hope. Something went horribly wrong. In the end, it was abandoned, boarded up, and left as a symbol of disappointment and shattered dreams. As was typical of many older churches, there was a cemetery on the church property. What happened in that cemetery wasn’t typical. They buried their church! Literally! The gravestone reads:

Immanuel Lutheran Church

1906—1963

How surreal. The church is supposed to be a place that gives evidence to the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, where people find new life and hope. It’s supposed to overcome death and destruction, not submit to it. And yet, this church was buried. It’s not supposed to be like this. It doesn’t fit the picture Jesus painted of the church in Matthew 16:18, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Regrettably, though you won’t often find the blatant honesty of the people of Immanuel Lutheran Church, many churches are dead or dying these days. They aren’t reaching any new people with the hope of Christ and haven’t for a very long time. Their congregations are getting older and smaller every year. Though the people inside are often sincere and love their church, the church appears to offer nothing of value to outsiders. Whether they recognize it or not, they are dying . . . if not already dead. There’s no gravestone, but signs of life are quickly diminishing or have already disappeared.

As a result, multitudes of people are giving up on the whole idea of attending church. And, in their defense, many churches aren’t worth attending. When compared with almost anything else people can choose to do with their time, some churches are quite frankly second-rate, substandard, and shoddy. By most people’s standards, they’re dull, uninspiring, and mind-numbing. Though churches are in possession of the most profound, exciting, needed, and life-changing truth the world has ever known, the way many of them present this truth is superficial, boring, undesirable, and nonimpacting. Because of this, most people have concluded that church has nothing to offer them. For them, it’s worthless. If the church isn’t going to live up to Jesus’ claims, then why go? If it isn’t going to encourage, strengthen, inspire, benefit, and fill them with hope, why would they attend? They have enough turmoil in their lives without adding a depressing church experience to their weekly schedule. In light of the negative reality in so many churches these days, who can blame people for making the choice to stay away? Since the church has become irrelevant and meaningless to their lives, it actually makes sense.

Of course, most people wouldn’t expect this kind of material to be written by a pastor . . . especially one as committed to and in love with the church as I am. For many, it probably sounds more like sacrilege than devotion. And yet, there it is.

I’ve written it for all to see. Why?

Well, I believe in both being honest and facing reality. Given those two guiding principles, I have to acknowledge the truth.

Like it or not, the majority of people feel this way about church in general and their church in particular. If you’re honest, odds are this is exactly how you feel . . . though perhaps you’d never say it out loud. And, just to clear the air, this doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means that . . . to put it sensitively . . . you think church has become irrelevant, unpleasant, and meaningless. And sadly, more often than not, you’re right.

Though some would call you sacrilegious for your honesty, as they have me, you’re not. It’s not blasphemy to tell the truth. It’s God-honoring. (Heard of the Ten Commandments?) That it seems sacrilegious to honestly assess churches reveals the problem. Christians and churches have begun cherishing, valuing, and fighting for and against the wrong things. In so doing, they are more like the religious Pharisees of Jesus’ day than like Jesus Himself. The Pharisees fought against and ultimately rejected Him. Why? Because in spreading God’s truth, helping the hurting, healing the sick, and providing hope for the hopeless, Jesus was messing with their cherished and valued traditions, and it ticked them off.

Christians and churches have begun cherishing, valuing, and fighting for and against the wrong things.

In Matthew 15:2–3, we find an example of this sad and destructive reality. The Pharisees asked, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat! (We all know how important that is to God!) Jesus replied, And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

Of course, the same is happening today. Like the Pharisees with Jesus, there are some Christians and churches attacking and condemning others simply because they’re telling the truth about the present condition of the church and trying to do something about it. It was wrong for the Pharisees. It’s wrong for people today. And yet they keep doing it. They too have misplaced their love and passion, choosing traditions over truth. But it shouldn’t stop us from following Jesus’ example. We should be speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Now, of course, to speak of Jesus Himself in critical terms would be sacrilegious. Jesus’ character and teaching is the only secure foundation for our lives. As He said in Matthew 7:24, 26, Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock . . . But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. To denigrate or dismiss the ultimate value and role of the church would be and is equally foolish. After all, Jesus loves and gave Himself for the church (Ephesians 5:25). He is committed to building the church, and it is the only force on earth that can prevail against the onslaught of hell in people’s lives (Matthew 16:18). It is the one source of light in a world filled with darkness (Matthew 5:14–15).

However, to fear giving an honest assessment and expressing honest criticism of how local churches are or are not living up to their God-given assignment, is contrary to Scripture. First and Second Corinthians are almost exclusively devoted to correcting the believers in Corinth for messing the church up. A good summary of what Paul was saying in these two books of the Bible, in my parlance, would be: Your church is second-rate, substandard, and shoddy! It isn’t even close to what God intended.

If a church is:

boring, irrelevant, tired,

          losing people without adding people,

              talking about loving the spiritually lost but doing

              nothing to reach them,

                   living for tradition at the expense of truth,

                        experiencing great conflict and little love,

talking about money and the budget more than life change and ministry,

         giving to missions in foreign lands but having no mission of its own,

more concerned about clean carpet than helping messed up and hurting people,

          committed to comfort over sacrifice,

                 celebrating yesterday and mourning today,

                       focusing exclusively on the next life rather than living this one,

soft-pedaling people’s sin rather than helping them understand its destructive power,

             judging people for their failures rather than helping them find God’s forgiveness,

                 condemning other churches for what they’re doing while

               continuing to do nothing,

               filled with contempt for those who are different,

                     treating the church more like a historical museum

                      than a present-day ministry . . .

then that church is messed up. It’s not what God intended.

It may or may not be your fault . . . though more than likely, if you’re a Christian, you should take part of the blame. After all, the church isn’t a building, a program, a tradition, a denomination, a pastor, a board, a committee, or any other such thing. The church is people, the family of God. Any given church is simply a reflection of those who attend. Each church reflects those ideas and principles that the people who attend genuinely value and love.

If they value tradition, the church will focus on tradition. If they value the building, the primary focus will be the building. If they value a certain style of music or preaching, these will become the focus. If they value a small, comfortable environment that keeps them safe from the world, this becomes the picture of that church. If they value politics, it will be political.

Any given church is simply a reflection of those who attend.

Though certainly influenced by leadership, the church is ultimately an expression of what the people who attend cherish, value, and are willing and wanting to fight for and against. If you’re a believer, whether you realize it or not, you play an important role in shaping the church. Therefore, your level of involvement or uninvolvement, as the case may be, is helping to determine the character, quality, and direction of the church.

This makes assessing what you personally cherish, value, and champion as essential as assessing the church as a whole. All believers, not just pastors and church leaders, must acknowledge their role, by involvement or uninvolvement, in shaping the church to be what it is today. And all believers need to make the choice to become part of the solution.

Of course, though many will never understand this reality, admitting that your church is ineffective in no way indicates that you don’t love your church. In fact, very possibly, it indicates you love it immensely. And you need to know that you’re not alone. There are many who both love and hate their church at the same time.

Though these sound incompatible, they’re not. Think about it. We all experience these dueling emotions. For example, I love and hate my house at the same time. I love how comfortable it is as a home. There is nothing like driving up to it after being away. But, at the same time, I hate all the work it demands.

Likewise, many love the history, familiarity, people, traditions, location, and memories of their church. But they hate that its services are boring, irrelevant, and predictable. They hate that they are no longer being inspired. They hate that it’s not reaching anyone or making any significant difference in the world. They hate that they can’t invite their friends. They hate that, when their kids are young, they have to drag them to church kicking and screaming. And they hate that, when their kids grow older, they leave the church. They hate that it seems more like a funeral service than a celebration of a resurrection. They hate that it feels more like a museum than a church.

I received this email from a person who is obviously battling with this very issue in his life. He writes:

I have watched each of my grown children walk away from the church. They all pray and have some sort of belief, but do not have a use for the church. I now think I am beginning to understand why. It is irrelevant to them. I am a leader in a church and lead a small home group each Sunday night. It, for the most part, is a church of older dying members that are the main financial support . . . I pray for God to use me and bring more families to serve Him, but it is not happening.

This man represents a lot of people. He is deeply discouraged by and disappointed with his church, even though he still loves it.

Though I hate to admit it, this is exactly how I felt about the churches that I’ve pastored when I first went to them. Some of you reading this right now are pastors or church leaders. Let me encourage you. You’re not alone in your feelings about the church. In the past, my wife and I would often commiserate on the fact that, if I wasn’t the pastor, we would never attend that church. If you’re a pastor or church leader feeling this way, there’s nothing wrong with you. The truth is that there’s something right with you. You care enough about the church to be honest about its condition, and you’re desperately looking for answers and hope for changing it. With all my heart, I believe this book can help you. You’re not reading this by accident.

Of course, there are also people who hate the church . . . without loving it. Most of these were the kids brought to church kicking and screaming. Many have long since left. If this is you, I relate. This was me growing up. I hated church! Passionately. Though I wasn’t passionate about many things in my youth, I was about this. The fact that it was a mandated part of life in my family just added fuel to an already out-of-control fire. Unfortunately, my passion motivated some bad decisions.

On one occasion, as we were driving to church dressed in our Sunday best, I literally leapt from the car and made a mad dash for freedom. Of course, I was eventually caught. The great escape won me nothing but more grief. As I recall, I was still forced to endure church with the added bonus of an embarrassed and unhappy father’s wrath.

What would motivate a person to disdain church to that degree, regardless of age? As I’ve reflected on this through the years, the answer to that question has become obvious. For me, there were two primary issues driving my disdain, and I have found that the same holds true for others.

The first was my problem. I had no interest in God, others, or eternity. I was a self-absorbed taker. I was only interested in the moment and whether I was enjoying it. The Bible even talks about this kind of shortsighted, self-centered attitude. . . though the churches I attended weren’t communicating it in a way that I could ever relate to or understand. In Luke 12:16–21, Jesus tells the story of a rich man who was consuming all of his wealth living for the pleasure of the moment and making no investment in others. And then, unexpectedly, he died. God calls him a fool for squandering his life in the moment rather than investing it for something eternally significant.

This was me. It may be you. The problem is that it keeps us from finding the fulfillment that we’re looking for and only God can give us. It ultimately leaves us empty and filled with regret. Though you feel that church is worthless and has nothing to offer you, I would encourage you to look further. You know that you’re not finding what you’re looking for when you live without God. I would encourage you to start looking for your fulfillment where I found it, in a personal relationship with God.

The second reason for my disdain was the church’s problem.

Though I’m sure the people designing the services and programs of the church were sincere, the reality is that everything about church was irrelevant to me. Everything! I didn’t get it.

I didn’t get the culture, the language, the thinking, or the point. It was like a club with secret handshakes, passwords, codes, and language. Somehow, I missed the orientation class. For me, church was a place that valued insiders. I was an outsider and, as a result, not welcome . . . in spite of what the sign in front of the building said. The reality is that their actions proved much louder than their words. In fact, because of their actions, I decided their words were both cheap and empty.

I believe this is true for many people today. It’s not that they wouldn’t love to know God . . . if He’s real. It’s not that they aren’t interested in forgiveness, purpose, love, and hope . . . if they are really available. It’s just that they’ve checked church out and they can’t relate . . . to anything. As a result, they’ve concluded that, if God is real, for some reason He can’t or doesn’t want to relate to them. It actually causes them to feel that God Himself is rejecting them. He must love insiders and not outsiders . . . like them.

The first problem that caused my disdain of church was solved when I discovered the reality of God in my life. I not only discovered that He was real, but that He wasn’t rejecting me at all. He doesn’t reject anyone. In my self-centered focus on personal pleasure and fulfillment, I was rejecting Him. Though I thought He was the one hiding, I was wrong. I was hiding, and He was pursuing. Unfortunately, I didn’t discover this reality in church. I found this truth at a nonchurch event. Though it is, without a doubt, the greatest discovery of my life, through which everything that I now value and enjoy comes, it is extremely sad that I was unable to uncover God’s reality in church.

I believe that the church is the hope of the world, with this one caveat . . . when it’s working right.

Confronting the second problem, the fact that so many churches have become irrelevant to those who most desperately need God, has become my life’s mission. Today, I’m as passionate in loving the church as I used to be in hating it.

Though, in order to capture your attention, I have buried the lead, here it is: I believe that the church is the hope of the world, with this one caveat . . . when it’s working right. And therein lies the problem. Most aren’t! Because of this, people aren’t seeing the church as the hope of the world. They’re seeing it as irrelevant to the world.

Though this reality is hurting a lot of people, keeping them from finding help, faith, and God, there is hope. The reason Paul wrote two letters identifying the problems in the Corinthian church was because, even in the most messed up churches, there is hope. Paul said it best in Philippians 4:13, I can do everything through him who gives me strength. In truth, though something may be impossible for us, nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

Though in this introduction I have clearly and honestly identified some negatives about the church, this is not a negative book. On the contrary, it is a very positive book . . . one about hope. However, just as people must first acknowledge their sin and guilt before they can, by faith, experience forgiveness and hope, so churches must first face their negative realities. When they do, they can then begin embracing and experiencing their hope-filled futures. The reality is that even the most irrelevant, boring, dying church can become relevant, exciting, and revitalized. After all, God identifies the church as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12). The truth of Christianity is that, though Jesus died, He now lives. A dead church is an oxymoron.

The truth of Christianity is that, though Jesus died, He now lives. A dead church is an oxymoron.

Therefore, if we unlock the doors of our churches by removing the chains of man-made traditions, languages, and methods, and if we begin displaying and communicating God’s love and truth in a way people can understand today, the church will once again live as the hope of the world.

As you will learn in this book, this is the real story of the