No Vision No Growth - Where's Jiffy Pop Popcorn?

Jiffy Pop "Popcorn" had a monopoly on the market. This was ingenius, this was ingenuity at it's best. Prior to Jiffy's ingenuity, we would find a pot, pour some oil in it, drop some popcorn kernals into the pot, turn up the heat and wait (don't forget the cover!).  Now with Jiffy Pop Popcorn, no pot, no oil, no mess, no having to find some popcorn kernals, no having to wash pots, no over pouring oil or not putting enough popcorn, you just put Jiffy Popcorn on the oven and "Presto" you had easy popcorn in a matter of minutes.
     The problem with Jiffy is they lost their vision. Perhaps they became content with their success and saw no reason to keep striving for something better.  I am 43 years old and one company that has impressed me since I was a kid, is McDonalds. This is a company I have watched over the years "re-invent" itself, over and over again. In 2004 there was an American documentary that came out called "SuperSize Me".  It targeted fast food retaurants and made McDonalds it's primary target. I was living in Canada at the time and Canadians were scandalized by this documentary. People were afraid to eat at McDonalds, I couldn't get nobody to go with me.  This documentary would have been a death blow to most companies. Most companies would have declared at their next board meeting, "the times, they are a changing, we enjoyed a great ride while it lasted, we all got rich, but this is a new generation that we cannot appeal too" (sound like some churches you know?).  However, instead of doing that, McDonald's re-invented themselves. They began serving salads and also allowing you to substitute your french fries (don't know why you would do that) for a salad, at no extra cost.  They began posting calories for any meal you would order.  They have come up with wraps and healthy eating all the while staying true to who they are! What many churches don't realize is that you can "re-invent" yourself while still staying true to your core values.  "Re-inventing" yourself doesn't mean throwing away your core values. Some churches to even speak of "change" is almost to speak blasphemy.  The burden is all on God. It doesn't matter if we are still singing from hymm books and using the 18th Century Organ for our song service, it's God that's going to build his church.  We know, certainly, "God will build His Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it", but that does not excuse a church with no vision.  Even the apostles were quick to innovate with the times and switched the day of worship from the last day of the week to the 1st day of the week. To some, even to this day, that was sacreligious and 'til this day, still refuse to worship on Sundays. 
     The Church is moving on and those that will not adapt and get a vision, will be left behind and become a thing of the past,  just like Jiffy Popcorn.  Where is the Salvation Army today?  Where is the YMCA today?  They are passing thoughts, when we think of Salvation Army today, we think "used clothing" and when we think of YMCA we think "Gym, place to work out". 
     In the 1970's there was a movement that swept through the country that was called "The Jesus People Movement", hippies were being saved by the droves, however, most churches did not know what to do with them or how to reach them? One man, Wayman Mitchell, who was part of the Four Square Assemply caught a vision. He began to set up "Music Scenes," or "Coffee Houses" and use Rock & Roll, to reach these hippies, even though he himself couldn't stand Rock & Roll. While other Church's were protesting that "Rock & Roll" was of the Devil, he was seeing hippies being reached  and watching his church grow from 35 people, in to the hundreds. That is why I say, "No Vision No Growth".  Many of the other churches that were around at that same time, closed for lack of growth or could you say, lack of Vision, lack of willingness to adapt to the times.
     1970 was a long time ago, Rock & Roll is a by gone era (I hate to tell some of you that) and RAP, HIP HOP is in and here to stay! Hymnals are out and song services with modern, cotemporary songs, guitars and drums, is in.  We are now in a generation that is saturated in technology and media, what are you trying to do to adapt so you can reach this generation?  Nothing!  Well than that's why the church down the street is growing and you are shrinking.  I know the excuse is, "oh that's just a worldly church, we have values and standards here!".  Again, "re-inventing ourselves does not mean throwing away our core values.  How has McDonald's stayed relevant in each generation, by continously re-inventing itself and at the same time staying true to it's core values. I was at a McDonald's recently, it was a Hip McDonald's for sure, even had the Cafe McDonalds where you could get a Capucinno and a slice of Cheesecake, I was amazed to see the Restaurant packed with Teenagers, enjoying the free internet, little game kiosks and enjoying McNuggets, Big Macs and their classic fries....ughhh, I mean salad.  McDonald's has re-invented itself and is now earning more money today than ever before, in the midst of a slanderous documentary and a very health conscious society, it is thriving; and this is all for money, the mighty dollar, how much more so, should we, The Church, the Earth's last great hope, not be concerned about becoming insignificant. 
     Is your church insignificant"  If your church was to close it's doors for good, would the community you are in even notice you were gone?  Have you lost your significance, is it just the same group every Sunday, waiting for the Rapture? Surely God has more for you and The Church of Jesus Christ, than just a "fading glory" in these last days, but the question is, will you catch a vision for the future, will you adapt to the times, will you CHANGE!!!   Where is Jiffy PopCorn today? Why didn't they see what was coming, why didn't they embrace new technology, ie: The Microwave?  Why, because they were content with their success.
     I was golfing with a man a few weeks ago and he said something that has stuck with me since. We were talking about the recession and jobs that have gone extinct and new ones that have started and the different carreer paths we have had to adjust to and he said, "Richard, I've had to re-invent myself so many times in the past few years, I have lost count".  I would say he has and he has survived, he is successfull, in the midst of a recession. And the church must do so too, otherwise I really do fear, as it has already begun, that the church becomes completely irrelevant to this generation that we are living in. We must have a Vision, we must re-invent ourselves; otherwise we and our little church will become completely irrelevant in a time that it is more important than ever, that we be RELEVANT!

Is Stability a Virtue of Growth?

     WE know that stability in the home is a key factor in raising healthy children, ie: healthy mentally & emotionally.  Nobody would ever be quoted as saying "divorce is healthy for the family".  I would say that even Liberals and Conservatives can agree on this one point, "stay together at all costs for the sake of the children".  Why do some churches grow and others do not? Are you ready.....nothing fancy here, some churches grow and others do not, because they have "stability".  How can we excuse instability? How can we excuse church splits and numerous Pastoral changes and expect a church to thrive and grow? How do children react to divorce? How do families fair where there has been a divorce, how do children react to the "step dad" coming in to the home and being told that this is going to be their new "father"?  These dynamics do not play out well in the nuclear family and neither do these dynamics play out in the House of God.  You will find that the churches that are growing, the churches that are thriving are the churches that have not split and the churches that have had the same Pastor for 25 + years.
     A church should not fall under condemnation that has been through a church split or Pastoral change(s) or both.  It should rather pat itself on the back that it has even survived.  Stability is what a church needs. Just like a child needs to know that Dad isn't gonig anywhere, then children can thrive. The moment children begin to hear murmuring, fighting and rumors that dad might leave, problems begin to erupt at home and at school. It will not be long before the shool is calling home and reporting that little Johnnie is acting up at school lately.
     Pastors are human and they like everyone else can fall in to the temptation, that "the grass is greener on the other side".  They become frustrated and disallusioned with their congregations and begin to look for the first opportunity to run, rather than stay and work things through. Churches are left behind as Pastors chase "greener pastures" only to find out that the grass is not greener on the other side and sometimes it is worse and they wish they had stayed, stuck it through and practiced what they had preached to their congregations.  Thomas Reiner in his book "Breakout Churches" studied this thoughroughly and concluded that churches that experienced "breakout growth" were not the churches who brought in a charismatic replacement Pastor but churches where the Pastor made a decision to stay, contend and press through the dry season, contend for the latter rain and in most situations where churches were stagnant in growth, but the Pastor stayed, prayed and forged through, those churches experienced,...eventually, breakout growth.
     Churches need stability, stability = health and health equals GROWTH.  A healthy church is a growing church, growth is simply a by-product of health.  An unstable church becomes unhealthy and it doesn't matter what kind of programs you try to inject into it, it will not grow, it will implode unless something changes.  Pastors cannot simply call every opportunity that comes their way as "an open door from God".  Not every door that opens is of God and Pastor's just like regular Christians will be tempted and tested and must pass those tests.  No doubt God does called seasoned Pastors in to the Mission Fields, but this is not the reason for the instability in churches across America, it is more the sad state of affairs of Pastors commiting adultery, Pastor's abadoning their churches for a better , self serving opportunity, it is Pastors quiting on their churches, it is Pastor's trying to climb up the Corporoate Ladder (so to speak). 
     Is stability a virtue of growth?  OF COURSE IT IS!  And this virtue, cannot be looked over as insignificant, not for a moment, when we truly want to ponder, why do some churhes grow and others don't. This is one of the great VIRTUES of the family and church dynamic, there is no substitute for stability when it comes to the family, whether that be at home or at church, there is no substitute!